What’s there to say about Andor that critics, fans, and even awards shows haven’t already made abundantly clear? Tony Gilroy’s Star Wars thriller series has set the bar impossibly high for George Lucas’ storied sci-fi mythos, and even if we love some good old-fashioned laser cheese that the franchise is known for, Diego Luna’s Golden Globe nomination speaks volumes about Andor‘s place in the zeitgeist.
Indeed, there’s not a single area in which Andor doesn’t seem to house a surplus of strength; the show’s deftly engaging writing is brought to life by an ensemble cast to die for, and above all of that, the film’s electrifying lens of an oppressed galaxy shows us a dark underbelly of Star Wars that we hadn’t quite explored the depths of before.
And while it’s grossly tragic that Star Wars‘ most scathing anti-fascist entry couldn’t be more timely, it only further highlights the particular sort of power that Andor tends to wield; power that Andy Serkis, who played the character Kino Loy in the series, was all too happy to shout the importance of in an interview with The Playlist.
“Look, the scale and the intimacy and the brilliance of Tony’s writing and the social commentary, saying something about the world that we live in about oppression. And as he will say, it is a kind of an anti-fascist piece. And we are living in a world now, well, it happens to be this version of tyranny that is going on at the moment. Tyranny exists in every era. And it just felt, it really plugged in. It was quite a zeitgeist.”
The actor further reflected on how the political and thematic nuances of Andor, and Star Wars as a whole, played into his portrayal of the blue-collar Kino Loy after first entering the Star Wars world as sickly fascist Snoke.
“And I think, it is like watching ‘Star Wars’ on the ground up from the human side. And for having played someone on the other end of the spectrum, who has enormous power and is scared of losing power, Snoke. And then to go to the other end, to play the polar opposite was a real challenge and a great thrill.”
It’s no secret that Star Wars has always been political, regardless of what the most insecure sector of the franchise’s fandom might have you believe, but Andor has laid bare a truth that’s as essential to confront as it is difficult, and we should all be thankful that this was the Star Wars show that skyrocketed the way it did.
Andor is available to stream on Disney Plus.