With Jon Favreau’s original series The Mandalorian in production, fans are finally on the verge of seeing a live-action Star Wars television series, as was first promised by George Lucas way back in 2005. What could be better?
Two live-action Star Wars television series.
On today’s shareholders call, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that a second live-action series is in development, set to shoot next year and release on Disney+, the upcoming direct-to-consumer streaming service, sometime thereafter. The series centers around Cassian Andor, Diego Luna’s enigmatic Rebel agent from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Luna will reprise his role in this series, which, of course, is set before the events of that film.
He told StarWars.com:
Going back to the Star Wars universe is very special for me. I have so many memories of the great work we did together and the relationships I made throughout the journey. We have a fantastic adventure ahead of us, and this new exciting format will give us the chance to explore this character more deeply.
Of the characters in Rogue One, Cassian has received perhaps the most exploration in other materials. The Rogue One Ultimate Visual Guide first told us that his father, a Separatist during the Clone Wars, was killed during that conflict when protesting Republic military expansion. It also introduced the idea that Cassian had served as a Fulcrum agent, the undercover recruiting initiative founded by Ahsoka Tano in the Star Wars Rebels animated series. We later saw him acting in this capacity in The VOID’s Secrets of the Empire VR experience, once again played by Luna. If I had to hazard the guess, I would say we will see Andor as a Fulcrum agent once again in this series. The official description from Lucasfilm is as follows:
The rousing spy thriller will explore tales filled with espionage and daring missions to restore hope to a galaxy in the grip of a ruthless Empire.
The news of this series comes just a day after effects powerhouse ILM announced a dedicated television division, whose first projects will be The Mandalorian and the second season of the hit SyFy show Krypton. With a wing of the company specifically dedicated to working within television budgets, it is certain these new Star Wars series will look phenomenal, with fully-realized worlds, creatures, and hopefully a certain reprogrammed Imperial droid to accompany Captain Andor on his new adventures…and we know Rebellions are built on hope.
For a Star Wars spy series, Cassian is the natural choice of protagonist. He lived in a dark time to be a Rebel, but we live in the best time to be a Star Wars fan. Stay tuned for further updates on this series and more.
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