Andor remains one of the Star Wars universe’s most well-liked recent releases.
The series garnered instant praise for its rich and mature storytelling, particularly when compared against alternate Star Wars series like The Book of Boba Fett. Despite high acclaim, and a genuinely wonderful execution, we’re not sure if Andor quite deserves to be compared to one of cinema’s greatest releases of all time.
Some viewers are still determined to draw parallels between the sci-fi series and one of history’s greatest movies, of course, because Star Wars fans simply cannot be stopped. Nor can MCU fans, if the recent re-emergence of a years-old beef is any indication. A chunk of the cinematic universe’s massive fandom is fixated on the notable absence of Iron Man’s most iconic villain, rubbing salt in a wound that can no longer heal.
Their complaints will soon be joined by fresh protests from another chunk of the MCU fanbase, following news that Brie Larson may not even be the lead in the second Captain Marvel film. Titled The Marvels, it was clear the movie always intended to focus in on several different characters, but a fresh theory places Larson in a fully background role, yielding the spotlight to one of the film’s Marvel-ous additions.
Brie Larson may not be the lead character in The Marvels
The Brie Larson hate train was fully loaded and ready when the first trailer for The Marvels dropped on April 11. For some reason, the internet absolutely loves to target the Oscar-winning actress, and the recent trailer gave them their latest opportunity.
In the wake of the trailer’s release, a rumor — started by the notoriously-unreliable Grace Randolph — began to swirl, claiming that Larson is no longer the lead actor in the Marvels franchise. That role apparently goes to Teyonah Parris’s Monica Rambeau in The Marvels, an idea that Larson’s many detractors instantly seized on. Its not unreasonable to think that Carol’s arc will take a backseat to Monica’s, given that she’s the only addition to the superpowered trio without a dedicated origin story. Sure, we learned more about her in WandaVision, but Carol got her own movie and Kamala got a solo Disney Plus series. It’s completely reasonable to assume its Monica’s turn to shine, but twisting that into a Larson insult is taking things a bit far.
MCU fans are still salty about the lack of an iconic villain
The MCU has worked hard to create a distinction between itself and the comics its based around, but fans are still occasionally rankled by major changes made to existing material. Perhaps one of the most egregious examples of this cropped up in the franchise’s flagship series. Iron Man has faced off against quite a few villains over the years, but his greatest foe — in comics, at least — is undeniably the Mandarin.
The iconic character is inarguably Iron Man’s greatest nemesis, in comics canon, but his presence in the MCU is exceedingly bare. In fact, it’s essentially non-existent, at least where Tony is concerned. The character eventually made his way to the franchise, but not before a bait-and-switch baffled fans and robbed Tony of the chance to ever face off against his major comic book foe.
No, Andor is not the ‘sci-fi Shawshank Redemption‘
Andor is considered by many Star Wars fans to be one of the franchise’s greatest offerings, but sometimes the praise goes a step too far. Like when fans insist on comparing specific episodes of the series to one of history’s greatest cinematic accomplishments. There’s no denying the quality of Andor, and its entirely fair to find comparisons between it and iconic pieces of cinematic history, but brazenly placing it alongside The Shawshank Redemption, a film that maintains as IMDb’s top-rated movie of all time, is a bit of a stretch.
