Andor Has Broken A Very Odd Record
Star Wars Andor used the first profanity in the franchise's history.
For the very first time in the history of the Star Wars franchise, the dialogue included an explicit word. Fans of the Star Wars Andor series heard one of the characters use the word “sh*t,” The Direct reports. This is the first time the family-friendly franchise has used such an expletive.
In previous installments, words like “bastard” and “damn” were used in a franchise that managed action without violence. Lightsabers may cut off limbs or even sever a Sith’s torso, but there’s no gore. Deaths are heroic and epic, keeping with the operatic theme of the story of the battle between the Empire and the Rebellion.
The show has dealt with mature themes, however. Audiences (and even Darth Vader himself) were famously shocked when Darth Vader revealed his true identity to Luke Skywalker. Anakin Skywalker falls to the Dark Side because of the murder of his mother by Tusken Raiders.
More recent entries into the franchise also have their mature moments. Everyone was affected by the deaths of original franchise favorites Han Solo and Princess Leia. The cast of Rogue One races headlong into a suicide mission, chronicled up to the moment of their deaths.
Star Wars Andor was already different from the rest of the series in that it surpassed these themes and got a little darker and more serious. It still maintains the TV-14 rating that is standard for the family-friendly franchise but depicts darker parts of the era of the Skywalkers through its doomed hero, Cassian Andor. The story is a spy thriller that takes place before the titular character is killed in Rogue One, and shows viewers a criminal underworld during the height of the Empire’s reign.
Since the first Star Wars movie in 1977, the franchise has used in-world phrases, such as “poodoo” or “bantha fodder” in place of most expletives. The use of the word “sh*t” in Star Wars Andor is the first time in 45 years they’ve broken this language convention, a record no one expected. Is this a hint of more adult Star Wars content in the future?
Disney has owned the Star Wars universe for a decade, and the two brands go well together since they are meant to appeal to children as well as adults. Much of the marketing and merchandise is aimed at younger viewers, and Disney is unlikely to jeopardize that. However, Star Wars Andor is on Disney+, the company’s family entertainment streaming service, and has not been afraid to explore R-rated territory in other family franchises or expand boundaries in real life.
No matter the dialogue, the Star Wars universe is a rich tapestry of intrigue, adventure, and magic, but viewers were introduced to the Rebel Alliance by way of its central planners and strategists. Star Wars Andor shows us the parts of the Empire that gave rise to the Rebellion in all its ugliness, the parts away from princesses and well after the Jedi were all but eradicated. This is already new territory for the franchise, hinting that there is a lot more to explore in the galaxy far, far away.
