Andor: What did we see in the trailer for new Star Wars Disney+ show

“People are standing up.”

If there was one thing that stood out from my initial viewings of the first trailer for “Andor,” the prequel series centered around Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor, who made his debut in the galaxy far, far away in 2016’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” it was that a powder keg is about to blow in the “Star Wars” universe.

Spoiler alert: If you’ve seen “Rogue One” then you know Cassian, along with the rest of the ragtag core from the movie, die in their successful effort to steal the plans to the original Death Star and transmit them to the nascent Rebellion. So how is Andor back for the series? The answer is the series is set five years before the events of “Rogue One” and seemingly reveals a galaxy ready to rise up against the evil Galactic Empire.

The trailer appears to show people on several planets all preparing to rebel in some form or fashion. At the beginning of the trailer, we see what appears to be warnings in several places to the imminent arrival of Imperial forces. We see guns hidden, gates dropped, people running, people hiding in the shadows. And we see the foreboding arrival of Imperial gunships.

Andor says “they’re so proud of themselves, so fat and satisfied,” further illustrating people’s growing discontent under the thumb of the Emperor. We see Mon Mothma say of the Empire, “they’re everywhere” and “they’re watching me now” as her role in fomenting rebellion comes into stark relief. All of this, as well as the soundtrack especially, adds a tenseness to the proceedings, which fits nicely in line with Disney’s description of the series as a “tense nail-biting spy thriller.”

We also are introduced a new character who says soon these days will end and there will be no rules over what appears to be images of an Imperial work prison of some sort. And that is followed by several shots of various Imperial types, including stormtroopers of course, throughout the galaxy and some action, including the destruction of a speeder and our boy Cassian stealing a tie fighter and punching the hyperdrive.

And the end of it all we hear, “That’s what a reckoning sounds like.”

This trailer makes clear that this will likely be a different kind of “Star Wars” show. Sure we have seen espionage and spy intrigue in the past, but this trailer makes it feel like it’s center stage for “Andor,” resulting in a show that is more James Bond than Kurosawa’s samurai.

Lucasfilm has confirmed that “Andor” will be a 12-episode series — far more than either season of “The Mandalorian” or the six-part “Obi-Wan Kenobi” limited event series set to debut on May 27. “Andor” will debut on Aug. 31 and it seems as though Cassian and Mothma will be the only characters from “Rogue One” we’ll see this time around, although Bail Organa is never far removed from efforts to restore galactic democracy, so I wouldn’t rule out any potential surprises just yet. And there is still the matter of seeing just how K2S0 gets re-programmed to serve the Rebellion despite his Imperial programming.

The bottom line is get ready because I have a good feeling about this.

If you have questions or just want to talk Star Wars, hit on me up on Twitter — my username is @a_silva32. May the Force be with you!