Obi-Wan Kenobi offered fans a glimpse at life in the galaxy post-Revenge of the Sith; but Lucasfilm's next Disney+ series, Andor, intends to show so much more. With Diego Luna reprising his role as Cassian Andor, Star Wars: Andor is a spin-off of 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story but also a deep dive into the early days of the Rebellion.
In addition to being described as a spy thriller and refugee story, Andor is unique in comparison to the prior Star Wars Disney+ series in that it's a 12-episode show with a second season already on the way.
According to the show's creator, Tony Gilroy, Andor will span five years leading up to the events of Rogue One. Season 1 is confirmed to explore a single year, while the show's sophomore season will include time jumps where each block of episodes is used "to represent a year."
Clearly, there's a plan in place for this particular Star Wars story. But when it comes to the plan for the show's release, there has been a major change.
Star Wars: Andor Receives New Delayed Release Date
Apparently, the Rebellion has been delayed.
In addition to a new trailer and poster, Star Wars revealed that its Rogue One spin-off series, Andor, has been delayed. Instead of being released on August 31, Andor will now debut on September 21 on Disney+. The series will also debut with a three-episode premiere, as opposed to releasing with just two.
Originally, the show was set to premiere two weeks after She-Hulk's August 17 debut, making August 2022 the first month ever to debut both a Marvel and Star Wars series on Disney+.
The series' latest poster features Diego Luna's Cassian Andor, along with the show's packed cast including Genevieve O'Reilly's Mon Mothma, Stellan Skarsgård, and Forest Whitaker's younger Saw Gerrera. Star Wars' newest droid, B2EMO, is also included.
The new trailer was packed with new footage from the 12-episode series, along with a few new hints at what this tale may hold.
One of the first reveals is Cassian, seemingly undercover within the Empire, as his voiceover says, "They can't imagine that someone like me would ever get inside their house."
Similar to the show's first teaser, the Empire's presence and shots of occupation are front and center.
The trailer also showed a quick shot of either Edrio or Bethnic Two Tubes, who were last seen in Rogue One as allies of Saw Gerrera.
In regard to Saw, fans were also shown the first look at Forest Whitaker's slightly younger version of the resistance fighter in an exchange with Stellan Skarsgård's character.
As the trailer continues, a shot of Imperials is seen studying a holographic map. Denise Gough's character is featured several times throughout the trailer; her white uniform echoes that of Rogue One's Orson Krennic.
One of the most interesting shots is O'Reilly's Mon Mothma addressing the Senate Chamber on Coruscant, her pod now stamped with the Imperial crest.
Check out the full trailer below:
Will Andor Stay on Target?
Marvel Studios has maintained a relatively steady stream of content on Disney+ since WandaVision debuted in January 2021. When Star Wars announced its 2022 slate, some overlap on the streamer was expected, such as the case with Ms. Marvel and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
While the decision to bump Andor into September is surprising, it shouldn't be.
This isn't the first time a Star Wars series drastically changed its premiere. Back in March of this year, Obi-Wan Kenobi announced it was changing its release date from Wednesday, May 25 to Friday, May 27 and would also release two episodes on that Friday before switching back to Wednesdays.
Why Disney has insisted on dropping its franchise-heavy shows on Wednesdays only instead of utilizing Fridays remains to be seen. But in addition to avoiding a seven-week overlap with She-Hulk, the decision to bump the Diego Luna-led series may be due to competitor streamers and their upcoming releases.
If Andor had kept its August 31 premiere date, the show would face stiffer comparisons with HBO's Game of the Throne's spin-off, House of the Dragon, which drops August 21, as well as the September 2 release of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime.
Hopefully, Andor will stay on target from here on out in terms of its release and in expectations for its success.
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