A new trailer for the upcoming Andor series on Disney+ leans heavily into the Star Wars films that chronologically follow the events of the show.
The two-and-a-half-minute special look opens with snippets from the series, before segueing into the iconic moment that started it all: Princess Leia Organa's Rebel blockade runner attempting to escape the massive Star Destroyer in pursuit over the planet Tatooine. The now legendary scene, as Star Wars fans know, kicked off 1977's Star Wars: A New Hope.
Leia's fateful holographic recording to Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi follows, along with Ben and Luke Skywalker's subsequent viewing of the message projected by R2-D2. The trailer then jumps ahead (or back, continuity-wise) to scenes from 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, featuring the series’ lead character Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna. The clips highlight Andor's discovery of the Galactic Empire's then-secret weapon known as the Death Star, and the Rebellion's subsequent and successful mission to retrieve the plans for the super-weapon.
The trailer then concludes with a montage of scenes from the upcoming series.
How Andor Leads Into Rogue One and Beyond
Just as Rogue One served as a prequel to A New Hope, Andor leads up to the events of Rogue One by telling the story of the thief-turned-Rebel's journey to becoming a galactic freedom fighter. The series is currently scheduled for two 12-episode seasons.
Rogue One told the story of Andor and fellow Rebel Jyn Erso, played by Felicity Jones, who band together with other Rebels to steal the Death Star plans -- plans that included a deliberate weakness designed into the station by one of the station's scientists, Jyn's father Galen Erso. The ragtag Rebel group self-designated as Rogue One succeed in stealing the plans, albeit at the cost of the entire group's lives, including Andor's. The plans, however, successfully make their way to Princess Leia's ship, leading directly into the opening of A New Hope.
In that introductory film, Leia hides the plans in her astromech droid R2-D2, and with some help from Luke, Ben, smuggler Han Solo and first mate Chewbacca, ultimately make their way to the Rebel Alliance's secret base on Yavin IV. The Rebels scrutinize the plans to discover the station's weakness, enabling the Rebellion to destroy the Death Star and score a decisive win in the war against the Galactic Empire.
The first three episodes of Andor premiere Sep. 21 on Disney+.
Source: YouTube