In recent years, the Star Wars franchise has been dominated by an abundance of Mandalorians with helmets (Din Djarin is a prime example) and surprise appearances by well-known Jedi (such as Luke Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano). In a lot of ways, especially when it comes to Jedi, it is normal for the series to focus on these sorts of aspects of a galaxy far, far away. After all, Star Wars is the franchise that encompasses an ancient battle between the Jedi and the Sith, bounty hunters and smugglers in the criminal underworld, and Rebels against an overruling and fascist Empire.
It’s the latter of these that hasn’t been explored much at all since the conclusion of the Skywalker Saga with The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. That film saw the defeat of the First Order, and although The Mandalorian has Empire soldiers and promises to show that future regime’s origins, it’s more about the Mandalorians as a group, along with the lead character’s relationship with Grogu, more than anything else. This is where Star Wars: Andor comes into play, the new Disney+ series that releases at the end of next month.
A prequel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which was at its heart a film about a group of rebels, Andor appears to dive even deeper into the earlier years of the Rebellion. It provides some much-needed backstory to its title character, who was one of the most interesting heroes in the spin-off film. It’s set to break away from the cookie-cutter six-episode format that many Disney+ shows follow, was filmed with real sets and on location rather than relying on the volume like previous Star Wars series. Put all this together, and Andor already has more going for it than other shows set in a galaxy far, far away.
The focus on the Rebellion and the potential for some great character work makes Andor incredibly exciting. However, the series doesn’t just have those aspects going for it. Tony Gilroy is the showrunner and head writer for not just this season but the second outing, which is going into production later this year, as well. Gilroy previously took over the Rogue One reshoots after the first cut of the film was reportedly too dark in tone from what Lucasfilm and Disney were looking for, as well as being generally messy across the board. Gilroy seemed to steady the ship as he came up with the idea to kill off the main heroes that secured the Death Star plans, an idea so bold that Lucasfilm were apparently hesitant to move in such a dark direction before Gilroy convinced them.
In previous versions of the script, which may or may not have been filmed, both Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor respectively were revealed in different versions of the story to be spies planted by the Empire. While an idea such as this would have prevented the mass death that Lucasfilm weren’t keen on initially, it would have also caused some potential issues for the broader Star Wars canon. In A New Hope, the Rebels who stole the Death Star plans were never named or mentioned much at all outside of the opening crawl, meaning that it would be hard to believe that Leia, Luke, Han, and the rest of the Rebels didn’t mention an Imperial spy or anything along those lines. In choosing not to go down this route, Gilroy not only shows his writing abilities, but also his keen attention to detail to Star Wars canon, something that has arguably never been more important given that vast amounts of content being added to the granchise each year.
The fact that the volume isn’t being utilized for Andor is another exciting factor. The volume — essentially an alternative to green screens that allows actors to film against completed CGI — is an amazing piece of technology, and is almost certainly the future of special effects in film and television. However, its usage in Obi-Wan Kenobi in particular received a degree of backlash. That show was filmed exclusively on the volume, with only a few minor sequences being shot in a small outdoor lot outside the studio. This was extreme to say the least, as not even The Mandalorian was this reliant on the new technology. Green screen, the outdoor lot, and real locations in that show made all the difference because, as brilliant as it can be, the volume in its current state does have limitations. The Mandalorian was careful not to push the limits of the technology too far, but Obi-Wan Kenobi fell into this trap, which ultimately resulted in some bland, or even bizarre, sequences and episodes.
Star Wars has produced some divisive content in recent years, Rogue One has always been almost universally loved. Since Andor is a prequel to that, and has so much more going for it as well, this new series might be the best show set in a galaxy far, far away yet.