Nowadays, it’s expected that the creatives in charge of bringing beloved pop culture properties to the screen are also fans of said properties. And when they aren’t, it immediately causes an uproar, like when “The Acolyte” featured non-“Star Wars” fans on its writing staff. But many times, this lack of attachment to the source material proves to be the secret ingredient behind the best adaptations. Take “Andor,” for instance. Creator Tony Gilroy repeatedly confessed to not being a lifelong “Star Wars” fan, resulting in arguably the single greatest piece of “Star Wars” media of all time. Similarly, Christopher Nolan not being a huge Batman nerd led to him making some of the best comic book movies ever with his Dark Knight trilogy.

Essentially, being detached from a property frees up creatives to focus on telling the best story they can without worrying about trying to please fans with endless cameos and fan service. This is why “Andor” avoided shoehorning in well-known villains like Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine or more obscure, Glup Shitto-style characters.