Andor
creator Tony Gilroy concedes that Lucasfilm was right to cut Star Wars‘ first F-bomb. The dramatic end of Andor season 1 featured a holo-recording from Fiona Shaw’s Maarva Andor, in which she inspired the people of Ferrix to rise up against the Empire. It originally featured Star Wars‘ first F-bomb, with Maarva shouting, “F*** the Empire” rather than “Fight the Empire.” DIsney cut the line late in the day, overruling director Benjamin Caron and even showrunner Tony Gilroy, who went so far as to write a legal brief trying to win the House of Mouse over.
Speaking to Mashable, Gilroy has conceded that Disney made the right call. “That one word… It was always like, ‘Hey, we’re going to put it in there, it kind of works, and here’s why we think you should do it,” Gilroy recalled. “It wasn’t a fight,” he clarified. “It was a discussion, the way it should be.” What’s more, he’s now persuaded they were right.
“The whole experience with Kathy [Kennedy, Lucasfilm president] and Lucasfilm and Disney, all the way through from Rogue One… I mean, nobody has ever messed with us at all. The gamble they’ve taken with us, the way they’ve backed our play, it’s extraordinary. It’s the thing every filmmaker dreams about.
“They’ve been unbelievable. So yeah, they were right.”
Why Disney Cut Andor’s F-Bomb
It’s worth noting Star Wars didn’t just cut Andor‘s F-bomb for censorship’s sake; it would have raised a lot of difficult questions. If the word exists in the Star Wars galaxy, why hadn’t it ever been heard before? That’s particularly problematic when you remember how much time the franchise has spent in the underworld, in everything from the Mos Eisley Cantina to Port Borgo.
Star Wars has, instead, established its own pattern of curse words. Some of them are rather amusing; the old Expanded Universe had “Emperor’s Black Bones,” for example, and I always find “Sithspit” quite entertaining. Din Djarin is well known for “dank farrik,” which has since become commonplace in the Star Wars galaxy.
Andor Season 2 Will Continue To Push The Boundaries
Gilroy is, of course, doing the rounds promoting Andor season 2 right now. There can be no doubt this will continue to push the boundaries of Star Wars as far as possible, although it’s already clear it will have a lot stronger ties to existing canon. That’s inevitable, given it is now moving into a part of the timeline that is well trod. Still, it sounds as though Andor season 2 isn’t going to give us an F-bomb – but, to be fair, it really doesn’t need it.
Source: Mashable
Andor
10/10
- Release Date
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September 21, 2022
- Network
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Disney+
- Showrunner
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Tony Gilroy
- Directors
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Susanna White
- Writers
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Dan Gilroy