I was extremely skeptical about Andor when it was announced as a Cassian Andor anthology series. How was T.V. show dedicated to the backstory of a character who served as a side character/co-protagonist (if I’m being generous) in a spinoff Star Wars movie going to work? Thankfully, the newest Andor trailer released has proven me wrong as it showed that this show is going to be so much more than just an anthology.
So, what did the trailer reveal about the show? It’s a political/spy thriller set early era of the Empire. Can that get anymore awesome?
This really might be the most ingenious project any director/showrunner/screenwriter has developed during the Disney era of Star Wars. The sequel trilogy, Solo standalone, Obi-Wan Kenobi show, and Boba Fett series were all rehashes of some previous Star Wars concept in some way or another. I’m not saying that I disliked these projects (well, I am for the sequel trilogy, but that’s a whole other story), though I am saying that there wasn’t much originality to them.
Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, the OG sequel characters, and Boba Fett were all legacy characters with dozens of movies, comics, action figures, novels, T.V. shows, etc. written about them. There really wasn’t that much space for new material to be written about these characters without stretching the lore (or breaking it, in some people’s opinion). That isn’t the case with Andor.
A political/spy thriller about some of the lesser known/featured characters of the original trilogy, such as Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and Admiral Akbar (maybe), while also including some of the newer entries to the Star Wars Canon, such as Saw Guerrera and Cassian Andor, plotting the destruction of the Empire just sounds awesome in concept.
(Disney/Star Wars-Andor-Official Trailer)
Plus, this show can finally expand upon the genius of George Lucas’ political schemes he established in the Prequels. Due to the Prequel’s underserved hate, much of the politics of the Star Wars universe was either mocked or disregarded completely. However, if one takes a deep dive into what George Lucas actually wrote (not what ended up in the films), they would be pleasantly surprised as to how detailed the fall of the Republic/rise of the Empire actually was. Hopefully, this show can showcase this forgotten aspect of the Star Wars lore.
I just hope that this show doesn’t go down the path of involving the Death Star plans as the ultimate “McGuffin” object that the Rebellion characters are after. We’ve seen the Death Star (or terrible replicas…ex: Death Destroyers. Okay, I don’t know their official title but I’m talking about those Star Destroyers from Episode 9) involved in so many Star Wars shows now that I don’t know if I can stomach yet another plot regarding that over-sized space yoga ball.
Please, Tony Gillroy (the showrunner), don’t fall down the Death Star-plot trap. It’s been done to death.
The only caveat I have to including the Death Star is if it is mentioned at the very end of the T.V. show. If the end of Andor has Cassian Andor and the rest of the Rebellion leaders find out about the planet-killer, that is okay. This would naturally create a bridge between Rouge One and this series, which would only make sense from a cinematic-universe perspective.
Other than that caveat, stay away from the Death Star!
Andor definitely has the potential to rival the Mandalorian as the best live-action Star Wars series to date. A political/spy thriller set in the early days of the Galactic Empire may very well help Disney down the path of redemption with some of the alienated/disgruntled Star Wars fans. We’ll have to see if Andor can live up to the new-found hype September 21 on Disney+!
Images Sources: Featured Image: (Disney/Star Wars) (Andor | Official Trailer | Disney+ – YouTube)
In Text Image 1: (Disney/Star Wars) (Andor | Official Trailer | Disney+ – YouTube)
