What we know about Andor season 1 on Disney+

The ever-expanding cosmos of Star Wars is going rogue, as the long-awaited Rogue One: A Star Wars Story spin-off Andor comes to Disney+. Andor is nestling in alongside everything from The Mandalorian to Ahsoka as the galaxy’s answer to James Bond, pitching itself as your classic spy thriller with a Star Wars twist.

Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One broke new ground when it navigated the unexplored era between George Lucas' original trilogy and the divisive prequels. We’ve since returned to this world with the likes of Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order game and the return of Ewan McGregor for Obi-Wan Kenobi, but now, it’s over to Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor.

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We’ve discovered the plans for the Death Star, and if you’re ready, here’s everything you need to know about the Andor release date, cast, story, and more.

When will Andor be released?

Andor will stream on Disney+ with a three-episode premiere on 21 September. New episodes will drop weekly on Wednesdays. 2022 has been a big year for Star Wars, and although the slate of movies is drier than Tatooine right now, Disney+ has already gained the high ground with The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

There’s some stiff competition in the fantasy genre right now, meaning that Andor being pushed back from its original release date of 31 August puts it on a collision course with Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2 September) and HBO’s House of The Dragon (21 August).

To make up for the delay, the first three episodes will debut on the same day and the Andor finale will air on 23 November.

Who is in the Andor cast?

Given the shocking end of Rogue One, a prequel was the only way Luna could return unless appearing as a Force ghost.

We’re told that you won’t recognise Cassian at the start of the series, and with the destruction of his home planet coupled with a reluctance to join the Rebels, we’re expecting a darker side of the character. Luna himself told Entertainment Tonight, “You know the ending, but you don’t know how it happened, and we have that challenge in front of us again.”

Morbius’ Adria Arjona is pitched as Andor’s leading lady, Kleya, who is Cassian’s sister. As Luke and Leia have proved, Star Wars loves keeping it in the family.

From what we’ve seen, Kleya is just as feisty as her brother. Killing Eve’s Fiona Shaw plays Maarva, who is Cassian’s adoptive mother. This presumably comes following the trailer’s tease of flashbacks to the deaths of a young Cassian and Kleya’s parents.

Fighting for the Empire, there’s The Witcher 3’s Denise Gough as Supervisor Dedra Meero and Game of Thrones’ Anton Lesser swapping the robes of Maester Qyburn for the uniform of an Imperial Officer.

One of the more mysterious additions is Poldark’s Kyle Soller playing Syril Karn. Soller told Total Film that Karn “recognises that Cassian is everything he isn’t” and is apparently obsessed with our hero.

Elsewhere, there’s the much-hyped return of Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma. The character first appeared way back in 1983’s Return of the Jedi as the leader of the Rebel Alliance. She’s since gained a cult following and was played by O’Reilly in Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One. At least we know this is one character who survives into the OG trilogy.

If you’re looking for more familiar faces, the Andor trailer teased the obscure return of Benthic Two-Tubes — a Tognath mercenary who fought in Rogue One.

Forest Whitaker is also back for more as the rebellious Saw Gerrera. Saw met his maker like Cassian in Rogue One, but had a bigger part to play in the expanded canon.

Alan Tudyk has said the fan-favourite K-2SO won’t appear in season one. However, he teased Collider about a second season appearance to flesh out the babbling bot’s backstory.

For years, fans have called for Stellan Skarsgård to play Dengar the bounty hunter (from The Empire Strikes Back), but instead, he’s joined Andor as Luthen Rael. With ties to both Mothma and Gerrera, it’s Rael who pulls Cassian to the Rebels and against the Galactic Empire.

Luna has said there are “definitely some familiar faces,” and with rumours claiming Ben Mendelsohn could return, look out for the snarling Orson Krennic for a pre-Rogue One cameo.

What happens in Andor?

Taking place five years before the events of Rogue One, Andor follows the titular rebel as he takes on the Galactic Empire as a hotshot pilot. Even though there are similar beats to Han Solo’s story, expect things to play out differently in a show that StarWars.com describes as a “tense nail-biting thriller”.

The trailers have given away some details. Rael saying “I need all the heroes I can get” sets him up as something of a Nick Fury, which fits with him reaching out to Saw in the trailers.

Mon Mothma has to dodge the changing politics amidst the fall of the Galactic Republic, all while keeping her cover intact. Mothma is described as an “irritant” as she operates out of Coruscant while Sheev Palpatine grows the Empire.

Even if the Rebels are beavering away at bringing down the Empire, this is a time of prosperity for Palpatine’s forces. Stormtroopers aren’t yet in their classic armour, suggesting clones are still in play, while others have spotted the return of Rogue One’s Death Troopers alongside Gough’s Supervisor Meero.

There’s also a tease of an underwater prison and what looks like the first meetings that plot the construction of the Death Star.

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A second (and concluding) season of 12 episodes had been confirmed, which will chart the next four years in blocks of three episodes covering each year. The final scene of Andor is due to tie directly into Rogue One, so we’re expecting some pretty major cameos on a par with Luke Skywalker being in The Mandalorian.

Whether it’s the whole Rogue One gang or just a few, we’d probably get Felicity Jones on standby.

Andor will be released on Disney+ on 21 September