With Andor Season 2 on the horizon, anticipation is building for the return of what many consider the best Star Wars series under Disney’s banner. The first season stood apart from the franchise in many ways with its storytelling and grounded realism.
It was the first Star Wars project to drop an explicit curse word, with the use of “shit,” but it nearly went further. Had things gone Tony Gilroy’s way, Andor would have also been the first to drop an F-bomb.
That moment was set to come during Maarva’s impassioned holographic message, when she rallies the people of Ferrix against Imperial oppression. As fans speculated, the line “Fight the Empire” was originally something a little more intense.
Recently, in an interview with Mashable, Gilroy confirmed: “That one word… It was always like, ‘Hey, we’re going to put it in there, it kind of works, and here’s why we think you should do it.’”
Gilroy didn’t toss the idea around casually. He was so convinced that “F*ck the Empire” was the right choice that he wrote a detailed, multipage argument explaining why it belonged in Andor. Despite his efforts, Lucasfilm wasn’t convinced, and the line was changed.
One might assume that Gilroy, known for his sharp storytelling instincts, would be frustrated by the decision. But, surprisingly, he now sees it differently. Reflecting on the discussions with Lucasfilm, he said:
“It wasn’t a fight. It was a discussion, the way it should be… They were right.”
He believes that using the F-bomb might have overshadowed the weight of the moment itself. It would have been an unforgettable scene, sure, but for the wrong reasons. Instead of being absorbed in the rebellion’s message, audiences might have fixated on Star Wars breaking a linguistic barrier.
He went on to talk about working with Kathleen Kennedy, saying: “The whole experience with Kathy [Kennedy, Lucasfilm president] and Lucasfilm and Disney, all the way through from Rogue One… I mean, nobody has ever messed with us at all.
“The gamble they’ve taken with us, the way they’ve backed our play, it’s extraordinary. It’s the thing every filmmaker dreams about.”
It’s a rare thing to hear a creator admit the studio made the right call, especially when they were so invested in the original vision. But Andor was never about shock value, it was about telling a great and authentic story. And in the end, that’s exactly what it delivered.
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