Andor just finished its second season.
Audiences and critics alike have hailed it as the second-best Star Wars content ever released, just behind the original trilogy. That mindset primarily persists among older viewers who grew up with the original trilogy and thus hold it in high regard.
Millennials (and everyone younger) think that Andor has surpassed the original trilogy, because of its gravitas. The original trilogy (and every piece of Star Wars content since) painted the Empire as a tyrannical government hellbent on controlling the galaxy with an iron fist.
But even after watching entire planets burn, we could not fully appreciate the severity of those claims because Star Wars gave us a bird’s eye view of that conflict. It showed us the bigger picture, the grand tapestry upon which the forces of good and evil fought.
Andor took us to the ground. We understood why Luke, Han, and Leah persevered because we finally saw the consequences of failure. Andor gave us a glimpse of the hell the galaxy had already suffered and which it would continue to endure unless the rebellion toppled the Empire.
In that regard, the show made the entire Star Wars franchise so much weightier. So why are Star Wars fans fighting? Well, you can probably blame it on the terms critics typically use in their reviews. People call the show ‘Star Wars for grown-ups,’ which sounds like an insult because it suggests that every other Star Wars property is geared towards children.
However, to clarify, every Star Wars fanatic knows that Star Wars is a children’s franchise. George Lucas, the Star Wars creator, emphasizes this fact all the time. The prequel trilogy feels like a series of kids’ movies because Lucas had children in mind when he made those films. And Star Wars fans like that aesthetic.
They fell in love with this universe because of the Sci-Fi fantasy elements. They adore the laser swords, space wizards and that overarching struggle for supremacy between the dark side and the light side.
Take those aspects away, and Star Wars loses its appeal. This is why some fans watched The Acolyte to completion despite hating it with a burning passion, and yet they continue to reject Andor even with all the praise it receives.
Andor is not their Star Wars because it strips the fantastical elements away, instead highlighting the grim reality ordinary people faced when the Empire first came to power.
This is why critics encourage mainstream audiences to watch Andor even if they don’t care about Star Wars. Take the ‘Star Wars’ name away, and Andor can still stand independently as a science fiction drama investigating the horrors of rebelling against tyrannical rule. This is where the schism emerges.
Some fans are praising the franchise for finally growing up and telling more mature stories. Others feel like that so-called maturity is destroying Star Wars. They want the franchise to retain its science fiction fantasy roots as opposed to completely embracing the Science Fiction drama genre.
You could argue that Star Wars does not have to choose. It can create enough content to satisfy everyone. However, Andor’s opponents argue that the show’s critical success may encourage Disney to embrace that particular tone and structure for every upcoming movie, show, and cartoon.
In other words, the space wizards and laser swords could become a thing of the past. While those fears are unfounded, you can probably understand why a portion of the Star Wars fanbase is unwilling to embrace what feels like a radical shift in a franchise that shaped their childhood.
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