The highly anticipated upcoming TV series Star Wars Andor gets an official release date and a brand new trailer with exciting scenes giving us clues for what to expect in the show!
Star Wars Celebration, Star Wars’ most significant event, has begun. Announcements and release dates for shows and movies are revealed every day. Some of the most anticipated ones are the Ahsoka series, Season 3 of The Mandalorian, The Acolyte, and Andor.
Today, we got our first big announcement. Andor is coming to Disneyplus next August 31, the first season will have twelve episodes. The series starring Diego Luna will have a two-episode premiere, just like the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. The story will lead up to the events in Rogue One.
You might wonder what’s up with the hype for a character that we barely know. So, I’ll try to give some context and explain why Andor is going to be something very different from what we’ve seen so far.
Cassian Jeron Andor is a human soldier who served with the Rebel Alliance when the Galactic Empire was at the peak of its power. A rebel operative that works in the shadows, doing questionable things for the greater good.
His story as a fighter against oppression goes way back before Rogue One.
When he was a small kid, his father was killed during a protest against the expansion of the Republic’s military. This event would lead Andor to a search for revenge. He first joined an insurrectionist cell supported by the CIS to fight the Republic, twenty years later he joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic aka the Rebel Alliance.
Andor is going to explore a darker side of the Rebellion. Thanks to the original trilogy and Star Wars Rebels, we already know the “good side” of it. But after all, it is a war and both sides have to decide what limits they’re willing to cross in order to get the advantage.
We’ve also experienced a portion of the extremist side of it. Saw Gerrera was the leader of a different rebel cell that was willing to do anything for the victory. Torture prisoners, kill enemies who have surrendered, or even worse. Victory at any cost is something that not all rebels agree with.
“We’d like to volunteer. Some of us – well, most of us – we’ve all done terrible things on behalf of the Rebellion. Spies, saboteurs, assassins.” Cassian Andor, Rogue One.
Andor is set to explore the grey area in the middle. Is Cassian Andor willing to do whatever it takes to defeat the empire or is he more aligned with Mon Mothma’s vision? How does he know when to pull the trigger or when to spare a life?
Watch the trailer! Here are some of my personal highlights.
Mon Mothma
A top figure in the Rebellion, one of the few senators of the imperial senate that hasn’t submitted to Palpatine’s will. We saw her first in A New Hope, later in Revenge of the Sith, the Clone Wars animated show, Rogue One, and even Star Wars Rebels.
Aside from Leia, I’d dare to say she’s the most important person holding a leadership position in the Rebellion. The Empire is surely watching her every moment of her life, seeing how she manages to act as an imperial senator while helping the Republic Alliance is going to be very interesting.
I’m so happy we get to know more of her character. Genevieve O’Reilly is playing her for the second time, I think there’s no one else more suited for this role than her.
Prison Break?
This isn’t a typical imperial structure. The Empire is known for being “creative” when it comes to the imprisonment of its enemies. My take is that it is an underground factory of some sort where they make the prisoners seen in the next scene work for them.
Labor camps are common in this era, and any extra hands that the Empire can force to build their war machinery are put to use. Being surrounded by water means that no one can fully escape, even if there’s an attempt, the lack of air transport would dissuade anyone dumb enough to even think about trying it.
Clone Troopers
As mentioned above, Andor spent his early years fighting against the Republic. I always love when they do brief time jumps to improve the storytelling, one of my favorite scenes in The Book of Boba Fett is when Grogu remembers Order 66. I wonder if this is going to be something similar.
What are you most excited about it? Do you think we’ll see any other familiar faces?
