Andor

What’s it about?

The journey of Cassian Andor in the fight against the oppressive Galactic Empire. The Rebel Alliance is growing and there’s no time to waste.

Starring

Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis, Genevieve O’Reilly, Adria Arjona, Kyle Soller, Denise Gough

An Introduction to Andor

Right off the bat, Andor doesn’t waste time pulling us into the underbelly of the galaxy. Protagonist Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), still in his pre-Resistance phase, is on the hunt for something/someone in a grimy, dark corner of an industrialised world. It’s not quite clear what he’s up to, but the vibe is unmistakable: this is a man who knows how to slip through cracks. He’s scrappy, calculating, and clearly has some deeply buried wounds that will become apparent as the series goes on.

We’re then introduced to the more bureaucratic side of Star Wars’ Galactic Empire — an office filled with suits, buzzwords, and the quiet hum of systemic oppression, the kind that’s more insidious than blaster fire. The Empire, through its underlings, is casually omnipresent in its surveillance and control, making the world Andor inhabits feel less like an exotic “galaxy far, far away” and more like a grim, grey drudge. Cassian’s journey is defined by a quiet anger, the kind that grows when you’re constantly being watched, marginalized, and pushed around.

In the midst of all this, there’s an air of inevitability. You can see the pieces moving, slowly but surely, toward rebellion. Andor isn’t ready to be a hero yet — he’s still driven by personal need, survival, and, perhaps, a chip on his shoulder — but his destination is inevitable. The show expertly contrasts his quiet defiance with the Empire’s towering, bureaucratic menace, making you feel the weight of each decision, each action, like they’re ripples in a much bigger pond.

Andor is on a mission of self-discovery, realizing that revolution is not just about blasters and explosions but about the quiet moments of decision-making, where the stakes feel human, where the cost of freedom is measured more in personal loss rather than mere heroics.

Summary

Andor is the gritty, cerebral prequel to the film Rogue One (2016) that peels back the layers of the Star Wars universe, zooming in on the murky, morally ambiguous world of rebellion. The show focuses on Cassian Andor, a figure we saw briefly in Rogue One, but here he’s fully fleshed out — a loner, a cynic, and a reluctant revolutionary who is neither hero nor villain. It’s an odd place to find yourself in, right between fighting the Empire and becoming a hero of the Resistance, and the show captures that deliciously messy ambiguity.

Andor’s journey through a world that thrives on surveillance, oppression, and bureaucratic maneuvering strikes a tone that is both timely and timeless. The show tackles complex themes of power, resistance, and the personal cost of fighting for something greater than yourself. If you’ve seen Rogue One, you know where this is all heading – but this is about the journey and the players along the way. Like sci-fi heavy hitters The Expanse or Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica, this show rewards your full attention.

No-one can deny that Disney have been making some undeniably patchy Star Wars content of late, but rest assured this is one of the good ones. In fact, it’s fair to say that this is hands-down the best Star Wars content to hit the small screen. Season 1 sets the scene, the stakes and the intrigue, then Season 2 hits a superb, epic home run.

Check out the Season 1 Trailer here: