Do we like Andy Weir?
Our score: 7 out of 10. A clean record on harm and a small, quickly apologised-for stain on manners, with thin evidence of good works beyond the books.
Weir spent about 25 years as a computer programmer before writing took over. The Martian became a Ridley Scott film with Matt Damon, and Project Hail Mary followed in 2021. He's the nerd's nerd of science fiction: all orbital maths and problem-solving, not much preaching.
The Star Trek stoush is the main blemish. On the Critical Drinker podcast he said Paramount turned down his Trek pitch, called Kurtzman a nice person, then trashed most of Kurtzman's shows with a swear word. The backlash came over the weekend, mostly about tone, and author Don Winslow told him he owed Kurtzman an apology.
He did apologise, and quickly. In an open letter on Facebook he said his quotes were taken out of context, that he was trying to be funny, and that it came off as disrespectful and mean. TrekMovie notes he didn't retract his criticism of the shows themselves. That's fair: dissing a TV show is allowed, but being rude about a bloke's work is a bit much.
On the harm test, nothing turned up. Weir says he doesn't put current events into his stories and has said his books carry no message, and he has called humans a very good species. He did express doubts, in a 2017 or 2018 interview, about Star Trek taking on social issues. That's a taste in storytelling and not an attack on any group. I found no campaigning against LGBTQ+ people, migrants or science, and no dodgy collaborators.
After the Star Trek row, an old interview resurfaced in which he said he dislikes social commentary. Elon Musk replied on X with “Good for him”. That was Musk's reaction, not anything Weir did or asked for, so it doesn't count against him.
The good stuff is thin on paper. There are no big-ticket charity records that I could find. In March 2026 he recorded a video message for I Love Libraries praising what libraries offer. The main thing he's given people is books that make science feel like an adventure, and the Project Hail Mary film has been a huge hit.