Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy explains why there are so few aliens on the Star Wars show. Non-human characters (as they should properly be called, because everyone in Star Wars is technically an alien) have been a big part of the Star Wars universe ever since Jawas and Tusken Raiders made their debut in A New Hope. And the Disney+ Star Wars universe has featured its share of memorable non-human characters too, from Baby Yoda to Cad Bane to Ahsoka Tano.
But as many have observed since it debuted on Disney+ earlier this year, Andor has broken with Star Wars tradition by going light on aliens. Some have quibbled with the human-centric quality of Andor, but unsurprisingly, showrunner Gilroy is armed with several very good explanations for why there are so few creatures on the show. Some of these explanations are down to in-world considerations – like prison bathrooms – while others speak more to tone and intent. Check out what Gilroy had to say in the space below (via Collider):
There's some, and we'll probably have more. It's a very strong flavor when it comes in. It's not just a visual flavor, it's a very strong character flavor. You have to deal with it politically. And in some places people were saying, “Oh, why is Narkina 5 all humans?" Well, I don't know how you would work out the bathroom on the floor with eight different varieties of genitals, or whatever. I mean, it has to be that way, a system like that, maybe there's Narkina 2 where there's different things. We're probably a little bit shy about it because it's such a behavioral show and most of our principles are in this particular world. And certainly, the Empire doesn't have a surplus of aliens on their side. We will have more, and we'll have them in the appropriate places. And we try to pick our shots and make them cool, I guess. I don't know.
Why Andor Didn't Need Aliens In Season 1
As Andor is the most grounded of all the Star Wars shows so far, it’s no surprise that it has also been the most human-centric. Gilroy for his part brings up several good points about Andor’s dearth of “aliens” in his remarks. For one, the Empire has always mostly been made up of human characters (and indeed, seems to have a distaste for dealing with non-humans), so it makes sense that a show largely focused on the internal workings of the Empire would be decidedly human-centric. But more importantly, Andor is a show that is in Gilroy’s words “behavioral,” or put another way, is more about character and acting than sci-fi spectacle.
Strange creatures certainly contribute to the sense that one is visiting an exotic world. But in trying to be a more grounded show that goes deeper into what makes characters tick, Andor would have arguably been hindered rather than helped by stuffing the screen with the usual menagerie of strange Star Wars characters. CGI does allow for the creation of remarkably expressive characters, but Andor's gritty drama required good old-fashioned perceptive writing and nuanced acting, not brilliant performance-capture effects.
There are undoubtedly some Star Wars fans who lament the lack of creatures on Andor, and a case can be made that the show feels less “Star Wars” because of this lack. But the show also avoids some of the silliness than can creep in when there are too many non-human characters, or when those non-human characters are ill-conceived. And of course when Andor did use non-humans, trouble was taken to make them seem really distinctive and different from the human characters, so they didn’t serve as mere Star Wars wallpaper. But perhaps Andor season 2 will find more room for creatures, and will feel a little bit more like traditional Star Wars, for those who missed that in season 1.
Source: Collider