August 1st has brought us one step closer to the release of our latest journey to a galaxy far, far away, and with it has come a spoilery new trailer and poster for the Andor series featuring heaps of new footage, dialogue, and confirmation of returning characters. Make sure and check it out below!
We open on a lovely scenic of a river running between two mountain ranges, followed by a few establishing shots of characters looking to the sky as something disrupts their day-to-day. An imposing over-the-shoulder shot reveals an Imperial Star Destroyer entering the planets atmosphere along with an escort of Tie Fighters.
We're then treated to a voiceover by the titular character, Cassian Andor. It's unclear who he's speaking to, but he advices that the best way to steal from the Empire is to simply "Walk in like you belong", and that they are all so "far and satisfied, that they can't imagine that someone like me would ever get inside their house". This seems to track well with the hubris of the imperial war machine, as we have seen several times across the Star Wars timeline when our heroes have taken advantage of their enemies complacenecy by disguising themselves and walking right in the front door. It's a trope that some may feel is over done, but can still lead to some tense and intriguing storytelling.
Following that, we get a new glimpse at Stellan Skarsgard's as yet unnamed character. He's speaking with Cassian and seems to be attempting to recruit him to the fledging rebel alliance. "I need all the heroes I can get" we hear him say, though interviews with star Diego Luna suggest that our main protagonist is no hero where we find him in this series.
Fans of Rogue One, Clone Wars, and Star Wars Rebels will be happy to see the return of the Onderonian zealot Saw Gerrera (played once again by Forest Whitaker) and his band of rebel extremists.
Saw, for those not in the know, grew up during the separatist occupation of his planet and was assisted by none other than Obi Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano in setting up a fledgling group of revolutionaries entent on freeing their planet from the droid army. After the loss of his sister, Saw became more and more angry and his tactics more brutal. He was an early member of the Rebel Alliance fighting against the Empire, but he would eventually have a fallling out with the counsel and be shunned for his visciousness and extremist tendencies.
The trailer makes it clear that this is a time of great unrest in the galaxy as the Empire squeezes harder and harder against anyone who refuses to fall in line. We see a riots in the streets, a tie bomber shot out of the sky, what appears to be an elevator system on Coruscant, and more. Skarsgard's nameless character is revealed to be (of have been) a Senator at some point, clean shaven and in much finer clothes than anything we've yet seen him in, and we're treated to some new shots and bits of dialogue from Genevieve O'Reilly's Mon Motha, who hopes that being seen as a "Nuisance" will stop people from noticing "What she's really doing".
As the music crescendos and the shots come faster and faster, we see Death Troopers, a crying Fiona Shaw, another looks at new droid companion B2EMO, explosions, blaster fire, people running, general panic, a Tie Fighter chace... all culminating in the biggest reveal yet...
The reveal that the series premiere on September 21st will bring not one, not two, but THREE episodes to the Disney streaming service.
All said, the trailer delivers on all points and the series looks to have all the style and flair of it's predecessor.