Despite our best predictions with our 2024 TV preview, perhaps a little on the early side, when Disney finally revealed its 2024 Disney+ slate, in spite of four Lucasfilm projects on the docket for this year, Tony Gilroy’s “Andor” starring Diego Luna wasn’t one of them. Instead, Disney promised Leslye Headland’s “The Acolyte,” seemingly scheduled for June of this year, Jon Watts’ “Skeleton Crew,” plus “The Bad Batch,” which just finished up season three, and “Tales Of The Jedi” season two.
In retrospect, this makes sense. “Andor” had to shut down due to the writer’s and the actor’s strike, and while filming finished earlier this year, the delay seemed to punt the “Star Wars” show out of 2024—the VFX and editing would take time.
But there is some apparently hopeful news from Stellan Skarsgård, who appears on the show as the Rebel dissident Luthen Rael, a kind of mentor to Diego Luna’s Andor character—at least, eventually. The actor says there’s a chance we may see the “Star Wars” prequel series in late 2024 or early 2025.
“It will probably be out towards the end of the year or early next,” he told Games Radar this week. Skarsgård also teased what’s in store; some of what we know given the series is a prequel to “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and the final chapter, but exciting nonetheless.
“It’s the last season of it. It ends where ‘Rogue One’ starts, so it’s up to that point,” he explained. “I think it will be very good as already the first one was satisfying for me because it’s sort of ‘Star Wars’ for grown-ups—it’s a more realistic and complicated society that they’re living in, and the claustrophobia of the fascist regime is palpable. I think we have a good season ahead of us.”
“Andor” season one was certainly “Star Wars” for grown-ups, which sounds like it tracks with the series’ spirit. Created by Tony Gilroy (“The Bourne Legacy”), who served as a writer/director and post-production supervisor on the reshoots of “Rogue One,” “Andor” is set in an oppressive era filled with danger, deception, and intrigue. The series follows Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) before becoming a resistance member and charts the path destined to turn him into a Rebel hero.
Gilroy had initially envisioned a more extended series, but after shooting season one, and seemingly what a massive task it was, truncated season two, chronicling about five years of Andor’s life as a rebel over twelve episodes. While not confirmed yet, Collider reported late last week that “The Acolyte” will premiere June 5, 2024, which would make it the first live-action “Star Wars” series to arrive this year, “Skeleton Crew” presumably being saved for later in the summer or the fall.
Given Disney CEO Bob Iger’s comments of wanting to reduce output for Marvel and Lucasfilm, since the entire idea is leaving audiences wanting more and not making them feel content-oversaturated, it’s probably still a good bet that “Andor” doesn’t arrive until 2025, but we shall see.
In the meantime, savor season one and revisit our “The Rogue Ones” podcast and, specifically, episodes featuring Diego Luna, Tony Gilroy, and more.
