Credit: LucasfilmLucasfilm seems eager to grab any viewers for a new Star Wars series but is making a massive mistake in the process.
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Unlike The Mandalorian or any other Star Wars series, Diego Luna’s Andor struggled to maintain a consistent viewership. Part of the reason is the marketing, as several mainstream fans have no idea who Cassian Andor is or don’t care to see a series dedicated to him as he only appeared as a supporting character in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016).
Tony Gilroy still managed to get a faithful group of fans to watch the series every week, and those who do watch strongly believe it is some of the best Star Wars from Disney. The problem isn’t that the series is divisive but that not enough fans are watching.
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Star Wars plans to change this by bringing the first two episodes onto cable TV on certain channels starting on November 23. Earlier today, Disney announced that the series would appear on Hulu and Fox, ABC, and Freeform TV. While fans might be excited to see the two episodes for themselves without getting Disney+, fans might not see why fans are raving about Andor.
Lucasfilm released the first 3 episodes of Andor on the same day for a reason. Sure, the series was delayed a few weeks, but that decision helped prove to fans that Andor was worth watching. The third episode is a culmination of a story arc with Cassian that provides some of the better moments early on in the season.
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Unfortunately, the first two episodes are slower, more methodical, and won’t immediately grab fans who are on the fence about the series. By having just the two episodes on TV, more fans will see the start of the Andor season and won’t get Disney+ because they’ll just assume the whole series is boring.
If Disney wanted to bring in more viewers, they should’ve included the third episode or made a bigger push in the beginning to have some cameo to draw fans in. Andor does have its fair share of cameos, but Gilroy doesn’t believe in fanservice, meaning that all characters in the story are there for a reason.
Andor could’ve teased more of Forest Whittaker’s Saw Gerrera at the beginning of the season, and more fans might’ve been interested, but the easiest solution would be to release the third episode with the first two. Fans would only see less than a third of the series and have enough interest afterward to watch the rest of the season.
Sadly, Disney won’t be breaking many records with viewership for Andor, as the series reportedly has less demand than Tales of the Jedi, released a few weeks ago. That doesn’t mean that Andor couldn’t win any awards, as the show boasts stunning visuals with some of the best acting in Star Wars, meaning that Disney might bring some trophies.
More on Andor
Here’s an official synopsis for the new Star Wars series:
Andor, a tense nail-biting spy thriller created by Tony Gilroy, is set to arrive on Disney+ in 2022. Diego Luna, reprising the role of rebel spy Cassian Andor from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, will be joined by a fantastic new cast that includes Stellan Skarsgård, Adria Arjona, Fiona Shaw, Denise Gough, Kyle Soller and Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma.
Do you think Disney should only release the first 2 episodes of Andor? Let us know what you think!