You might have heard this one before, but one of Disney and Lucasfilm’s live-action Star Wars projects has recently found itself the subject of some behind-the-scenes reshuffling. Following in the footsteps of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s Solo, Colin Trevorrow’s Episode IX, the trilogy from Game of Thrones’ David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and Hossein Amini’s scripts for Obi-Wan Kenobi, Stephen Schiff has become the latest name to depart the franchise and will no longer act as the showrunner for the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story spinoff series.
Tony Gilroy was recently named as his replacement, and is already well-versed in the character having co-wrote the script for Rogue One and overseen the extensive reshoots that effectively saw Gareth Edwards locked out of his own movie. The latest major creative reshuffle has seen the show pushed back as the entire concept is reworked from the ground up, but Cassian Andor is still expected to land on Disney Plus by the end of next year.
There’s definitely forward momentum being made though, with the recent announcements that Stellan Skarsgard, Kyle Soller and Denise Gough would also be heading to a galaxy far, far away to join Diego Luna’s title hero, while Alan Tudyk will be reprising his role as droid K-2SO alongside Genevieve O’Reilly’s Mon Mothma. And while there’s no official plot details available as yet, it’s now been confirmed that Cassian Andor will take place five years before the events of Rogue One.
A TV show that focuses on a character we all know dies in the end is always going to have a short shelf life, but the five-year gap means that the studio will still be able to wring several seasons out of Cassian Andor should it turn out to be a hit on Disney Plus. Not to mention it could also open the door for more fan-favorites from either Rogue One or the expanded universe to appear at some point down the line.
