Star Wars Breaks Another George Lucas Rule, Introducing Something We Haven't Seen In The Franchise's 48 Year History

Star Wars‘ new TV show is about to break a decades-old George Lucas rule that has yet to be broken in any of Star Wars’ movies and TV shows—and there’s no way it’s what you’re thinking. There were a whole host of rules, spoken and unspoken, that George Lucas had when he created the galaxy far, far away. Many of them have been broken in more recent additions to the Star Wars timeline, such as there being no Wookiee Jedi (there have now been several Wookiee Jedi in Star Wars canon and Legends).

Carrie Fisher also famously said that George Lucas was against underwear in space, which is perhaps among the most well-known George Lucas rules from the early days. When Disney bought Star Wars, though, several things changed. Now, in the next to be released of Star Wars’ upcoming TV shows, a rule George Lucas had from the very beginning of Star Wars has been broken.

Andor Season 2 Features Sunglasses For The First Time In Star Wars History

Cassian Andor Has Been Shown Wearing Sunglasses

After 48 years, sunglasses have been introduced in Star Wars. As one eagle-eyed X user, maggiemar94, pointed out, Cassian Andor has been shown wearing sunglasses in promotional materials for the upcoming Andor season 2.

It’s particularly interesting that this change is coming in this show, not only because so much time has already passed with this rule in place, but also because it is such a direct conflict.

Andor season 2’s place in the Star Wars timeline means it is bumping right up against the original Star Wars trilogy—when the rule was created in the first place. While it may not seem all that major a change, George Lucas made this choice very intentionally. In fact, he’s spoken about his rationale for leaving sunglasses out of this galaxy.

From The Death Star To Yavin 4, Here’s Our Full Andor Season 2 Trailer Breakdown

A brand-new trailer for Star Wars’ upcoming Andor season 2 has just dropped, and it reveals so many hints about what will occur in this new season.

Why It’s Taken Star Wars So Long To Introduce Sunglasses

George Lucas Wanted Visual Continuity

This long-standing Lucas rule actually began as a rule against glasses in general, not just sunglasses. For Lucas, it was all about maintaining visual consistency, which makes sense given the emphasis on the galaxy being long ago and far away—it was meant to be entirely distinct from our reality. According to Pablo Hidalgo, a Lucasfilm creative executive, extras for Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith had to adhere to this rule, so much so that they were rushing to get fitted for contacts so that there wouldn’t be a conflict.

For Lucas, it was all about maintaining visual consistency.

Even so, glasses have crept into Star Wars canon at various points, including in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and with Doctor Pershing’s glasses in The Mandalorian. This in part comes down to the fact that Star Wars rules can be flexible. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew co-creator Christopher Ford actually spoke about this in relation to glasses directly, explaining:

“I understand the thinking behind the rules, and some of them are tighter than others, but they’re all still more like guidelines.
It used to be, ‘There are no glasses,’ and then you see glasses and stuff in some of the cartoons. We were really happy to be able to give Wim’s dad [Wendle] glasses.”

Evidently, Star Wars’ next show will be taking this one step further.

It’s important to note that, although this rule has changed, both with glasses and now sunglasses, Star Wars is still honoring Lucas’ logic for excluding glasses from the franchise. Lucas didn’t want to disrupt Star Wars’ aesthetic, and all the glasses seen thus far have been very different from real-world glasses and sunglasses. Nevertheless, Andor season 2 is clearly breaking this 48-year-old Star Wars rule.