The consensus surrounding Kathleen Kennedy‘s Star Wars run has been pretty mixed, much of it stemming from the divisive reception to the Sequel series. Although Kennedy’s run was not immune to lows, it would be disingenuous to discredit her achievements, especially with Andor, arguably the best Star Wars project to get materialized under the Disney machine.
While Kennedy was subject to intense scrutiny from the Star Wars fandom, Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy credited the legendary producer for allowing them full creative control and forcing the show to happen (via Vanity Fair).
She protected the show and protected me and wrangled a team together. When we started challenging Kathy, Kathy just kept saying yes. ‘Oh, I’m going to put the first scene in a brothel.’ ‘Okay.’ ‘I’m going to have them kill two cops.’ ‘Okay.’ ‘We want the production designer from Chernobyl.’ ‘Okay, good idea’… There’s no show without her. For all the sh-t that she takes online, it’s just insane. This show exists because she forced it to happen. What a tough job she has, man.
Considering how relevant the show feels following its themes of fascism, bureaucracy, and rebellion, in the current socio-political climate, it remains a cornerstone in her Star Wars legacy.
MovieIMDbTomatometer | PopcornmeterAndor8.696% | 89%
Kathleen Kennedy Was Instrumental to Andor‘s Production
Credit: Youtube/@ScreenSlam
Not only did the Lucasfilm head, who will be leaving the studio this week, push for absolute creative freedom for the creators, but she was also instrumental in the show’s very creation.
Tony Gilroy previously admitted that, for a long time, he considered stepping away from the Rogue One prequel, as he heavily doubted its potential for success. Kathleen Kennedy, however, successfully persuaded the Bourne writer to continue the show.
There was a period of time where I really wanted the show to die and I wanted to get out of it. When COVID came, I thought, Oh, thank God. COVID will kill the show, and I won’t have to do it. So there was a long period of time where I was like, I can’t believe she got me into this.
Does the existence of Andor completely absolve her tenure despite its shortcomings? Not entirely, but this achievement certainly deserves recognition.
What’s Next for Star Wars After the Kathleen Kennedy Era
A still from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker | Credit: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
It’s easy to see where most of the criticisms surrounding Kennedy’s handling of the IP comes from, and there’s an argument to be made that the constant churn of streaming shows did hurt the prestige surrounding the franchise. However, it’s more a matter of the Disney suits than Kenney alone, as it was a corporate decision to push an influx of releases from its flagship IPs for its streaming platform, thereby robbing a lot of its big-screen prestige.
There’s a reason why George Lucas appointed Kennedy as the head of Lucasfilm 14 years ago, as she is responsible for producing some of the greatest movies in history, like Back to the Future, Schindler’s List and E.T. As for what’s next, Dave Filoni, notable for Ahsoka, will be stepping in as the next president and chief creative officer at Lucasfilm, with Lynwen Brennan set to handle the business side of things.
This new dynamic resembles James Gunn and Peter Safran’s leadership model, with one figure focused on the creative direction, and the other set to steer the business front to steer the IP into a fresh direction. Despite the turnaround, the previously announced projects under Kennedy’s tenure, including The Mandalorian and Grogu, as well as the Ryan Gosling-led Star Wars: Starfighter, will still release in their slated window.
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Andor is currently streaming on Disney+.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
