The birth of Star Wars in 1977 introduced a fictional galactic conflict as black and white as they come: A civil war between two factions known as the Rebel Alliance (the “good guys”) and the Galactic Empire (the “bad guys”). The original movie depicted the struggle between good and evil and ended with the Alliance defeating the Empire. But in Star Wars canon, there are a lot of missing details about how the Alliance originally came together — a piece of the puzzle fans expect to learn more about in Disney’s upcoming spy thriller series Star Wars: Andor.
Star Wars fans got their first real on-screen taste of the Rebel Alliance’s earliest beginnings in Rebels. The animated series focused on a small group of rebel fighters that eventually found their way to Yavin 4 to join forces with Mon Mothma, Bail Organa and their fellow operatives. Also featured in the series was Ahsoka Tano, a former Jedi padawan who went on to become the first Fulcrum agent to work undercover for Organa (and who’s also getting her own spinoff series that’s essentially a Rebels sequel).
Tano’s idea for the Fulcrum identity was first introduced in E.K. Johnston’s Ahsoka novel, and it was eventually revealed that Cassian Andor was another member of the Alliance’s intelligence network. Fulcrum was a codename shared among these agents; Andor and Tano were only two of many more working to gather information that could be used to undermine the Galactic Empire.
Andor is expected to explore the title character’s time working on behalf of the Alliance before his heroic death in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which will likely involve bringing together a collection of new and familiar characters responsible for building the Alliance up to what fans first saw in A New Hope. Assuming the show would bring in characters such as Organa, Mothma, and Tano (who already guested in The Book of Boba Fett), could it become too crowded with foundational Alliance members all doing small parts to bring the organization together?
Thus far, both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett have proven that a Star Wars show can headline a main character yet still stand on its own without their presence dominating every episode. The latter was at its best when it teased other series and heroes. Andor may be the title character of his own series, but Star Wars: Andor will more than likely air episodes that feature him in a small role … or none at all.
He very well could be the “fulcrum” of the series without having to be in front of the camera every episode. What if, for example, his dangerous intelligence work results in him going missing at some point? That would allow other characters to step forward and embark on a mission to rescue him. It’d be similar to Din Djarin taking over The Book of Boba Fett, but with a thrilling plot point still centered completely on Andor without technically having to show his face at all.
Based on what various Star Wars stories have revealed, establishing the Alliance involved years of subtle and dangerous work between members of the Imperial Senate and their counterparts. Even Princess Leia Organa was kept out of Alliance business until her involvement became inevitable. Andor and his fellow agents likely risked their lives on numerous occasions while in the line of duty, and this series has the opportunity to explore the dark corners — both literal and figurative — these characters were forced to explore in order to get their jobs done.
Many modern Star Wars projects have gone to great efforts to blur the once indistinguishable line between good and evil, and Andor will be no exception. Andor himself told Jyn Erso he’d done things he wasn’t proud of to help the Alliance succeed in its efforts to extinguish the Empire. Many of those dark deeds and more await Star Wars viewers as they follow Andor and other characters on dangerous missions to aid a desperate Alliance in securing an eventual victory over the galaxy’s greatest threat.
Star Wars: Andor is expected to premiere on Disney+ in 2022.
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