Star Wars: Andor’s Tony Gilroy Admits He Reads What Fans Are Saying Online

Tony Gilroy is the current showrunner of Star Wars: Andor, the prequel series that stars Diego Luna as Cassian Andor which is meant to lead into the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Gilroy recently had a big chat with Deadline and talked about everything from his pitch for the series to the time he got a call from George Lucas. It’s no secret that fans can be toxic online, so the creative also opened up about that aspect of his job and admitted he does glimpse at what fans are saying.

“Yeah, you gotta have pretty thick skin to do that. But, I pay attention. I don’t think we made any real adjustments because of it, but it’s been interesting to watch,” Gilroy said of seeing what fans say online. “Now, I do read what they- There’s no way doing it and not being controversial. There’s no way. It’s impossible. And like, [Kathleen Kennedy] ‘s job is like… You don’t wanna be Kathy ever up on the Internet. It’s just… What she goes through and what they… And it’s been on for years…,” Gilroy added.

Interestingly, Luna said back in March that fan input has “served as inspiration” for the Andor‘s upcoming second season. 

“The second season ends where Rogue One starts,” Luna explained to Variety at the Miami Film Festival. “We’re not changing the ending of Rogue One so that’s it. It’s a nice feeling, it’s like a long film… It has a beginning and an end. We all know what’s going to happen … There’s something interesting with the second season, which is that I have a different feeling every day I go to set. Now I know, not just that the series was well received and that people liked it, but I know why they liked it. That’s another tool we have these days through social media. We actually listen to audiences and critics. We understand what things connected and what didn’t connect. It’s kind of cool to have an opportunity to go and execute another season having this information. It’s, in a way, a season that will end up representing the audience in a different way. Somehow, the audience is part of this season because the interaction we had served as inspiration.”

Luna added. “It’s been bittersweet because every day I know I’m a day closer to the end … It was really nice to approach a series knowing there’s an ending. It doesn’t happen! The new conversation on set with streaming is people talking about the possible future… Like, ‘Well, there might be a second season or a third season.’ This thing of leaving everything open I think is bringing anxiety to actors that needs to be treated. We’re all thinking about something that we can’t know.”

Will the Writers’ Strike Delay Andor Season 2?

Previously, it was reported that the second season of Andor‘s production would not be hatlted due to the WGA strike, but Gilroy announced a few days later that things had changed.

“I discontinued all writing and writing-related work on Andor prior to midnight, May 1. After being briefed on the Saturday showrunner meeting, I informed Chris Keyser at the WGA on Sunday morning that I would also be ceasing all non-writing producing functions,” Gilroy said in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. 

Stay tuned for more updates about Andor.