Andor Creator Tony Gilroy Has A Theory About Why Marvel Movies Fail [Exclusive]

If there's anything linking "Star Wars" and the Marvel Cinematic Universe together (other than them both being owned by one of the largest conglomerates on the planet, of course), it might be the malleable filmmaking process for any given movie or show. The superhero franchise has become renowned for entering into production without a finished script on a routine basis, as anyone who watched "Captain America: Brave New World" can attest. Meanwhile, that galaxy far, far away has encountered similar challenges in recent years; there's a reason why there hasn't been a single "Star Wars" movie in theaters since the debacle of "Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker," after all.

"Andor" was meant to be a completely different change of pace, and season 2 certainly lived up to those expectations ... but even this almost universally-acclaimed series had to undergo its own growing pains in order to transform into this final, polished achievement. During a recent zoom interview with /Film's Ben Pearson, creator Tony Gilroy found certain parallels between the original conception of "Andor" prior to his involvement and the Marvel movies of recent vintage. When asked about how "Andor" was first pitched as a sort of buddy-cop adventure between Diego Luna's Cassian Andor and Alan Tudyk's droid K-2SO, Gilroy didn't hesitate to explain why he chose a much different path:

"In the show, it's perfect. [K-2SO's late introduction was] something I always intended. The versions that they had of the show prior, they were slick and they were interesting. They were not bad, but they had a fatal flaw, it seemed to me, which is if that's your show, that we're going to storm the Citadel in the pilot, what are you going to do in episode 9? What do you do? You're just going to keep getting the disc?"

With that reference to storming the Citadel and getting the disc, Gilroy seems to be referring to an iteration of "Andor" that was initially more episodic and focused on MacGuffins ... perhaps taking too much inspiration from the final act of "Rogue One," perhaps? That sparked another realization on Gilroy's part in the interview, in fact, and he went on to pinpoint exactly how this intersects with some of the troubles of the MCU.

With the screenplays for thrillers like "Michael Clayton" and the original "Bourne" trilogy under his belt, Tony Gilroy knows a thing or two about how to write movies. By all accounts, his involvement on "Rogue One" helped save a profoundly troubled production, and, obviously, his work on "Andor" speaks for itself. So, when he takes direct aim at even one of the most successful Marvel movies ever, well, we're inclined to listen. While speaking to /Film, Gilroy went on to describe how the initial pitch for "Andor" (likely by original showrunner Stephen Schiff) also embodied the broader problems with Marvel overall. Amusingly, he couldn't quite remember the central plot device at the heart of 2012's "The Avengers" off the top of his head, but it's clear why his allusion to "getting the disc" would instantly remind him of the MCU in the very next breath:

"Trying to get the, what do they call it? I can't remember the name of the box. What the f*** is the name of the box in 'The Avengers'? What the f*** are they going for? [...] The Tesseract! That's why all those Marvel movies are all — that's why they fail. You're just constantly ... if that's all you're doing, then all you're doing is just trying to get the Tesseract."

While this might seem like a hot take at first blush, Gilroy is 100% correct to call out this franchise for relying on the exact same storytelling approach over and over again. There's nothing inherently wrong with MacGuffins, but so many of the Marvel movies that followed "The Avengers" seemed completely preoccupied with their own takes on the Tesseract — which, of course, turned out to be nothing more than various Infinity Stones. To be fair, this is probably only one reason why the MCU eventually suffered a steep decline. But if "Andor" took a page out of a similar playbook, it's safe to say the series wouldn't have reached anywhere near the level of greatness that it ultimately has.

"Andor" season 2 is now streaming on Disney+ in its entirety. Be sure to check out our full interview with Gilroy.