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You probably didn’t think about this, but when season two of Andor ended in May 2025, it brought a close to a whole new era of Star Wars. Six years had passed since the release of The Rise of Skywalker, and the franchise had since changed drastically, becoming primarily an in-home, streaming experience. Some of those were great, others were not so great, but when the credits rolled on Andor, which was almost undoubtedly the best of the bunch, we wondered, is it ever going to be this good again?
Yoda once said that the future is difficult to see because it’s always in motion, and for Star Wars, that has absolutely been the case. Over the past six years, movie after movie has been announced or rumored, but only two have begun to come to fruition. One, 2026’s The Mandalorian and Grogu, is a product of that new streaming Star Wars era; the other, 2027’s Star Wars: Starfighter, seems to be removed from everything else entirely.
We don’t know much about either of those movies, but it’s easy to be pessimistic about them. We loved early seasons of The Mandalorian, but as the show moved along, it became less concerned with character and more concerned with fan service. Its big-screen adaptation featuring the son of Jabba the Hutt doesn’t exactly scream “excitement” quite yet. Starfighter is still too far away to pass much judgment on, but not everyone is as excited about co-writer and director Shawn Levy getting the keys to the franchise as others.
And yes, 2026 is also going to include a brand-new Darth Maul animated series and the second season of Ahsoka, the live-action continuation of the excellent animated series Star Wars Rebels. Both could potentially be fantastic, but if the past few years have taught Star Wars fans anything, it’s to be cautious with their optimism.
That wasn’t the case, however, with Andor. After watching the incredible first season of the show, not a single Star Wars fan doubted creator Tony Gilroy and his team. Everyone understood with a set-in-stone endpoint of Rogue One hanging out there, he was going to deliver something dramatic, dynamic, and awesome. Which is exactly what he did.
Over the course of 12 episodes, Andor season two basically gave us four new Star Wars movies. Each three-episode arc had its own tone, feeling, and themes. Some of it was a bit more of that traditional, exciting Star Wars. Other times, we watched in shock and awe at the brutality of the Empire. Some moments filled us with pure exhilaration, satisfaction, and resolution. Others made us feel complexities that seemed almost too rich for Star Wars. Who can forget the scene with Mon Mothma dancing at her daughter’s wedding? On the surface, it’s cool and fun. The music is pumping. The editing is fast and slick. But the audience knows she’s just done something unforgivable, and it changes the scene entirely.
So, if Andor proved that Star Wars is still capable of such brilliance, why do we all still feel so uncertain about the future? Several factors come into play. Though Andor was a Star Wars prequel, it mostly stayed away from major connections, instead telling its own, focused story. But that focused story stood in for everything Star Wars is about—heroism, rebellion, sacrifice—while also giving fans a glimpse into something bigger. The show found a balance of showing the origin of the Rebel Alliance, the key faction of the original Star Wars films, through a story and characters largely untethered from everything else.
Oh sure, a few characters crossed over and the Death Star was in there, but very little that happened on Andor needed homework to understand. In fact, you didn’t even need to watch Star Wars to find the joy and emotion in Andor. It was all there for anyone to see. It just so happened to be Star Wars.
Which, in a way, sounds kind of like what Starfighter is trying to do, does it not? A story set in the Star Wars universe that’s meant to feel like “Star Wars” but doesn’t require a Star Wars collection to understand. It’s also largely what The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew tried to do, with mixed results. So, maybe the positive reaction to Andor has finally unlocked the code that Lucasfilm has been looking for. One that seems, on the surface, simple and obvious. Good stories, good characters, in a galaxy far, far away. If those stories and characters connect? Great. But that shouldn’t be the baseline. The quality of Andor should be the baseline.
Andor shows that, difficult as it might be to crack, there is a way for Star Wars to be great once again. The show may have ended an era of Star Wars dedicated to the small screen, but its mere existence, hopefully, set the stage for the new era to come, both in movie theaters and at home.
Or, maybe Andor was the end of good Star Wars, but we hope not. Hopefully, it has shown us the way forward. And, don’t forget, rebellions are built on hope.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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