Now that we’ve gone back to check in on Obi-Wan Kenobi, it’s time to focus on another upcoming Star Wars universe series that is coming our way. Andor, the prequel series that ties in with Rogue One, premieres next month, and it’s safe to say we’ll get regular updates on the new show in the coming weeks. In this month’s edition of Empire Magazine, series creator and director Tony Gilroy dissected how the series will play out – and a brand-new image from the series was also revealed.
The image shows the title character Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) with a determined look on his face as he navigates with Luthen (Stellan Skårsgard) on the back of his speeder bike. The series is set to showcase a very different Andor – the story starts five years before Rogue One and chronicles his transformation from selfish nihilist to one of the selfless rebels who gave their lives to try and stop the Empire. And, as Gilroy comments, this five-years-before take will make for a show with a very unique structure:
“The scale of the show is so huge. Directors work in blocks of three episodes, so we did four blocks [in Season 1] of three episodes each. […] We looked and said, ‘Wow, it’d be really interesting if we come back, and we use each block to represent a year. We’ll move a year closer with each block. From a narrative point of view, it’s really exciting to be able to work on something where you do a Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and then jump a year.”
We already knew that Disney+ was so confident in the scale of Andor that Season 2 had already been ordered and scheduled to begin production. Now, this statement reveals that not only we can expect a fiery Season 1, but can already build up anticipation for a fast-paced Season 2. Gilroy also revealed that the timeline of the series also allows room for a more character-centered story:
“’Rogue One’ [was] more about an event than the actual journey of [the] characters. It’s quite amazing to start a show where it’s not about where we can end – it’s about, how did we end there?”
In addition to Luna, the series will also see the return of Genevieve O'Reilly as Mon Mothma and Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera. Newcomers to the series include Adria Arjona, Kyle Soller, Denise Gough, and Robert Emms. Gilroy was brought on as the showrunner for Andor, following Stephen Schiff's departure prior to the production beginning. Black Mirror director Toby Haynes reportedly directed the pilot episode, as well as two other episodes, along with Ben Caron and Susanna White, who were announced as directors for the 12-episode season.
Disney+ premieres Andor on August 31.