To me, the whole linchpin of Andor is summarised by the character portrayal and manifesto of Nemik. It was literally the inspiration amongst every rebel fighter, now matter how great or small that collectively led to a new hope and gave them the will to fight against such insurmountable odds. Just as George Lucas aimed to portray plucky heroes against a galactic empire, we were reminded of the very thing that they fought for. And to have that feature explicitly painted for us in the first season of Andor was a pleasure to watch.
Great and insightful video! I think Tony not being a Star Wars fan is a good thing. The franchise has reached this weird inflection point in which people have forgotten what the themes of Star Wars even are. We've chewed on this franchise for so long as a culture that its symbols have hollowed out. We've forgotten what themes things refer to, or we simply stopped caring. If you look at Kenobi, or the sequel trilogy, you see things referring to one another. You hear old themes pop up, old lines being regurgitated, you hear names being dropped like "Skywalker" and "Empire", but they don't stick any more. They refer to a feeling we once had, but why we got that feeling has been completely distilled. I feel like the stepping in of someone like Gilroy is absolutely essential to save the franchise, because it needs an outsider to grab us by the hair and help remind us what themes made us fall in love with the franchise in the first place.
it’s actually so refreshing to have someone who references robert stone and the haitian revolution as his inspirations rather than referencing the original trilogy. i really think this show is going to make a huge impact on his career. he and his brother dan been trying to make a show about the french family behind the guillotine that he’s described as their best writing and i’m really hoping it comes through bc of his achievements with andor.
Which begs the question what are the films and shows actually about? The original trilogy is clearly about Hope. The prequels about Loss. Rogue One is sacrifice (as stated). Andor about redemption & purpose (as well as unchecked power & ambition) The sequels were meant to be about renewal but ended up being nostalgic but without any meaningful through line. If Disney are going to move forward they have to want to say something.
What l respect most from all I have heard from especially season 2 of Andor is that, even if Tony is not a huge StarWars fan (and his show stands out as being different, in a good way), he still seems to keep too the already established universe (probably through help from people at Lucasfilm). The way he has said multiple times that they know of important events during this time reassures me that they will not simply go against all the events a show like StarWars Rebels has already established (for example like some of Mon Mothma's Story) but respect it and build their story around that
yeah it’s funny bc he refers to himself as a diy historian so he’s studied the entire timeline in which he’s working so the five years plus some other stuff like the battle of mimban and probably some things about the galactic republic that will work it’s way into cassians childhood. he really knows his stuff and i feel like he’s really come to appreciate the lore and hardcore fans who keep up with it.
@@NightmaresinParadise actually didn't know that he was such a historian. Yeah, that would help very much with StarWars Lore 😂 Well, then I am even more excited about season 2 because there is a lot happening here at the same time with Rebels (especially the one episode where the Ghost transports Mon Mothma could have a huge impact on the Andor Storyline)
@@latech7671 He clearly adores history and you can see plenty of historical inspiration in a bunch of his works, Andor included. I think digging into another kind of history and getting all his ducks in a row is actually part of the appeal for him
This is INCREDIBLY well-made and well-informed. I've gotten a much better appreciation to both one of my favorite shows and movies ever, and it's interesting to see how something like this came to be behind-the-scenes. As an aspiring director, Gilroy's insistence and method in telling such a unique story in the universe of Star Wars is great knowledge to learn about. Also, this is the 2nd time a great prequel show was saved from being just a wacky series of its main lead doing different missions/jobs every episode (Better Call Saul being the first)
"Rogue One" and "Andor" are the only and best additions to the franchise in the past decade or so. Please Mr. Gilroy, stick the landing with the second season of "Andor"! Take your time , I'm willing to have had this over two years long wait...if it means we get something done right. We don't need another GOT level of a botched job. To me personally, "Rogue One" is one of the best movies in the "Star Wars" franchise, on the same level as "The Empire Strikes Back". As for "Andor", simply put the best new series of the past at least five years, more so than many of its overhyped counterparts. Ironically there's not much to celebrate from the Disney SW era...but these two gems, "Rogue One" and "Andor"...are the blessed exceptions I am more than happy to enjoy again and again.
Andor showed us that you don’t need to be a SW fanboy to write good stories in the franchise. Between the braindead activism of Johnson and the lore-obsessed occultism that arose around Filoni, Gilroy was a breath of fresh air.
I think that Filoni doesn't give a rat's hide for respecting rules, and I feel that Tony Gilroy isn't a top-notch for real Star Wars, but it is okay for Disney Star Wars.
@fragwagon What proof? All you do is to be suckered to be watching Andor on Disney+. The viewership isn't shown, so I can say that it is pretty dang low. It does not get better after episode 3, and only liars that kept coping about think that is good. It's still Kennedyfilm's SWINO and always has been. I liked Fallen Order and Survivor to a lesser extent, but even I would acknowledge its flaws, nor call it the best it could be. You can not see any in Andor because you have blind faith.
Very interesting thanks, i agree two seasons is better than dragging it out but at the same time there is still so much story to tell for so many characters.
Ultimately I love what we got. I would consider myself a huge fan of Star Wars, although there are other fans who seemingly don't like the series because to them it didn't feel like Star Wars, but to me it was a thrill to watch and I was certainly hooked from start to finish. I don't know much about film production but I do know how much preproduction happened in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, enough to give me an idea that it is important. Nowadays I hear a lot about shows and movies going through a lot of production hell just because there wasn't enough planning, like the sequel trilogy. I only meant they should've planned out the trilogy as a whole with consistent writing. So hearing this much preparation done for the Andor series is so replenishing to know, especially the part where you mentioned that there were no writers during filming because everyone was already well prepared. Great video
“Not for the faint of heart “ This is why most SW properties could never be this forward thinking and complex. I cannot imagine rudeness being tolerated in most current writers rooms
A writing team composed of Gilroy, House of Cards' original showrunner, a guy who produced The Americans and the guy who wrote NightCrawler ? What could possibly not go well ?
Rouge is my fav SW film but it was Andor that had me looking up Tony Gilroy. I've probably watched and read most of his interviews, talk on writing and I've no interest in writing. Everything said in this vdo I already knew. In all his interviews you can see he gets excited when talkin about the writing process but most SW fans doesn't seem to care about story telling and character development. They will go nuts when new characters mention some legacy character though. lol When c3po showed up in Ahsoka I turned it off. It's like that's all filoni know how to do. I don't think we'll get another show like this after S2 is over.
You describe how I felt when I saw the Force Awakens trailer. "Chewie, we're home" wrecked it for me. And the movie was even worse. Gilroy's approach, in that Rogue One style, is the way to go. It's different than Lucas's approach but it's it's own thing. Far better than fanservice.
I don't understand what fans say doesn't feel Star Wars. Maybe they weren't used to root for the Empire (and who didn't live rooting for Deedra at the ISB, just to remember she is in the bad guys side and her success is not a good thing). As someone who played Tie Fighter in the 90s, i was fully used to believe in the Empire propaganda against that rebel scum.
honestly i think a lot of people probably wanted more aliens and more jedi and this show was a lot more of a political thriller than they were used to. it could also just be the tone and pacing is a lot more mature than usual and that turned some people off
@@NightmaresinParadise again, maybe as a gamer who spent hundreds of hours in Star Wars games like X Wing, where you basically don't see aliens or Jedis... Or even Dark Forces, where Jedis also don't appear, may have prepared me to this different setting
@@NightmaresinParadiseI get the “more aliens” critique. I actually agree with it even though I think the show is amazing Star Wars. I don’t get the “more Jedi” critique though. Do people not understand this is supposed to be a time period when all the Jedi are dead except Obi-Wan and Yoda? What makes the time period interesting is the fact that there are no Jedi around to fight back against the Empire leaving it up to normal people to do that job. It’s also sad some people see a more mature tone as a “turn off”. If anything, it’s when Star Wars is “immature” that I’m turned off by it because the writers think that Star Wars isn’t a universe that should be taken seriously. Yet people forget that the best and most beloved films of Lucas’ two trilogies were the ones that were the darker/more mature ones, i.e. Empire Strikes Back and Revenge of the Sith.
The question of how Andor was funded - $250 million - for an artistic masterpiece that didn't check the Star Wars boxes; just gets my imagination racing .... KLEYA: "YOU'RE SLIPPING! ... We've been cultivating this contact for years! She's our only hope of saving Star Wars!" LUTHEN: "She knows what she's doing ... it's the perfect cover. Her appalling Star Wars shows have gained their confidence. They won't suspect anything ..." ANDOR: "So she's going to simply 'walk in' and take 250 million Credits? From right under their nose? How is she going to do it? ... "how? ..." LUTHEN: "They like her ... she's responsible for some of the worst Star Wars ever, nobody will suspect her when she goes down to the Disney vault and lifts their money ...." ANDOR: "DISNEY VAULT???! .... Disney World is impossible to penetrate! Their vault lies so far underground that, even if she reaches it, she'll never get out with the money!" VEL: "It's a vault - like any other. We'll create a distraction for her to get the money out." ANDOR: "What 'distraction'?? What are you talking about?!" CINTA: "We'll put on a show for the guards ..." ANDOR; "???? A sex show?..." CINTA: "No. I'll just shoot them all." B2EMO: "This is r..r..r.r.ridiculous" LUTHEN: ".. there's no turning back now. Either Kathleen will return with the money, and save Star Wars, or she won't" Kathleen Kennedy DID return with the money ... And saved Star Wars by funding the greatest TV masterpiece ever ... that will endure for decades But her spycraft means that she will never see the light of applause, or gratitude, for all of those years of sacrifice that led to her unrecognised triumph that a precious few of us enjoy
This is TRULY creative writing and one of the best relatable comments I have seen on any channel discussing Andor....and I have been around because I am addicted to Andor. Dam, do O want the physical version released so I can add it to my collection.
@@s.patterson5698 Thanks so much ... but with superb characters like these, it was easy. Best Star Wars ever, no question. Kathleen is listed as "Executive Producer" - she's in so much trouble if the other suits discover that $250 million has gone missing! I'm not sure the extremely poor Ahsoka will cover her tracks in time.
$250 million would only go so far, but Andor is no real Star Wars, and it will never be. Me, Kyle Katarn is always better written, and it made what Star Wars, Star Wars in the first place. Plus, Andor doesn't mean much because we all know that he dies in Rogue One.
Sadly, he won't. Andor will be his last hurrah for the franchise. That's why Lucasfilm has been given creative freedom for Tony Gilroy and the teams involved because this will be an important inspiration and lesson for the series going forward because clearly they're currently on drought of creativity and quality. Contrary to the popular belief, Andor succeed not because Lucasfilm doesn't care. In fact, it's the opposite. They do care about the franchise that's why they brought up Tony Gilroy again for this new format of show. Making a TV series is different production-wise than making a movie. Most of the SW shows in recent times were probably originally made as a movie instead of a series.
Beau Willimon deserves a ton of credit for Andor. And honestly Andor’s writing is far better than Rogue One. Even though Rogue One puts everything else to shame.
I like Tony Gilroy. He’s a god to me, but I don’t like people who talk up about themselves. If you’re really good, you don’t need to do that. Let others talk up about you.
To me, the whole linchpin of Andor is summarised by the character portrayal and manifesto of Nemik.
It was literally the inspiration amongst every rebel fighter, now matter how great or small that collectively led to a new hope and gave them the will to fight against such insurmountable odds. Just as George Lucas aimed to portray plucky heroes against a galactic empire, we were reminded of the very thing that they fought for. And to have that feature explicitly painted for us in the first season of Andor was a pleasure to watch.
Imagine if Tony Gilroy directed the entirety of the Sequel Trilogy.
rogue one and andor will also remain as my favorites when it comes to recent starwars, they were fucking gold
You might not like it but Tony Gilroy is what peak performance looks like.
Great and insightful video! I think Tony not being a Star Wars fan is a good thing. The franchise has reached this weird inflection point in which people have forgotten what the themes of Star Wars even are. We've chewed on this franchise for so long as a culture that its symbols have hollowed out. We've forgotten what themes things refer to, or we simply stopped caring. If you look at Kenobi, or the sequel trilogy, you see things referring to one another. You hear old themes pop up, old lines being regurgitated, you hear names being dropped like "Skywalker" and "Empire", but they don't stick any more. They refer to a feeling we once had, but why we got that feeling has been completely distilled. I feel like the stepping in of someone like Gilroy is absolutely essential to save the franchise, because it needs an outsider to grab us by the hair and help remind us what themes made us fall in love with the franchise in the first place.
it’s actually so refreshing to have someone who references robert stone and the haitian revolution as his inspirations rather than referencing the original trilogy. i really think this show is going to make a huge impact on his career. he and his brother dan been trying to make a show about the french family behind the guillotine that he’s described as their best writing and i’m really hoping it comes through bc of his achievements with andor.
Which begs the question what are the films and shows actually about? The original trilogy is clearly about Hope. The prequels about Loss. Rogue One is sacrifice (as stated). Andor about redemption & purpose (as well as unchecked power & ambition) The sequels were meant to be about renewal but ended up being nostalgic but without any meaningful through line. If Disney are going to move forward they have to want to say something.
What l respect most from all I have heard from especially season 2 of Andor is that, even if Tony is not a huge StarWars fan (and his show stands out as being different, in a good way), he still seems to keep too the already established universe (probably through help from people at Lucasfilm). The way he has said multiple times that they know of important events during this time reassures me that they will not simply go against all the events a show like StarWars Rebels has already established (for example like some of Mon Mothma's Story) but respect it and build their story around that
yeah it’s funny bc he refers to himself as a diy historian so he’s studied the entire timeline in which he’s working so the five years plus some other stuff like the battle of mimban and probably some things about the galactic republic that will work it’s way into cassians childhood. he really knows his stuff and i feel like he’s really come to appreciate the lore and hardcore fans who keep up with it.
@@NightmaresinParadise actually didn't know that he was such a historian. Yeah, that would help very much with StarWars Lore 😂
Well, then I am even more excited about season 2 because there is a lot happening here at the same time with Rebels (especially the one episode where the Ghost transports Mon Mothma could have a huge impact on the Andor Storyline)
@@latech7671 He clearly adores history and you can see plenty of historical inspiration in a bunch of his works, Andor included. I think digging into another kind of history and getting all his ducks in a row is actually part of the appeal for him
This is INCREDIBLY well-made and well-informed. I've gotten a much better appreciation to both one of my favorite shows and movies ever, and it's interesting to see how something like this came to be behind-the-scenes. As an aspiring director, Gilroy's insistence and method in telling such a unique story in the universe of Star Wars is great knowledge to learn about.
Also, this is the 2nd time a great prequel show was saved from being just a wacky series of its main lead doing different missions/jobs every episode (Better Call Saul being the first)
glad you enjoyed and good luck on your filmmaking endeavors!
Love Michael Clayton. Excellent film. Very insightful video
He definitely has the force. A creative one.
"Rogue One" and "Andor" are the only and best additions to the franchise in the past decade or so. Please Mr. Gilroy, stick the landing with the second season of "Andor"! Take your time , I'm willing to have had this over two years long wait...if it means we get something done right. We don't need another GOT level of a botched job. To me personally, "Rogue One" is one of the best movies in the "Star Wars" franchise, on the same level as "The Empire Strikes Back". As for "Andor", simply put the best new series of the past at least five years, more so than many of its overhyped counterparts. Ironically there's not much to celebrate from the Disney SW era...but these two gems, "Rogue One" and "Andor"...are the blessed exceptions I am more than happy to enjoy again and again.
Andor showed us that you don’t need to be a SW fanboy to write good stories in the franchise. Between the braindead activism of Johnson and the lore-obsessed occultism that arose around Filoni, Gilroy was a breath of fresh air.
I think that Filoni doesn't give a rat's hide for respecting rules, and I feel that Tony Gilroy isn't a top-notch for real Star Wars, but it is okay for Disney Star Wars.
@@mazkeraid4039he's the best for Rogue One style Star Wars
@fragwagon Still no better, he's a Kennedy defender meaning he's a sellout.
@@mazkeraid4039 proofs in the pudding. Andor is great, so I don't care what he says about her. Why would I care?
@fragwagon What proof? All you do is to be suckered to be watching Andor on Disney+. The viewership isn't shown, so I can say that it is pretty dang low. It does not get better after episode 3, and only liars that kept coping about think that is good. It's still Kennedyfilm's SWINO and always has been. I liked Fallen Order and Survivor to a lesser extent, but even I would acknowledge its flaws, nor call it the best it could be. You can not see any in Andor because you have blind faith.
Very interesting thanks, i agree two seasons is better than dragging it out but at the same time there is still so much story to tell for so many characters.
agreed in a perfect world we’d be getting those 5 seasons but i trust this team to pull it off in 2.
Ultimately I love what we got. I would consider myself a huge fan of Star Wars, although there are other fans who seemingly don't like the series because to them it didn't feel like Star Wars, but to me it was a thrill to watch and I was certainly hooked from start to finish. I don't know much about film production but I do know how much preproduction happened in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, enough to give me an idea that it is important. Nowadays I hear a lot about shows and movies going through a lot of production hell just because there wasn't enough planning, like the sequel trilogy. I only meant they should've planned out the trilogy as a whole with consistent writing. So hearing this much preparation done for the Andor series is so replenishing to know, especially the part where you mentioned that there were no writers during filming because everyone was already well prepared. Great video
“Not for the faint of heart “
This is why most SW properties could never be this forward thinking and complex. I cannot imagine rudeness being tolerated in most current writers rooms
A writing team composed of Gilroy, House of Cards' original showrunner, a guy who produced The Americans and the guy who wrote NightCrawler ? What could possibly not go well ?
Rouge is my fav SW film but it was Andor that had me looking up Tony Gilroy. I've probably watched and read most of his interviews, talk on writing and I've no interest in writing. Everything said in this vdo I already knew. In all his interviews you can see he gets excited when talkin about the writing process but most SW fans doesn't seem to care about story telling and character development. They will go nuts when new characters mention some legacy character though. lol When c3po showed up in Ahsoka I turned it off. It's like that's all filoni know how to do. I don't think we'll get another show like this after S2 is over.
Same here!!!
You describe how I felt when I saw the Force Awakens trailer. "Chewie, we're home" wrecked it for me. And the movie was even worse. Gilroy's approach, in that Rogue One style, is the way to go. It's different than Lucas's approach but it's it's own thing. Far better than fanservice.
I don't understand what fans say doesn't feel Star Wars.
Maybe they weren't used to root for the Empire (and who didn't live rooting for Deedra at the ISB, just to remember she is in the bad guys side and her success is not a good thing).
As someone who played Tie Fighter in the 90s, i was fully used to believe in the Empire propaganda against that rebel scum.
honestly i think a lot of people probably wanted more aliens and more jedi and this show was a lot more of a political thriller than they were used to. it could also just be the tone and pacing is a lot more mature than usual and that turned some people off
@@NightmaresinParadise again, maybe as a gamer who spent hundreds of hours in Star Wars games like X Wing, where you basically don't see aliens or Jedis... Or even Dark Forces, where Jedis also don't appear, may have prepared me to this different setting
@@NightmaresinParadiseI get the “more aliens” critique. I actually agree with it even though I think the show is amazing Star Wars. I don’t get the “more Jedi” critique though. Do people not understand this is supposed to be a time period when all the Jedi are dead except Obi-Wan and Yoda? What makes the time period interesting is the fact that there are no Jedi around to fight back against the Empire leaving it up to normal people to do that job.
It’s also sad some people see a more mature tone as a “turn off”. If anything, it’s when Star Wars is “immature” that I’m turned off by it because the writers think that Star Wars isn’t a universe that should be taken seriously. Yet people forget that the best and most beloved films of Lucas’ two trilogies were the ones that were the darker/more mature ones, i.e. Empire Strikes Back and Revenge of the Sith.
The question of how Andor was funded - $250 million - for an artistic masterpiece that didn't check the Star Wars boxes; just gets my imagination racing ....
KLEYA: "YOU'RE SLIPPING! ... We've been cultivating this contact for years! She's our only hope of saving Star Wars!"
LUTHEN: "She knows what she's doing ... it's the perfect cover. Her appalling Star Wars shows have gained their confidence. They won't suspect anything ..."
ANDOR: "So she's going to simply 'walk in' and take 250 million Credits? From right under their nose? How is she going to do it? ...
"how? ..."
LUTHEN: "They like her ... she's responsible for some of the worst Star Wars ever, nobody will suspect her when she goes down to the Disney vault and lifts their money ...."
ANDOR: "DISNEY VAULT???! .... Disney World is impossible to penetrate! Their vault lies so far underground that, even if she reaches it, she'll never get out with the money!"
VEL: "It's a vault - like any other. We'll create a distraction for her to get the money out."
ANDOR: "What 'distraction'?? What are you talking about?!"
CINTA: "We'll put on a show for the guards ..."
ANDOR; "???? A sex show?..."
CINTA: "No. I'll just shoot them all."
B2EMO: "This is r..r..r.r.ridiculous"
LUTHEN: ".. there's no turning back now. Either Kathleen will return with the money, and save Star Wars, or she won't"
Kathleen Kennedy DID return with the money ...
And saved Star Wars by funding the greatest TV masterpiece ever ... that will endure for decades
But her spycraft means that she will never see the light of applause, or gratitude, for all of those years of sacrifice that led to her unrecognised triumph that a precious few of us enjoy
LOVE IT! well done! 👏 👏
This is TRULY creative writing and one of the best relatable comments I have seen on any channel discussing Andor....and I have been around because I am addicted to Andor. Dam, do O want the physical version released so I can add it to my collection.
@@s.patterson5698 Thanks so much ... but with superb characters like these, it was easy. Best Star Wars ever, no question.
Kathleen is listed as "Executive Producer" - she's in so much trouble if the other suits discover that $250 million has gone missing!
I'm not sure the extremely poor Ahsoka will cover her tracks in time.
$250 million would only go so far, but Andor is no real Star Wars, and it will never be. Me, Kyle Katarn is always better written, and it made what Star Wars, Star Wars in the first place. Plus, Andor doesn't mean much because we all know that he dies in Rogue One.
They should’ve just let Gilroy helm the whole thing.
No, he doesn’t. He’ll just be thrown out like the rest of the writers.
Sadly, he won't. Andor will be his last hurrah for the franchise.
That's why Lucasfilm has been given creative freedom for Tony Gilroy and the teams involved because this will be an important inspiration and lesson for the series going forward because clearly they're currently on drought of creativity and quality.
Contrary to the popular belief, Andor succeed not because Lucasfilm doesn't care. In fact, it's the opposite. They do care about the franchise that's why they brought up Tony Gilroy again for this new format of show.
Making a TV series is different production-wise than making a movie. Most of the SW shows in recent times were probably originally made as a movie instead of a series.
❤❤❤❤
Disney / Lucasfilm I have stories to out pace The Infinity Saga! Have Hope fans!
Beau Willimon deserves a ton of credit for Andor. And honestly Andor’s writing is far better than Rogue One. Even though Rogue One puts everything else to shame.
Wtf is "director and actor proof" supposed to mean in the middle of a strike
I like Tony Gilroy. He’s a god to me, but I don’t like people who talk up about themselves. If you’re really good, you don’t need to do that. Let others talk up about you.
Nah, they should've done Cassian and K2's weekly adventures 👍
brilliant
I'm sure it would have been good, with Gilroy s writing. But what we got was an absolute jewel ❤
That would have been boring. That approach to TV storytelling is old fashioned.