If you live long enough, you may see the origin story of the classic stories that fired up your imagination on pages and screens. Should we see the witness the origin, learn the prequel story or is the mystery and what we imagine better than what is presented?
The new trailer for ANDOR on Disney+ made me examine the back story of some of my sci-fi and comic book epics. What worked?
Star Wars fans are about to witness the prequel to a prequel. ANDOR on Disney+ is the prequel to ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS Story. The film about the crew that stole the Death Star plans before the start of the saga in A NEW HOPE. Cassian Andor’s story is not over as Diego Luna returns to lead the story of the birth of the rebellion.
STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE was the first film I ever saw in a cinema – thanks mom and dad. ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY is my favorite project of the modern era of the Disney/Lucasfilm. The first image of a starship being overtaking by a massive Imperial cruiser makes a powerful impression on a young geek. Stormtroopers blasting through followed by the menacing Darth Vader after those plans!
ROGUE ONE revealed the heroic story of the rebel spies who bravely gave the Rebellion and the galaxy a literal new hope. ROGUE ONE drew on the established mythos while breaking new ground with a very different, darker tone. The very first film gave us the brave, noble Luke, Leia, Han and the Rebellion as a heroic freedom fighters plus a scoundrel in a just cause against an evil empire. The prequel film gave us Andor and the rebels who did the more ruthless, morally questionable acts for the cuase. Andor and his crew did the brutal work of building the framework for the Rebellion so Luke and company could fly carrying hope across the galaxy.
I immediately felt a connection to Jenn, Cassian and the rogues who defied an Empire and delivered a new hope to Leia. Now we see Andor five years before the events of ROGUE ONE. Luna and the crew will show how Andor goes from thief to revolutionary to spy. Forest Whitaker will reprise his role Clone Wars veteran turned insurgent leader Saw Gerrera. ANDOR shows us the formation of the Rebel Alliance. We may already know how the story ends but if ANDOR follows the path of ROGUE ONE, I’m excited to see more of the heroic renegades who launched the Rebellion and shared the emotional back story.
ROGUE ONE and ANDOR are in the rare pantheon of back stories you always wondered about that deliver nostalgia, fan service while giving you a new side of the story you thought you knew. ANDOR premieres on Disney+ September 9.