Star Wars has become one of those franchises that just seems to be everywhere nowadays, from the Star Wars movies to the TV shows, to a whole theme park over at Disney World, Star Wars continues to capture our attention. And, that is only going to continue once Andor premieres on Disney+.
While Disney+ has been home to a couple of new, big Star Wars hits so far, such as The Mandalorian and The Bad Batch, Andor will continue to add to that, and more, as soon as it comes out. But what will this new spinoff series cover? Whether you're looking for specific details on what the show will be or simply need a refresher on who this character is, here are some quick things that we know about the upcoming Disney+ show.
Andor Will Premiere On Disney+ In September 2022
Get excited, fans of Star Wars, because Andor is going to be coming sooner, rather than later, as part of the 2022 TV schedule. Be ready toward the end of September, because it’s been confirmed that Andor is set to premiere on Disney+ on September 21st.
It was originally announced that the series would premiere on August 31st at 2022’s Star Wars Celebration in May, but it was later changed to the end of September.
Originally, it was said that it would debut with the first two episodes, - much like how Obi-Wan Kenobi premiered. However, with the new announcement, the first three episodes will premiere on September 21st, instead of the first two.
This is exciting news, considering that Star Wars fans will have to wait a little longer for other major shows to return, like The Mandalorian Season 3, which won’t be back until 2023. However, it looks like we’re going to have Andor to hold us over until then.
Andor Finished Filming In September 2021
With the show coming so soon, we can comfortably say that Andor finished filming back in 2021. According to Deadline, Diego Luna, the star of Andor, confirmed that the show finished production back in September, and it is now in the post-production phase as they gear up for the release.
While this isn’t that much of a surprise with the release date being so close, it’s still exciting to her, and hopefully there won’t be any delays between now and then, because I am so eager to see what comes next from this awesome Stars Wars universe.
Diego Luna From Star Wars: Rogue One Will Return For Andor
For those who don’t know, Andor, otherwise known as Cassian Andor, was a Rebel captain and an intelligence officer in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which served as a prequel to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. This series is going to go over his past prior to Rogue One, and how he became the badass captain that he was in the movie.
Diego Luna, who portrayed Cassian Andor in Rogue One, will be reprising his role in Andor, further expanding on his story, and who he is.
The Andor Cast Also Includes Stellan Skarsgård, Forest Whitaker, And More
Besides Diego Luna returning to portray Cassian Andor, Andor has a star-studded cast list that signed on for this Star Wars series. When announced back at the 2020 Disney Investor Day, the cast was composed of Stellan Skarsgård, Adria Arjona, Fiona Shaw, Denise Gough, Kyle Soller, and Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma. So, already out of the gate, we have a great cast to add to this story.
There are also some cast members from the past who are going to appear as well. The Playlist noted that Academy-Award-winner Forest Whitaker is going to be appearing in Andor, as well, reprising his role as Saw Gerrera from Rogue One. He was a veteran of the Clone Wars and a friend of the Erso family.
According to The Playlist's June 2021 report, this piece of news comes from an interview that Stellan Skarsgård did with a Swedish radio station in 2021, where he revealed that he had shot a “juicy scene” opposite Forest Whitaker, confirming rumors that the acclaimed actor had been seen on set recently. At first, Disney hadn’t confirmed he was in it, but fans got a definite answer about Whitaker’s appearance when he was revealed in the first trailer. And, this was further confirmed when he was seen in the latest trailer that was released as part of 2022’s D23 Expo.
Another star who is set to join Andor is Robert Emms, from His Dark Materials and Chernobyl, according to Deadline. With this amount of talent in the cast, this show will likely be amazing. I can’t wait to see them perform together.
The Andor Story Will Be A Prequel And Have Two Seasons Of Twelve Episodes Each
You thought you were only getting one season of Andor? Haha, nah, you get two.
As confirmed at Star Wars Celebration and reported by Slash Film, Andor is already set to have two seasons that will follow the legendary character, both of which will have 12 episodes. That’s right, twelve. Each. The second season is set to begin filming in November.
The reason why I emphasize the episode count is that most Star Wars shows now do not get to that many. For example, Obi-Wan Kenobi is only going to have six episodes. The Book of Boba Fett, which had some great moments, only had seven. It’s shocking to see a new show that hasn’t even come out yet already receive two seasons with 12 episodes each - but hey, the more the merrier, in my opinion!
It was also confirmed that the show, while it is set to have two seasons, will end after Season 2, according to the showrunner, Tony Gilroy, who spoke to Deadline. Gilroy said that the last scenes of the finale of Season 2 are going to tie directly into the beginning of Rogue One.
Cassian Andor’s Character Will Be Explored In Many Layers
With the show literally being named after Cassian Andor, we as the viewers are expecting to find out more about his past and who he is as a person, with Andor being able to dig deep over the course of the seasons. Diego Luna apparently likes the structure of TV shows, and talked about his character and the upcoming series in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter:
I think the format of a series is amazing because we have a lot of time to explore all those layers. What happens in Rogue One is something we can actually reflect on, and what’s behind something like [sacrificing an informant]. The way we’re shooting this reminds me of how we shot the film, and the amount of work behind this TV series reminds me of the work you do for a film. It feels like we’re doing a very long movie.
Now that sounds like a fun TV series. With some of the amazing shots and scenes that we have seen through Star Wars shows such as The Mandalorian or Obi-Wan Kenobi, I’m eager to see Andor and how it will feel almost like a film.
And, honestly, I’m super intrigued to learn more about Cassian in general. We all know what happened to him in Rogue One, and we might as well know about the before, as well.
Alan Tudyk Will Not Be Returning As K-2SO For Andor
While we’ve already gotten confirmation that some cast members from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will return in Andor, it seems like Alan Tudyk will not be back to play the wise-cracking droid K-2SO for the upcoming Disney+ series.
In an interview with Collider, Alan Tudyk confirmed that he won’t be returning to the show, around the time that the first season was being filmed.
They’re shooting it right now, I’m not in it.
No matter how unfortunate that is to hear – I mean, who didn’t love K-2SO? – there is still hope in the air. Alan Tudyk has expressed interest in returning to the character to Fandom, and if they choose to bring him back, he would do it so he could find out about how the relationship between Cassian Andor and the droid developed:
I want to see how all that went down. Cassian and K-2 started out as enemies, you know. K-2 was on the side of the Empire. So Cassian would have to catch K-2 and then reprogram him.
With Andor actively looking into Cassian’s past, who knows what we might explore – K-2SO’s return might be imminent. I’m always down for a good enemies-to-friends story.
Watch The Trailer For Andor
If you want to feel even more excited for the upcoming Disney+ series, check out the trailer for Andor down below.
Andor has been on my mind for such a long time, and I can’t believe that it’s almost here. And, I’m sure if you’re a fan of the character as well, you’re counting down the days until it comes out. But, for now, we are just going to have to be patient and watch some Obi-Wan Kenobi in the meantime. What are you excited about most with all of these upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows?
