Diego Luna explains how the upcoming Rogue One prequel series Andor expands upon the film and the character at its center. As part of Disney's original Star Wars plans, Rogue One became the franchise's first anthology film when it was released in 2016. Directed by Gareth Edwards (and Tony Gilroy in reshoots), Rogue One tells the story of the band of rebels who steal the Death Star plans that Leia (Carrie Fisher) receives at the start of the original Star Wars. Upon its release, Rogue One was met with positive responses from fans and critics alike, and many view it as the last Star Wars movie to avoid a polarizing fan response.
Despite the fact that Rogue One ends with all of the main characters dying, interest in Luna's Cassian Andor led to the development of a Disney+ spin-off. Set five years before the events of Rogue One, the newly-titled Andor will follow Cassian as he embarks on various spy missions in the name of the Rebellion. Luna will be joined by fellow Rogue One stars Alan Tudyk as the droid K-2SO and Genevieve O'Reilly as Mon Mothma, as well as franchise newcomers Stellan Skarsgård, Adria Arjona, and Fiona Shaw.
With production on Andor underway, Luna has offered some new hints about how the series will expand upon its predecessor. In a new interview with THR, Luna explained how Andor will add new layers to his character, thus showing how he becomes the person he is at the start of Rogue One. Fans might recall he kicks off the movie sacrificing an informant, and Andor will reflect on what led to that version of Cassian, as well as the events of Rogue One. Luna said:
I think it’s really interesting to tell a story even though we know where it ends. The way you can approach a story like this inevitably takes you into a deeper process of reflection. I tend to use that word a lot. So once you know what Cassian is capable of, then there’s room for so much exploration, and that’s something that excites me a lot as an actor. 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]. I think it’s a very interesting challenge, the one we have in front of us.
Rogue One was a special Star Wars event in that, for the most part, it focused entirely on new characters. Even though they only lived for a single movie, and the ensemble format didn't always allow for deep dives into each person, audiences still resonated with Cassian, Jyn (Felicity Jones), and the rest of the titular crew. There's still so much to explore with them, so Andor definitely sounds like a worthwhile project. With Cassian in particular, what little backstory is known lends itself to a truly thrilling espionage journey.
Prequels are at their best when they are expanding upon their future stories in positive ways, and it sounds like Andor is taking that to heart. In seeing Cassian's early adventures with the Rebel Alliance, fans will be able to go into Rogue One with new insight into his character; it might even deepen the significance of certain moments. Even though it began as a standalone movie, Rogue One is now yielding some pretty intriguing stories.
Andor will premiere on Disney+ in 2022.
Source: THR