The success of Rogue One (2016) prompted Disney to quickly announce a series starring Cassian Andor (Diego Luna). A fiction from a long time coming and coming today with the same and recognizable tone of the whole epic Star wars but with a darker and more complex story. Because although it is quite obvious with the presence of imperial troops and the mention of the Rebel Alliance that we are facing a series from the Star Wars universe, it also does not have the most characteristic elements of the saga. Jedi, laser swords, or the ubiquitous Luke Skywalker.
This is a series about the origins of a single character that also serves to tell the beginnings of the rebels, who starred in the three movie trilogy. And it does so from a perspective of suspense rather than adventure.
With dark, rainy scenes where you can barely see the faces of the good guys in history, as opposed to the shiny imperial world of bad guys. Series creator Tony Gilroy plays with clichés and uses them to his advantage to develop great fiction that can work as part of Star Wars or independently of the galactic saga. Gilroy also managed to cope with the fact that there are fans of the epic. you already know the fate of the hero, because the series that premieres on Disney+ this Wednesday is the previous episode of ‘Rogue One’, a movie that ends with the death of Andor and Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) in one of the tales of sacrifice so common in Star Wars. . Thus, Gilroy sets ‘Andor’ five years before ‘Rogue One’ and focuses on the pilot’s origins – with flashbacks to his childhood in a jungle community – and how he joined the Rebel Alliance as they tried to overthrow the Empire.
The first four episodes of the series were released to the press. an Andor who is a minor criminal more than a resistance hero. And its transformation is exactly what television editing focuses on.
Aside from Luna, a handful of interesting artists like the Swedish Stellan Skarsgård (as brilliant as ever), her mentor in the rebellious world; Adria Arjona (daughter of singer Ricardo Arjona), playing the hero’s brave friend Bix Caleen; Genevieve O’Reilly as Imperial Senator and spy Mon Mothma or Denise Gough as Imperial agent Dedra Meero. It is not yet clear where each of these characters is going and the weight they will have in the 12-episode plot that makes up the first season. The only thing that is certain is that Andor will appear in each and Skarsgard will also appear in the second season, which has already been confirmed by Disney.
We are currently facing this first season where Andor is the absolute protagonist, surrounded by dozens if not hundreds of characters, but none of which has the weight of Felicity Jones from ‘Rogue One’. The balance between the Mexican and the British couple was the basis for the success of ‘Rogue One’, something very different in ‘Andor’, where Luna swapped partners as the action required. “Michael Clayton” is an act that provides a few minutes of rest, common in the work of Gilroy, director of “Duplicity” and “The Bourne Legacy.”
With technically flawless and visually perfect scenes, this Wednesday, you can see the first three episodes of this first season’s 12 builds and every seven days starting next week. Considering that filming for the second season will begin in November, it is clear that Disney has great confidence in a series that it wants to repeat the success of ‘The Mandalorian’, which is already preparing for its third installment.
According to a study by consulting firm Nielsen, ‘The Mandalorian’, starring Chilean Pedro Pascal, was the best-performing Star Wars series on Disney’s television platform so far. Neither ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ nor ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ has managed to penetrate Star Wars fans like Baby Yoda and The Mandalorian.
Now it’s Cassian Andor’s turn, in the prequel to the ‘Rogue One’ prequel, which serves as a liaison between the first two trilogies of the saga and chronicles how the rebels intercepted the plans that allowed them to end the Death Star. In the first movie that started a legend that is still alive 45 years later in 1977.