Lucasfilm might be allegedly done with the Skywalker Saga for now, but the elements around it, like the dark period when the Empire ruled the galaxy, are far from done being fully explored. This dark time was covered in the prequel movie, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” and now that story and one character, in particular, are getting their own prequel in “Andor,” a “Star Wars” limited-series centering on Diego Luna‘s Cassian Andor rebel, years before the events of ‘Rogue One.’
Showrun by Tony Gilroy, directed by Toby Haynes, Ben Caron, and Susanna White, “Andor” is written by a powerhouse team that includes Gilroy, his brother and filmmaker Dan Gilroy (“Nightcrawler“), Beau Willimon (the showrunner of “House Of Cards“) and Stephen Schiff (known for “The Americans“). This stacked team of creators is all on board for the first season of “Andor” which is scheduled to be 12 episodes long.
“This first season is about [Andor] becoming a revolutionary, and the second 12 episodes take him into ‘Rogue One.‘” Gilroy told Vanity Fair. Here’s the official synopsis:
Set five years before the events of Rogue One the series follows rebel spy Cassian Andor during the formative years of the Rebellion.
The series will see the return of the aforementioned Luna, who played Andor Cassian, albeit a younger, not yet fully formed version of the character.
In that same Vanity Fair interview, Luna said he imagined aspects of Cassian’s history that never made it into the movie, “Now all that material is useful again,” Luna says. “I thought I was never going to be able to share that.”
The series will follow a large ensemble cast according to Tony Gilroy, with Luna adding that it was about the “Building of a revolution.” Luna said of his showrunner, “This man Tony Gilroy is a fascinating writer, and he’s always referring to stuff you and I can relate with. He’s a great collaborator. And he has this urgency to talk about the world we live in.”
It was announced in 2019 that Alan Tudyk would be reprising his role as the fan-favorite character K-2SO. However, in 2020 it was confirmed Tudyk would no longer be returning in the first season due to Gilroy’s story changes. “We don’t have Alan Tudyk,” Gilroy shared with Vanity Fair, “Not yet, anyway.”
In addition to Luna, the cast includes Stellan Skarsgård, Kyle Soller, Genevieve O’Reilly, Denise Gough, Adria Arjona, Fiona Shaw, Robert Emms, Forest Whitaker, and David Hayman.
Already teased for a summer release, today at Star Wars Celebration, Lucasfilm announced that “Andor” is set for an August 31, 2022 release on Disney+. Watch the first trailer below.