Star Wars Makes Major Change With Andor Premiere Release

While Lucasfilm has been airing Star Wars shows on Disney+ since the streaming service launched, this fall's Andor will be just the fourth live-action project to debut on the platform. Following in the footsteps of Obi-Wan Kenobi, this Diego Luna-led show takes fans back to the the grey area that exists between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. While recent live-action projects like the aforementioned Kenobi and 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story have helped fill in those gaps, Andor will do so across 12 episodes, the longest a live-action Disney+ season has been to date.

Those dozen episodes will also kick off at a high speed. As revealed in the official trailer, Andor will debut on Wednesday, September 21 with its first three episodes. This is just the second live-action Star Wars show to premiere with multiple episodes, as Kenobi dropped its first two installments on its release day. This three count does make it one of the biggest live-action premieres on Disney+, as no Marvel series has gone further than two episodes upon Day 1 (WandaVision and Hawkeye).

This series has been a long time coming for Luna, as teases of an Andor spinoff first began to rumble around the December 2016 release of Rogue One.

"It was quite an experience," Luna said of wrapping the show's first season. "I don't think anything in my life has been like that. And I'm sure nothing will be like that ever again. It was such a mix of emotions."

As fans know, Cassian Andor meets his end in Rogue One, alongside all of his rebel comrades tasked with stealing the Death Star's blueprints. Luna noted that the idea of "going backward" intrigued him as an actor.

"We know where this character ends, but how complicated can we make it for him to get there? And that's where creativity comes in because it's never the way you approach a story. It's like a different part of your brain that has to connect," Luna continued. "It's exciting to have that opportunity in storytelling of going backward and not forward. Going forward is easy. As an actor, this is what you're always asked to do."

Luna continued by explaining that bringing his backstory to life, after it only existed in his head throughout Rogue One, was a unique challenge.

"All this story just happened in my mind. It wasn't relevant to anyone. He talks about a traumatic past, but there is no specificity," Luna explained. "Obviously, as an actor, I had my backstory. You don't arrive on set without knowing where you're coming from and what motivates every decision your character makes, but that's information that no one cared about for years."

Andor premieres its first three episodes on Disney+ this September 21st.