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Being a Star Wars fan is a lot like watching a peewee soccer game. It's a lot of fun, and even emotionally touching, so long as you don't think too hard about what's going on the field or how the game is being played. At the end of the day, you cheer for the players because they're doing their best. That's at least how I cope with the hits and misses of latter-day Star Wars. I'll take the victories of projects like Andor as they come. 

That being said, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy offered a promising picture of the future for Star Wars at a screening of the first print of Episode IV: A New Hope at BFI's Film on Film festival this past weekend. When asked about the future of Star Wars as a franchise, Kennedy brought up the innovation and creative voice that storytellers like Tony Gilroy and Jon Favreau brought to their projects like Andor and The Mandalorian, respectively.

“I really think that now we’re in a position where [projects like Andor and The Mandalorian have] broadened the possibility of stories and filmmakers we can bring in to tell stories that mean something to them," Kennedy told the audience. "It doesn’t necessarily have to connect to every little thing that's been done in Star Wars. It can actually be a standalone story like an Andor, like a Rogue One, that then builds into many, many other stories."

Andor (and by extension, Rogue One) and The Mandalorian each play with genres that were a part of George Lucas's original vision for A New Hope - the wartime political thriller and the Western. However, the critically acclaimed projects dive deeper into the roots of their chosen genres, providing a more unified creative voice. Rogue One, for example, featured beach-side action sequences that felt straight out of a World War II film set in the European Theatre, as our heroes dodged enemy fire while sand erupted around them. The effect was unusually visceral for a Star Wars film. 

It's also worth noting how Kennedy says that a "standalone" story in Star Wars still has the potential to branch out with franchises of its own. That is certainly what happened with Andor spinning out of Rogue One. Does this mean that Lucasfilm is ready to leave the Skywalker Saga behind for good? (Well, beyond the in-development Rey New Jedi Order movie, of course.) I should hope so, because I've been standing here for the past year devouring all the High Republic novels, screaming about how badly I'd like to see my favorite Jedi Elzar Mann in a Lucasfilm project. Like with peewee soccer, you've got to take baby steps. 

Get to know, understand, and love the Star Wars franchise more with our Star Wars watch order, guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies & TV shows, and all the Star Wars movies and Star Wars TV shows ranked.