Is Andor Finally Catching On With Star Wars Fans?

Andor is now the most watched series on Disney+, which is a big improvement from where the Star Wars series started off.

By Mark McKee | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

Star Wars is a sprawling franchise that includes the Skywalker Saga, comprising nine films over five decades, including the original trilogy, prequel trilogy, and sequel trilogy. When Disney bought the franchise from George Lucas, they immediately recognized the opportunities a sprawling universe of many different characters, storylines, and histories offers. The company expanded the universe with prequel movies like Rogue One and Solo and gave them the Marvel Cinematic Universe treatment by developing limited series such as Obi-Wan KenobiBook of Boba Fett, and The Mandalorian. While their newest Star Wars series, Andor, struggled out of the gate, the streaming numbers from Flix Patrol seem to show it is starting to land with fans. 

According to Flix Patrol, the Star Wars series Andor became the number one viewed TV show on Disney+ this week, lifting it up three spots from the number four place from last week. The number two spot belongs to the animated Bluey, which is also up a spot from last week as well. The number three and four places are held by the previous week’s number one and two in The Simpsons and Dancing with the Stars.

The rest of Disney+’s top ten are held by Mickey Mouse PlayhouseStar Wars: Tales of the JediShe-Hulk: Attorney at LawMarvel’s Spidey and his Amazing FriendsJessie, and Bear and the Big Blue House

Star Wars has been one of the most successful franchises of all time, and Andor is a natural progression as we dig deeper into the history, lore, and developments of the wars between the Empire and the Rebellion. The series follows Cassian Andor (Diego Luna reprising his role from Rogue One) years before his involvement in the heist to steal the plans to the Death Star.

The film answered many questions that Star Wars fans have been asking since the release of Star Wars: A New Hope. Like how did the Rebellion come by the plans that allowed the battle of Yavin to take place, and why would any self-respecting empire build an ultimate weapon with such an apparent weakness like a two-meter vent that any young and inexperienced Jedi can fly up to with the help of a scoundrelly friend?

star wars andor
Diego Luna and Faye Marsay in Andor

The first season of the new Star Wars series to follow Andor takes fans back to five years before the heist that saw Cassian and the rest of the team meet their demise, chronicling the beginnings of the Rebellion and taking us back to when hope was a rare thing. While the series was landing with critics–Rotten Tomatoes shows the last four episodes consecutively hit 100% ratings while the others have stayed above 90%–it wasn’t catching the attention of the fans. Maybe it was competing with the likes of Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, which ended up with a perfect rating, and that is the culprit.

In any case, some rich story ideas could come to pass for Cassian, and we have five seasons before he is set to join the heist mission.