Andor is coming, and the ‘stop making Star Wars political’ argument is dead

The idea of Star Wars not being political has been floating around the Star Wars community for some time. Some think that because Andor is going to be a political thriller that the non-political nature of Star Wars is dead. In fact, Star Wars has always been political, just not in the way your thought.

Andor has been billed as a ‘political thriller that follows the beginning of the Rebellion. It will probably be more specifically focused on the Galactic Senate than we have experienced before and will also give us a new perspective on the Senate during the rule of the Empire. But this will be far from the first time we have seen politics have been inside Star Wars. Even the name Stromtrooper is a call back to the German Sturmtruppen groups which were formed during the First World War. Star Wars attachment to politics goes far beyond simple easter eggs, however.

The politics of the Star Wars Universe are put on full display in the prequels, with the Galatic Senate’s bureaucratic nature and unwillingness to act is one of the major influences on Padme’s decisions to free Naboo herself. The Jedi Council is suspicious of Chancellor Palpatine, and in Star Wars: The Clone Wars we get discussions of if the Republic can legally arm resistance fighters such as Saw Guerra. These are just a few of the hundreds of examples of politics being front and center in Star Wars.

But just because Star Wars has politics in its storyline doesn’t mean that the everyday party politics will infect your favorite fandom. The inclusion of politics gives the narrative of Star Wars more room to become real, more room to discuss the moral impacts of actions, and overall just become a more detailed galaxy for everyone to enjoy.

Andor’s politics will not be the downfall of Star Wars. It is just the opening of a new perspective we didn’t have before.