The first teaser trailer for "Andor," the next "Star Wars" series bound for Disney+, showed Diego Luna's Rebel spy, Cassian Andor, looking around the corner at Stormtroopers, saying of the evil Galactic Empire in voiceover, "They're so proud of themselves, so fat and satisfied." Genevieve O'Reilly's Mon Mothma also chimed in to say fearfully, "They're everywhere."
It's how most of us feel on any given day as the shadow of Disney's hegemony as a mass media conglomerate — with umbrellas like Lucasfilm, Marvel, Pixar, and 20th Century Studios — grows larger and threatens to consume everything and everyone we know and love. But enough about that; you're here to see the first full trailer for "Andor." And indeed, you won't have to look around the corner for that particular thing anymore, as it's here in all its glory, ready to be watched, judged, and dismembered like a droid in Cloud City for frame-by-frame hints about the plot.
The official plot description of "Andor" bills it as a series that "brings forward the tale of the burgeoning rebellion against the Empire and how people and planets became involved." It's the prequel to a prequel, set in the franchise hinterland between "Revenge of the Sith" and the original "Star Wars" trilogy, "an era filled with danger, deception and intrigue where Cassian will embark on the path that is destined to turn him into a rebel hero." For obvious reasons (unless you haven't seen the movie, in which case, you should probably go watch it), this new series is set before the events of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."
Many Bothans died to bring you this latest trailer for "Andor;" check it out below.
Andor Trailer
Well, how was that? I'll leave it to other hard-working Ugnaughts to provide a breakdown of this trailer, and instead just mention that showrunner Tony Gilroy — who was famously brought in to touch up the script of "Rogue One," act as second-unit director for reshoots, and help salvage the ending in the editing room — has described "Andor" as a project with "a huge, orchestral, Dickensian ensemble cast." He told Vanity Fair that the series "starts with a very simple, almost film noir situation for a thief, a skeevy kind of guy who gets in big trouble trying to sell something…"
That's an intriguing description for a series that already marks a departure for "Star Wars" TV in terms of its length (12 episodes instead of the usual six or eight, and a second season has already been confirmed). Maybe "Andor" can save Disney's butt when it comes to live-action "Star Wars."
For a while, it felt like "The Mandalorian" was doing that, but the last two shows, "The Book of Boba Fett" and "Obi-Wan Kenobi," were less favorably received, with critic and audience scores ranging from 57% to 77% on Rotten Tomatoes. Their December and May release dates were spaced out about as much as "The Last Jedi" and "Solo: A Star Wars Story" were, as if no one had learned anything from the failure of the latter film. Granted, this is streaming, so box-office results aren't a factor, but for anyone less than enthused by the recent trajectory of "Star Wars," all eyes are now on Diego Luna and his costars Genevieve O'Reilly, Stellan Skarsgård, Adria Arjona, Denise Gough, and Kyle Soller.
"Help us, 'Andor.' You're our only hope."
"Andor" premieres on Disney+ on September 1, 2022.
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