I was thinking more about the failure of The Acolyte. I discovered Star Wars in the years between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, when I was the perfect age (six to nine).
For us Gen X kids, Star Wars wasn’t just a couple of cool movies and some fun toys, but it was our introduction to, well, culture: art, design, storytelling, myth, worldbuilding, symphonic music, human relationships—everything. We learned it through Star Wars!
And obviously, “you can’t go home again.” We’ll never get that thrill of being eight years old and discovering the trumpet section.
But boy do I love Andor. I am so excited for season two. It has been the first time somebody has taken the premise of Star Wars and reinvented it as if it were for grown-ups—the way Breaking Bad and Succession are for grown-ups.
To me Andor gives me the good ol’ Star Wars feeling again like it’s 1982—which is curious because it omits all the “superhero” stuff (the Jedi and the Force).
And I think a lot of that is from its setting: the peak of the Empire. Science fiction is often about the rebels against the totalitarian state—it always works (The Matrix). It makes everything suspenseful, exciting and dramatic.
I remember how quickly the Star Wars franchise fizzled in 1984–85 after the Empire was vanquished in Return of the Jedi. The Marvel comic book sputtered and died.
It’s a lot like what happened with the Borg in Star Trek: they were introduced as this unstoppable, unknowable enemy. Awesome! But then, once they were stopped and became known, they were just another bad guys.
So much Star Wars now is either set in the reign of the Republic (the prequels, The Acolyte), or the post-Empire time after Jedi (The Mandalorian). Which are fun, but they just don’t have the same juice of the Original Trilogy era.
But it’s just inevitable that things have their moment and play out.
Still, I am so excited for Andor season two.
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