Andor is “the most important piece of Star Wars” in a long time

Our current Star Wars revival started with The Mandalorian on Disney+. That show told grounded stories about a (mainly) new set of characters, most notably Din Djarin and Grogo, aka Baby Yoda. Last year, Andor continued this winning streak. A prequel to the Star Wars movie Rogue One, the show follows Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) as he becomes a Rebel. It was a huge critical success, and its brilliance hasn’t gone unnoticed by franchise veterans. For instance, Solo: A Star Wars Story writer Jonathan Kasdan recently commended creator Tory Gilroy for going against the grain.

“One of the challenges of those properties is always like, well, so many of the things that you would love to do with those stories have been done and gone,” Kasdan told The A.V. Club. “And we’ve seen, you know, every kind of environment in Star Wars. And then Andor came out. I think part of the genius of Andor for me is that Tony [Gilroy] made a discovery about it that wouldn’t have even occurred to me, which is that the undiscovered country of Star Wars was this maturity, and was the kind of storytelling maturity that it had never seen before.”

"And then instead of trying to create a new, bigger action sequence or a planet that looked different from any other planet, he was going for a sophistication in narrative and in emotion that no one had ever attempted here before. And that’s, for me, why it’s the most important piece of Star Wars to come along in a long time."

Perhaps the Star Wars franchise is beginning to mature, and we can expect more character-driven shows in the future.

Will there be second season of Willow?

Star Wars aside, Jonathan Kasdan served as showrunner on another Lucasfilm property: the long-awaited reboot of Willow. The comeback series has gone down pretty well. A renewal is yet to be confirmed by Disney+, although it looks likely. Kasdan hopes that the return of the franchise was enough to spark further interest from both long-time fans and newcomers alike.

“My hope is that by the end you’re invested enough to want to see more of these characters and to go on further adventures with them, with even greater darkness than they are facing right now,” Kasdan said.

Season 1 of WIllow is currently streaming on Disney+. We’ll sit back and wait impatiently for a season 2 announcement.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels