Why Dave Filoni’s Star Wars Vision Could Spell Trouble for Andor Fans

Here we go: the changing of the guard over at Lucasfilm. Kathleen Kennedy's time in charge is winding down, and (film Twitter, brace yourselves) Dave Filoni is officially moving up—he's stepping in as both president and chief creative officer. If you've been following the Star Wars office drama, you probably saw rumor smoke rising for months. Now it's real. Meanwhile, Lynwen Brennan will handle the business side. It's basically the old Kevin-Feige-at-Marvel setup, but with more cowboy hats and fewer spandex suits.

None of this is exactly shocking: Filoni's been George Lucas's handpicked Padawan for years, and he gets along with fans way better than most Disney-era creatives. For once, the fandom seemed mostly happy about the news. But, as usual, it's Star Wars, so good vibes can only last for about five minutes.

Wait—Filoni Doesn't Like Andor?

Here's where things get a little spicy. According to The Wrap, there's talk that Filoni isn't actually a fan of Andor. If that's true (and, credit where it's due, The Wrap's source is anonymous so we can't prove it's true), it's a weird revelation—mainly because Andor is, for a lot of us, the absolute high point of the Disney+ Star Wars era.

In case you somehow missed it, Andor took the galaxy far, far away and gave it a serious injection of grown-up stress: it's a slow-burn spy thriller with real stakes and actual politics, not just pew-pew dogfights. People who want more of that kind of Star Wars got nervous when the report broke.

Andor—The Outlier That Worked

To put this in context: Andor is not really a typical Star Wars show. For one thing, Tony Gilroy (the writer behind the Bourne movies) was running things, and it feels more like high-tension political TV than the usual space wizard adventures.

• Why Andor stands out: It's edgier, digs into fascism and rebellion, and actually builds a world that feels lived-in and plausible.
• Kathleen Kennedy deserves some credit here, since she let Gilroy run with his vision—even when he was ready to walk away, she kept backing the show to the finish line.
• Numbers-wise, it's not just critics: Andor pulls an 8.6 on IMDb, a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, and even the 'audience' score is above average for Star Wars.

If Filoni isn't a fan, you have to wonder what that means. Because without someone like Kennedy making risky calls, would a weird, bold, slow-burn show like this even get made? Or are we heading for 'safe' interconnected storytelling... again?

Should Star Wars Get the Marvel Treatment?

I'll be honest—if you've watched Disney's Star Wars and Marvel output, you know exactly what I'm getting at: everything starts to look and sound the same. The MCU problem. Filoni’s built up his own mini-empire with animated series and, more recently, Ahsoka and The Mandalorian. And while he's genuinely good at getting fans on his side, there's a fair question here: are we about to lose shows with their own vibe and get 'the Star Wars look,' episode after episode?

There's one bright spot in all the PR spin. Filoni actually described his new gig to Variety pretty humbly—he likened it to being a member of the Jedi Council:

"I’m not telling people what to do. But I do feel I’m trying to help them tell the best story that they want to tell. I need to be a help across the galaxy here, like a part of a Jedi Council almost"

Translation: he's saying he wants to nurture different voices, not just force everyone into the same box. We'll see if that holds up after studio notes hit the writers' rooms.

What Happens Next?

So what's coming for Star Wars? The Starfighter project and a Mandalorian movie are supposedly next in the pipeline, both started under Kennedy, so we'll get a real test of how much Filoni's new leadership style changes things soon. If you loved that Andor energy—grown-up themes, unique look, a story that wasn't just filling in timeline gaps—yeah, you might want to prepare for fewer of those and more familiar faces crossing over.

But, again, Filoni has surprised before. If Star Wars is overdue for surprises, at least we know what 'the safe route' looks like—and it ain't Andor.

Andor is streaming on Disney+, and if you haven't watched it, now's a good time to see what all the fuss is about.

Have opinions about Filoni taking the big chair? Hit the comments—I'm genuinely curious where fans are landing on this.