Tony Gilroy, veteran filmmaker and showrunner of the upcoming Star Wars: Andor series, recently said Disney execs had mandated him to leave fan service and easter eggs out of the new project. The interview comes days before the series is released on the Disney Plus streaming platform.
Star Wars: Andor is a new Lucasfilm project that is set for a pushed-back September release and will serve as a prequel series to the 2016 movie Rogue One, which was itself a spin-off project. Rogue One tells the story of the Rebel Alliance operatives that come together to acquire the plans for the first Death Star and save countless lives in the process. One of these rebels is thief turned revolutionary fighter Cassian Andor, the titular character of the new series. Set 5 years before the events of Rogue One, Andor will follow Cassian's search for his place in the galaxy far, far away and explore the events that lead him to that pivotal mission.
Gilroy, who has previously admitted to not being a particularly big fan of Star Wars, made it very clear to IGN that Andor would be doing things differently, with higher-ups mandating him to disregard elements that might appeal to fans in favor of making a more authentic show. “We didn’t want to do anything that was fan service," he explained. "We never wanted to have anything… the mandate in the very beginning was that it would be as absolutely non-cynical as it could possibly be, that the show would just be real and honest."
Going further, Gilroy discussed how that approach affected the show’s casting, promising that many new characters would be introduced over the course of the show. He admitted that there would still be cameos, as some stars from the Rogue One film would be reprising their roles, Cassian Andor actor Diego Luna chief amongst them. However, Gilroy clarified that every character who was included to make a return appearance only did so because they were needed and had a real part to play in the narrative, with Cassian Andor himself set to redefine how fans see him in the upcoming series.
The decision to de-emphasize fan service and callbacks in the production of Andor is great news for fans, many of whom criticized the sequel trilogy for its leaning on the original trilogy and prequels. Newer fans are especially well served, as the Andor series is intended as an accessible entry point into the expanded Star Wars universe, similar to many of the projects that existed in the extended universe that has now been filed away as Legends. The return of Rogue One stars such as Mon Mothma actress Genevieve O'Reilly will also lend some familiarity to the project, despite the as-needs-be nature of their inclusion. Forest Whitaker's Saw Gerrera is perhaps the best example of this, as his character goes beyond Rogue One, having made prominent appearances in The Clone Wars and Rebels television shows.
Despite the clear reasoning behind it and the potential for narrative benefit that Gilroy's approach to creating the show brings, there will likely still be fans that resist the change. However, with the show’s second season already in development, both skeptics and enthusiasts alike will have ample opportunity to see the result of Gilroy's process, as well as critique how it ties into the existing material seen in Rogue One.
Star Wars: Andor is set for release on Disney Plus on the 21st of September 2022.
Source: IGN