The things that make this whole project concerning to me are:

The overuse of the deepfake tech; it’s really not as exciting to me as it is for a lot of folks out there. It’s actually downright creepy. Like, this tech really is a godsend for fanedits, but to fill a major role in a movie??? The reason we like these characters in the first place is because real actors acted real human emotions. Just recast if you need to have Luke or whoever in a major role… It was dystopian in RO, Mando S2 and BOBF, it will be that much more so if CG Luke is a main character in this. Even if he’s a cameo, actually.

Thrawn. The other reason we like these characters, and the entire reason anybody is excited to see the blue guy is Zahn’s writing. The way he was written, and, in fact, how perfectly Zahn’s mystery-detective-plans-within-plans writing style lends itself to this type of character, is the reason I and others gasped at the name drop in that Mando S2 episode, it’s the reason live action Pellaeon made some people (ok maybe also me…) giddy. But save for cheap nostalgia of better times past, none of this matters and none of this will stick, unless he is written with those same sensibilities. (I know Zahn is “consulting” Filoni for this project, and I hope that’s enough…)

I had nothing to anticipate, no character’s return (except maybe the moon mother), no cool new lightsabers or anything, in the run-up for Andor. And yet it’s the best show to come out of this franchise precisely because of smart writing and good direction, in every single scene, every single character. The Mandoverse is not the same, but at least Filoni has Lucas’ mythological trope sensibilities, which makes it worth watching despite the cookie cutter dialogue and action (okay, the action is sometimes pretty dope too). This will not translate for Thrawn, but I am still looking forward to this and Thrawn’s return and so on, I very much hope they stick it. I felt these concerns are worth noting down here, and I hope to eat my words when this releases