The promotional video features Star Wars: Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy explaining where the character of Cassian Andor is at this point in the series. As someone desperate to escape the Empire’s pursuit on Ferrix, he’s immediately open to the idea of leaving with Stellan Skarsgård’s Luthen Rael to join a heist against the tyrannical government. But while he’s certainly a good fit for the operation, given his already developed skills fighting the Empire, Cassian may have found himself in over his head.
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“In episode 4, our show goes big,” Gilroy says in the video posted on the Star Wars YouTube channel. “We go out into the world and we go into the mission that Luthen wants Cassian to do for him.” Unfortunately, there’s no behind-the-scenes footage accompanying the featurette, but the scenes from Andor itself are certainly exciting enough on their own, as those who have seen it can quickly attest. This isn’t just from Gilroy’s perspective, either.
“He’s dropped into this world,” Diego Luna then explains regarding his Star Wars character of Cassian Andor. “It’s imposed. That creates a lot of conflict.” The members of Andor’s rebel heist crew are quickly developed on the show as a ragtag group of people with diverse reasons for being there and plenty of drama to go around. So naturally, there’s a lot of clashing right away when Cassian joins up. “Cassian meets all these other characters,” Gilroy continues. “Every one of them has something to teach him along the way.”
The heist itself is an eye-opening experience for the Luke Skywalker-like Cassian Andor as well since he learns there can be some nuance to what he thought was a straight battle of good vs. evil. “Cassian’s thinking is very black and white,” Luna went on. “The empire, they’re all dangerous. And suddenly he goes ‘oh no, there’s an ally inside.’ That’s a big learning for the character. It’s quite beautiful because it represents a journey of finding out who you are.” This refers to the Imperial lieutenant on the inside who helps with the heist, even if it doesn’t quite turn out as expected.
This 3-episode arc offered plenty of action and suspense, but the character growth for Cassian Andor himself can’t be understated. He’d already shown himself capable of fighting the Galactic Empire before, but now he’s got a more personal look not only into his fellow freedom fighters, but also the Imperials themselves. Things aren’t quite as cut and dry as he’d thought, and that’s sure to affect his actions going forward.
Star Wars: Andor streams new episodes Wednesdays on Disney Plus.
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Source: Star Wars/YouTube
