I like how some are implying that the original movie was more adult. It wasn’t. Lucas’s target audience was always about 11 for the movies. I feel the target audience for this one is more like 20. I grew up in the 70’s and many of the things in Star Wars are reflected in the movies and TV shows of that time. Evening TV had to be family rated, even the adult shows. That is the feeling of Star Wars. It is something that Lucas and Disney have always aligned on. Firmly Friendly entertainment that has something for the younger viewers and layers that only adults will get.
Today is a much different world and Andor is probably the first Star Wars series intended for an older audience. I’d say that The Mandalorian was a little more adult, but mostly Star Wars had just had hints of this world, even while dealing with a rebellion. I mean, how many millions died on the two Death Stars? Was that ever mentioned. No. Only that Darth Vader and the Emperor were ruthless in their control and rule of the galaxy. Vader was the face of evil, but on the grand scale of things, Darth Vader wasn’t seen to do much that was evil. His stormtroopers frying Owen and Beru is probably the worst thing in the original trilogy, but he didn’t do that himself.
It’s not only for kids. It’s for anyone who likes it. The original trilogy features plenty of violence, amputations, torture, death, destruction, and slavery. It’s an adventure story with a more youthful bent to it, and the toy sales are going to be driven by kids (or they were anyway,) but it was intentionally made to appeal to everyone. It’s a universal story. Even if you follow the logic that the target is 11, by the time ESB and ROTJ come out, those original fans are 16 or 17.
With that said, Andor is going for a different tone. But I don’t think it’s necessarily just “darker” like people are saying.