Star Wars: How will Disney’s Rogue One prequel show work when we already know the ending?

Disney’s first entry into live-action Star Wars television, The Mandalorian, was a runaway hit. While that show continues to film its second season (at least as much as it can with the coronavirus shutting down productions around the world), another Star Wars series is gearing up. This one is set before Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and will focus on Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna in that movie.

Caution: Rogue One SPOILERS incoming.

Rogue One was about a team of Rebels getting their hands on the plans for the Death Star, and if you saw it, you know that Andor and most of the rest of the cast dies by the end. So why should we watch a show where we know the ending? Speaking to Indie Wire, Luna explained how that presents the creative team with new opportunities:

"If you think about it, Rogue One started with the same task. The last scene of Rogue One is a scene we all know. It makes another part of your brain work [as a storyteller]. You can’t use the same formulas for storytelling you’ve known all your life with this because it’s very different. The big thing is now we start with a character that people already know what he’s capable of."

He’s right that the last scene of Rogue One is one we all know. Will the last scene of the Cassian Andor show be the first scene of Rogue One?

For me, the most interesting thing about Cassian Andor the character is that, like many of the characters from Rogue One, he operates in a morally grey area we don’t often explore in Star Wars. Andor executed his own informant, after all, but he’s still a good guy. It’s hard to sort him into the “light side” or “dark side.”

Andor is an intelligence agent, which opens up lots of potential directions for the show. But like any good spy, Luna is keeping the show’s secrets. “I can’t really talk about it,” he said. “The thing I can tell you, and it’s a nice challenge and it’s a great way to approach a show, but what happens when you already know the ending?”

Then it becomes about the story. Everything is in how you tell the story and how many different layers you can find. This can’t be a show now where at the end we surprise you with like, ‘Oh no it wasn’t him!’ We’ve already seen the ending.

The journey is more important than the destination, etcetera and so forth.

Jokes aside, I agree with Luna that the Cassian Andor series has the potential to pave new ground in the Star Wars universe, just as The Mandalorian did. Exploring the lengths to which the early members of the Rebellion were willing to go to in order to overthrow the Empire sounds like a hell of a lot of fun. Thrown in a couple double agents and a few other spy tropes, plus the humor of K2-SO, and Disney might have another hit on its hands.

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