Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor was one of the keys to making that story work, since he was a kind of Star Wars character we hadn’t really seen before in the movies: A good guy who has become so broken and hopeless that he’s willing to murder for the greater good—but he’s not on some dark path or potentially turning evil like ever Jedi. He’s just seen some shit, and it’s not until he sees Felicity Jones’ Jyn Erso push through her own issues that he realizes that there’s still some value in giving your life to a cause.
That’s his arc in Rogue One, and according to Vanity Fair’s deep dive on the future of Disney+’s Star Wars TV shows, it will… also be his arc on Luna’s Andor prequel show. Luna says the story of Andor will be about his character being “really revolution-averse, and cynical, and lost, and kind of a mess.” Vanity Fair describes it as his transformation from “a self-serving nihilist into a selfless martyr.” Again: Cassian Andor’s first scene in Rogue One involves him murdering an informant to cover his tracks, and while he’s not “revolution-averse” in that moment, he’s certainly cynical, lost, and kind of a mess.
So it’s a little strange that this storyline is apparently going to be “starts as a dick, becomes a good guy, then becomes a bigger dick, then becomes a better good guy.” But hey, characters have been treated worse in Star Wars, and Luna was good in the role. Plus, it might give Luna a chance to spend time with Jabba The Hutt.
Elsewhere in the Vanity Fair piece, Luna describes Andor as a story about “a migrant,” with Cassian’s home getting destroyed when he’s a kid and then hiding out on a planet that eventually gets colonized by the Empire.” Vanity Fair also says that Genevieve O’Reilly will once again reprise her role as Mon Mothma, who originally appeared in Return Of The Jedi (played by Caroline Blakiston) and has since been retconned to be a key member of the Rebel Alliance. There’s no mention of Forest Whitaker’s Saw Gerrera, but we heard last year that he might stop by for a little Star Wars fun. Andor will premiere on Disney+ later this year.
