Is Andor a prequel? Where does it fit in the Star Wars timeline?
The first three episodes of the new Lucasfilm production are now available to stream via Disney + as we follow the adventures of Cassian Andor, the hero of Rogue One.
The latest instalment from the Star Wars universe is now available to stream in the United States with the remaining nine episodes of the first season made available every Wednesday through to 23 November on Disney+.
The series is essentially a prequel for the 2016 movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which was itself a prequel to the franchise’s first offering, Star Wars: A New Hope which was originally released in 1977.
The newest offering is the fourth live-action Star Wars show from Disney+ since the media giant purchased the rights to Lucasfilm in 2012 for more than $4 billion. The previous three - The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Obi-Wan Kenobi – all focus on individual characters to have emerged from the franchise’s lore and it looks like Star Wars: Andor will follow that pattern.
Rogue One hero
Rebel operative Cassian Andor was the hero of Rogue One, in which he and his team managed to send crucial details related to the Death Star to to the Alliance, setting up the plot of the original Star Wars film.
Mexican actor Diego Luna reprises his role as Cassian Andor for the new show, which has been described as a spy thriller series. The show is set in the five years before the events of Rogue One and explores the circumstances that brought the Rebel Alliance into being and give fans a closer look at some familiar characters.
However it is the role of Cassian Andor which seems to have resonated with Luna and which he speaks so highly of. He jumped at the chance to reprise the role for the Disney+ television series, which he says combines “intimate character moments” with the “feel and gigantic scope of a Star Wars story.”
Luna is part of an ensemble cast which includes a return for Genevieve as Senator Mon Mothma and Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera. They will be joined by Stellan Skarsgard, Adria Arjona, Denise Gough, Fiona Shaw and Kyle Soller who play new characters.