Both Andor and Star Wars: The Last Jedi had the difficult task of following up a successful Star Wars movie, and both took risks by changing the Star Wars’ mold, but only one truly succeeded. Despite both displaying creativity in shaking up the traditional Star Wars format, only one of them was lauded for its bravery—while the other was hated for it. With The Last Jedi, fans looked to Rian Johnson to expand on the elements they loved about Star Wars: The Force Awakens, while also introducing something new to Star Wars universe. And with Andor, fans looked for something akin to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story that still provided a thrilling watch.
There is something to say about the different expectations for these two projects. Andor was meant to explain Cassian Andor’s character and history leading up to Rogue One. But it is—in every respect—a prequel. Meanwhile, The Last Jedi was on the frontier of Star Wars, exploring the unexplored. As a sequel, it was forced to pave a new path for old and beloved characters. In both cases, they carried an enormous amount of pressure to succeed – but only one truly pulled it off.
Andor’s Timeline Made It Easier To Change Star Wars
One reason why Andor was more well-received than The Last Jedi is the fact it had more room to play with than the sequels did. At first, this might sound the opposite of what someone would expect, but Andor technically wasn’t a direct sequel to any Star Wars show. On the other hand, The Last Jedi was a direct sequel, and Rian Johnson needed to make sure The Last Jedi didn’t contradict The Force Awakens in any way, and in fact continued its story. So while Andor was free to do whatever it wanted leading up to Rogue One, The Last Jedi was shackled to follow Abrams’ film.
Despite being sandwiched between two trilogies, Andor managed to set itself apart from other Star Wars media by moving away from cameos. While Andor did include some established Star Wars characters such as Mon Mothma and Saw Gerrera, the show didn’t relegate them to a single episode or make them feel like they were inserted for fan service. Meanwhile, The Last Jedi had no choice but to showcase beloved Star Wars characters from the original trilogy. While no one can fault it for doing so, one of the biggest complaints is how the movie changed those characters.
Andor Had Different Expectations Compared To The Main Movie Series
The expectations for a great Star Wars show on Disney+ are wildly different from those for the next Star Wars movie in the main series. For one thing, there is no box office or opening night to worry about on Disney+ since everyone is watching from the comfort of their home. The stakes for Disney weren’t as high with Andor as they were with The Last Jedi since people weren’t taking the trek out to their local theater to watch Andor. If Andor had fallen below expectations – perhaps performing similarly to The Book of Boba Fett – it would merely have meant less viewership on the app.
While Andor was able to exceed expectations since they were lower in the first place, The Last Jedi had the weight of the entire Star Wars franchise on its shoulders back in 2017. And while The Last Jedi aged better than The Force Awakens, the hate for the eighth Star Wars film almost tore the community apart back when it was released. The Last Jedi challenged expectations by changing traditional Star Wars tropes. Much like Luke throwing his lightsaber away at the beginning of the film, the entire movie attempted to throw out the old in order to reinvent itself — which wasn’t what most people were expecting.
The Last Jedi Couldn’t Avoid Luke & Leia
Andor was lauded for its refusal to include popular Star Wars characters in order to bolster its cast, but The Last Jedi didn’t have this luxury. Being a sequel to The Force Awakens, the film needed to show both Luke and Leia as central heroes. Not only was it forced to show established Star Wars characters, but it needed to expound and deepen their stories. For Leia, this meant showcasing her using the Force in order to save herself from death. For Luke, it meant providing an explanation for why Luke had exiled himself to Ahch-To, boxing Johnson in and forcing him to pen a character arc that viewers didn’t respond well to. Luke’s death in The Last Jedi was perfect, but the changes to his character building up to it left a bitter taste in the mouth.
If The Last Jedi had the option to focus on sequel characters rather than tie in original characters, the public opinion of the film may have been drastically different. Luke would not have lost hope in himself and the Jedi as a whole. And while Leia would still be Force-sensitive, she wouldn’t have displayed her abilities in such an awkward fashion in the film. The majority of the complaints about The Last Jedi would be dropped if the film hadn’t changed any of the original trilogy’s characters. And given his success with the Knives Out franchise, Star Wars could still use Rian Johnson — despite backlash after The Last Jedi.
Star Wars’ Landscape Changed Between 2017 & 2022
Perhaps one of the biggest reasons why Andor’s nonconformity was more well-received than The Last Jedi’s is due to how much Star Wars content has been released in the past few years. Back in 2017, everyone was asking The Last Jedi to reinvent Star Wars, but that may not have been what viewers were actually ready for. Star Wars had only just come back with The Force Awakens and Rogue One, and it was only beginning to find its footing after being dormant for over 10 years. Instead of shaking up the Star Wars scene right away, it may have been better to play it safe (much like The Force Awakens did).
With Andor, Disney learned from The Last Jedi how to change Star Wars without being too divisive. While shows like The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi stick to the traditional Star Wars format, the tone of Andor felt more like a cyberpunk blockbuster than the average Star Wars series. The story sets an excellent standard without attempting to subvert expectations in a gimmicky way. Meanwhile, The Last Jedi attempted to shock its 2017 audience by having Luke cast aside his own lightsaber. And then revealed (rather anticlimactically) that Rey wasn’t related to anyone — despite Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker retconning this and turning her into a Palpatine and a Skywalker.
A total of four Star Wars TV shows were released in 2022 alone, one of them being Andor. Several Star Wars movies and series also released before 2022—and it’s safe to say Star Wars has found its footing with its new audience. Now that people are comfortable with new Star Wars content, Disney can get away with trying new things in a galaxy far, far away to see what does and does not stick with its audience. The landscape has changed to the point where, if Star Wars: The Last Jedi were released today, it would likely have received the same kind of reception as Andor.
