Andrew Stanton is a two-time Oscar winner who is might be best known for helming movies like Finding Nemo, Wall-E, and John Carter. In recent years, he's also helmed episodes of TV shows like Better Call Saul, Legion, and For All Mankind, though was enlisted as a writer on the final couple of chapters of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Stanton's name being in the Star Wars series' credits was definitely a pleasant surprise, and he's now opened up on what it was like to head into this iconic Galaxy Far, Far Away.
"That was the blessing and the curse of it," he told io9 (via SFFGazette.com) during a recent interview. "It’s like one, you’re geeking out that you get to type ‘Vader says’ this and ‘Kenobi says’ that. You pause and say ‘I can’t believe I’m actually getting paid to type this. I can’t believe these words may be said.’"
"But then another part of you, it has to go through such a rigorous like ‘Does that fit the canon?’ And I feel like it’s bittersweet. [The reason that happens is] because people care, but it also kind of doesn’t allow, sometimes, things to venture beyond where maybe they should to tell a better story. So it can sometimes really handicap what I think are better narrative options."
"And so I was frustrated sometimes - not a lot - but I just felt it wasn’t as conducive to [the story]," Stanton admitted. "So I love it when something like Andor is in a safe spot. And it can just do whatever the heck it wants...I got some moments in there that I’m very happy with."
It's interesting to see the comparison with Andor here, but one that's not overly surprising. After all, while that show needs to hit a couple of specific beats - such as Cassian meeting K-2SO for the first time - Tony Gilroy and his team are able to tell that story however they like, all while building their own history by exploring the Rebellion's formation.
Obi-Wan Kenobi, on the other hand, had to tread carefully in order to avoid contradicting anything we saw in the original Star Wars sequels. That may have been a little frustrating at times for Stanton, but he and everyone else who worked on the Disney+ series managed to pull it off in a convincing fashion.
All six episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi are now streaming on Disney+.