It’s a great time to be a Star Wars fan. We’ve got Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the Galactic Starcruiser, and the Hyperspace Lounge on Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship, the Wish!
We’ve got more seasons of existing Star Wars series to look forward to, as well as NEW shows coming to Disney+! Plus we’ve got Speaking of new shows, we’ve got some behind-the-scenes details to share with you about the upcoming Rogue One prequel series, Andor!
We were invited to attend a virtual press conference for the Andor series on Disney+ and got a chance to learn more about the show, including new details about how Andor will appeal to a broad variety of Star Wars fans, both new and old!
If you’re an existing Star Wars fan, you might wonder why Disney chose to make a Rogue One prequel series, given how that film turns out (spoiler: the planet goes boom and both Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor die). We already know what happens, so how does the Andor series bring something new to the table?
According to Andor executive producer, writer, and showrunner Tony Gilroy, a prequel series was a no-brainer. He spoke about how the story takes place during a revolution when a lot of big things happen in Star Wars history. “The fact that we could follow somebody as an example of a revolution all the way through to the end,” he said, ‘That was the buy-in, the opportunity to do that.”
For Andor star Diego Luna, the character of Cassian Andor haunted him after he originally played him in Rogue One. Luna mentioned lines from Rogue One about Cassian’s history that he, the actor, still had questions about. “I think that story matters,” he said. That story is interesting. And there is a lot of material there for us to play. So I was really excited to be able to go into that journey and give those answers.”
Genevieve O’Reilly returns as Senator Mon Mothma, the role she played in Rogue One, although the character appeared in the original trilogy, as well as in several Star Wars animated series. O’ Reilly spoke about how Andor offers a new perspective on the well-known character.
“She is still that very dignified senator,” O’Reilly said, “But for the first time we get to see the woman behind the role. We get to see the private face of Mon Mothma. We get to flesh out not just the senator, not just the would-be leader of the Rebel Alliance, but also the woman.”
We also learned a little more about some of the new Star Wars characters being introduced to the series. For example, Bix, portrayed by Adria Arjona, who described the character as “fearless and bold,” but also mentioned it’s like a facade Bix puts on. Then there’s Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) officer Dedra Meero, as portrayed by Denise Gough, who is working her way up the Empire ladder.
There’s also Syril Karn, as played by Kyle Soller, who “could go either way” and has a lot of “gray areas” as to which side he could end up working for.
Finally, there was some discussion about who Andor might appeal to — would people who aren’t really into Star Wars appreciate this series? The answer is a resounding, “Yes!” Gilroy said, “This can be your entry point to Star Wars. You could watch our 24 episodes – that could be your way in. We’re doing a show that does not require any prior knowledge whatsoever to get involved.”
However, that’s not to say that Andor won’t satisfy existing fans either. The hope is to bring everyone in for a show that offers a peek into the smallest details, like what’s going on with the characters and their relationships, combined with “epic tectonic revolutionary historical moments, where people have to make huge decisions.”
Mark your calendars! Andor premieres on Disney+ on September 21st! If you’re looking for more big Star Wars news, be sure to read about all the things that were announced that you might have missed from this year’s Star Wars Celebration.
Here’s EVERYTHING We Tried At Star Wars Hyperspace Lounge on Disney’s New Cruise Ship– The Wish!
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Will you be watching Andor when it premieres on Disney+? Let us know in the comments!
Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Recently, we were invited by Disney+ to attend a virtual press conference for Andor. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ
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