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Disney adds Andor to Hulu, puts three episodes up for free on YouTube, in attempt to lure new subscribers to Star Wars' most acclaimed show

Will Apple's successful Severance gambit work out for Disney and Star Wars?

Disney+ is so determined to convince viewers that Andor is quality drama, that it’s letting the show escape the platform to spread the word by itself. Ahead of the April 22 debut of the Star Wars show’s second season, Lucasfilm and Disney+ are pushing the first season out to new audiences on new platforms.

The complete first season of the acclaimed show has been temporarily added to Hulu through April 22, with the first three episodes also added to Disney+’s YouTube account (presumably also for a temporary period, although that’s not been made clear by Disney as of writing). The promotional move comes at a time when Disney+ is promoting the second season not as a Star Wars show, but as a piece of quality television that was “hailed by critics everywhere,” spotlighting praise from outlets as diverse as Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, and The Verge, underscoring that Disney is clearly looking at Andor’s second season as a potential draw for new Disney+ subscribers if only they got to sample the show for themselves.

There’s some evidence this kind of marketing works; it’s not dissimilar to how Apple TV+ promoted the second season of Severance, leading to a significant bump in viewership not only for both seasons of Severance, but Apple TV+ as a whole.

If nothing else, Disney bringing Andor out from behind the Disney+ paywall — and making the first three episodes entirely free online — speaks to the confidence felt about Andor’s return, and the potential it has to change people’s opinions about both Star Wars and Disney+ if only they got to see it for themselves. The real question is… will it convince enough people to sign up to Disney+ for the second season to be considered a success and a repeatable phenomenon?

We have about a month to find out. Andor season 2 debuts April 22.


 


Get to know, understand, and love the Star Wars franchise more with our Star Wars watch order, guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies & TV shows, and all the Star Wars movies and Star Wars TV shows ranked.

Graeme McMillan

Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.

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