The rebellion is about to kick into a higher gear over on Disney+ once Lucasfilm drops its latest television series Andor, focused on Diego Luna’s heroic character from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Given what happened to all of the characters at the end of Rogue One, the story in Andor needs to be a prequel, explaining to the audience all of the elements that occurred that drove Cassian Andor (Luna) into a life of crime in opposition to the Empire. That gets spelled out in this full trailer, as well as a few other key details that we will get into on the other side of the tease. Give the above clip a watch!
If I’m being totally honest, that Andor trailer is the best piece of Star Wars marketing I have seen, probably since any of the early Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailers. And this is the first project SINCE Star Wars returned with J.J. Abrams’ movie that I’m genuinely excited for based solely on the quality of what is being shown. Even if the story results in a Rogue One 2.0 approach, this time focusing on Cassian Andor as opposed to Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), the time period before the original Star Wars, when the Empire was thriving and the “Haves vs. Have Nots” dichotomy was in full swing, is a terrific field to plow, so I can’t wait to see how this series attacks it.
As with Rogue One, the new Andor series chooses to wallow in the ground-level existence of freedom fighters pushing back against the grotesque excess of the Empire. We witness outmatched citizens staring up at skies that are completely clogged with Star Destroyers, and the beginnings of the effort of a child thief to infiltrate the Empire and possibly take them down from within.
The “Trojan Horse” aspect to Andor is a new one to explore, as we see shots of Diego Luna in military garb, knowing full well that he is siding with the rebellion, and plans to take the Empire down through its own systems. But as with the recent Obi-Wan Kenobi series, and even The Mandalorian, the joy of Andor appears to be the new characters that we are meeting in the Star Wars universe, including a mysterious figure named Luthen, who is played by the always magnificent Stellan Skarsgard. I’m trying to figure out the game that he is playing in this trailer, but I think we won’t know the full extent of his game until the series has unfolded.
And that will begin once Andor starts to screen on Disney+ beginning on August 31. This will be a 12-episode series (twice as long as the somewhat rushed Obi-Wan Kenobi series), and could theoretically drops Cassian Andor in the location where we met him in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – or, leave the door open for additional seasons of the show that will continue to lead him up to his final acts of defiance in the Rogue One film. Time will tell. And as you wait, make sure that your Disney+ subscription is up to date, so that you don’t miss the latest Star Wars and Upcoming Marvel TV Shows that arrive on the streaming service between now and the end of the year.
