New 'Andor' Set Photos Reveal Stormtrooper Standoff

Following the success of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and before the rollout of Disney's premiere streaming service, Disney+, it was announced that Lucasfilm would be creating a series featuring one of the heroes of the Rebel Alliance and of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Cassian Andor. As we know, Cassian, along with the other heroes from that story, die in the service of getting the plans for the first Death Star to the Rebel Alliance, setting the stage for the events in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. Of course, this series will be set prior to the events of that movie and give us some more backstory on the character of Cassian Andor and some of his activities and assignments as a Rebel operative.

The show is said to begin five years before the events of Rogue One. Simply titled Andor, it will take us back to a time when the Empire is ascendant and in charge of most of the known galaxy. This setting should, hopefully, provide a lot of interesting and rich storytelling opportunities, as well as include the possibility of using characters who have been introduced in other Star Wars movies and TV series set around this same time period. Characters from Star Wars Rebels and even Solo: A Star Wars Story could show up in this new series. Rumors have circulated that anti-Empire Marauder leader Enfys Nest, introduced in Solo: A Star Wars Story, might appear in Andor. Might we get some live-action versions of some members of the Ghost crew, particularly those who were actually referenced and/or seen in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, like Chopper and Hera Syndulla?

It is even possible that some supporting characters who were featured in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story could make appearances. These could include Alderaan Senator Bail Organa, and Saw Gerrera and his militant Partisans who oppose the Empire but are denounced by Mon Mothma and the rest of the Rebel Alliance for their extremist tactics. We know for sure that Genevieve O'Reilly will be reprising her role as Mon Mothma. Alan Tudyk has said that K-2SO will appear some point in the series, just not in the first season. Perhaps we may eventually see how he is reprogrammed to serve the Rebels. There will undoubtedly be lots of new characters for us to get to know as well.

What has never been in doubt, though, is that when it comes to villains, there has always been the absolute certainty that the new series would include Imperial stormtroopers as regular foils to Cassian and the Rebel Alliance. Proof of this comes in the form of an aerial photograph that was recently released from the UK set of Andor, apparently showing a stormtrooper facing off against an angry mob in some as-yet unknown location within the Star Wars universe.

Although we are lacking context for what we are seeing and can only hazard a guess as to what exactly is happening in this scene, it certainly seems fair to assume that this scene is going to be yet another illustration of the Galactic Empire showing force against and/or policing of another subjugated world, something obviously not unusual during the heyday of Palpatine's Galactic Empire.

Diego Luna, who will be resuming his role as Cassian Andor, did not reveal any specific details about this photograph. However, he did reveal that the Andor series would continue the trend set by other Star Wars movies and series of exploring previously unseen places within the Star Wars universe. He also compared the series to a "very long movie" and discussed how the series will further develop his own character, Cassian Andor, and how he becomes the hardened person we see in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Finally, and most importantly, he shared how it will continue to share the stories of what he described as "regular people doing incredible things," which actually seems quite in line with what we know of Cassian Andor and the other heroes of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. This series is expected to debut in 2022.

Written By Mara Butler

Source(s): Bounding Into Comics, ComicBook.com, Looper

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