Why Cassian Andor’s Disney+ show will be unlike any Star Wars show to date

Back in 2016, we got to meet Cassian Andor for the first time in the first-ever anthology Star Wars movie, Rogue One. Six years later, we get to learn more about him and the birth of this Rebellion that essentially begins the Skywalker Saga as we know it.

“Andor” is the upcoming Disney+ series that will give an account of Cassian as a character, which star Diego Luna thinks is a very important beginning that everyone needs to know. “Rogue One is an event; you don’t get to know those characters, including Cassian,” he said during the show’s global press conference. 

“But I’m excited that we get to explore his story more because he and Jyn have a yet unknown reason for giving everything up for a cause,” Luna concluded.

That ‘cause’ in the Star Wars universe was the birth of the Rebellion (or Rebels) that began with the stealing of the Death Star plans from the Empire as we saw in “Rogue One” with Andor and team. With “Andor,” we get to learn why they wanted to rebel.

“It’s a potent moment in Star Wars history,” said showrunner, executive producer, and writer Tony Gilroy, who also co-write “Rogue One.” Gilroy shared that because this is such an important moment in a galaxy far, far away, they wanted to do it right- and that took time and resources to do it right.

Gilroy continued, “We began discussions on doing this project shortly after we wrapped on ‘Rogue One’ because we couldn’t get this story out of our heads, particularly about Cassian and how his childhood would inform his adulthood and lead this revolution.”

The show itself will consist of 24 episodes (12 episodes over 2 seasons) to tell the Andor story fully, with the last episode in Season 2 directly connecting to the events of “Rogue One.”

Much of the story seems to be grounded on planets and in cities, so Gilroy opted to not use digital production (e.g. ILM’s Stagecraft technology used on The Mandalorian) and asked for the building of real sets to film the series that were built on acres of land. “We have to give it up for the set building teams and designers. They really made it feel like we were in-world, which only made the performances and our jobs more exciting.”

Though the series also seems like it will go deeper into the deeper canons of Star Wars, Gilroy insisted that you don’t have to have deep knowledge to get the story they are crafting. “Can we satisfy and electrify the dedicated fans? And can we at the same time bring something intense emotionally and huge galactic decisions? That’s the gamble,” Gilroy said.

“Andor” streams exclusively on Disney+ beginning September 21 with a three-episode premiere.