Very exciting news was announced today, as Bob Iger announced that Diego Luna will reprise his role as Cassian Andor for a series that will be coming to Disney’s new streaming service!
The show will obviously be a prequel to the events of Rogue One (not to spoil the movie or anything, but it can’t really be set after it), and it will be the second live-action Star Wars TV show, joining Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian, which will also come direct to Disney’s new streaming service next year.
Here’s Lucasfilm’s description of the series, with a quote from Luna on reprising the role:
The series, which will go into production next year, follows the adventures of rebel spy Cassian Andor during the formative years of the Rebellion and prior to the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Diego Luna will reprise the role of Andor. “Going back to the Star Wars universe is very special for me,” said Luna. “I have so many memories of the great work we did together and the relationships I made throughout the journey. We have a fantastic adventure ahead of us, and this new exciting format will give us the chance to explore this character more deeply.”
The rousing spy thriller will explore tales filled with espionage and daring missions to restore hope to a galaxy in the grip of a ruthless Empire. A release date for the series has not yet been announced. Stay tuned to StarWars.com for the latest updates.
Luna was one of the stars of the first standalone Star Wars film, Rogue One, which released in 2016 to tremendous reception, grossing over $1 billion at the box office. He played Cassian Andor, a Rebel intelligence officer who admitted to doing things he wasn’t proud of for the Rebellion. We saw a glimpse of that early in the film when he killed an informant in order to protect the Rebellion and their secrets. I expect that the show will get into more of that, too, showing why Cassian was more than ready to make up for some of his actions by joining the Rogue One strike force.
I’m really excited to see the early days of the Rebellion in live-action, as this show will likely take place during some of the events of Rebels. Considering that, I think it would be extra cool to see Hera Syndulla in live-action, and it would make perfect sense too. She was a General in the Rebellion, was on Yavin 4 during the events of Rogue One, and fought in the Battle of Scarif to help out the strike force. So it would make perfect sense that Hera might show up for a cameo or two in this show, which would be awesome.
I also expect that we will see quite a bit of K-2SO, since he and Cassian are partners. A Cassian comic explored the first meeting between the two of them, and it’d be a cool nod for those who read the comics to adapt that scene for live-action as well. I’d like to see Cassian meet K-2 on-screen, and I’m all for seeing them having more adventures together before Rogue One. In short, this show should be filled with plenty of spying, tension, excitement, and intrigue, and there’s a ton of room to tell stories with this character and this time period. He even might be using the code name Fulcrum at this point too, which would be another nice nod to Rebels.
In many ways I expect Star Wars to continue to pursue shows as the main saga is wrapping up next year, and with the announcement of The Mandalorian and now this Cassian Andor series, it’s clear that Lucasfilm is charging forward into that medium – and making the Disney streaming service more than worth it for fans of the franchise.
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