Disneyand Lucasfilm’s line-up of original content for Disney+ includes a prequel series toRogue One: AStar WarsStorywith Diego Luna returning as Cassian Andor. Now,Emerald CityandPacific Rim: UprisingStar Adria Arjona is the latest actor to join the cast of the upcoming series.
Disney’s plan to produce standaloneStar Warsfilms along with the Skywalker saga launched with the release ofRogue One: A Star Wars Story. Set just before the events ofA New Hope,Rogue One followed Jyn Erso as she joined Cassian Andor and a band of rebels on a mission to retrieve the plans to the Empire’s Death Star to discover the weapon’s one weakness. The film was generally well-received and earned over $1 billion at the box office, eventually prompting Disney to order aprequel series described as a spy thrillerthat centers on Cassian Andor’s early days in the rebellion.
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Deadline reports that Adria Arjona, perhaps best known for her roles as Dorothy Gale in NBC’s short-livedEmerald Cityand Jules Reyes in Legendary Pictures’Pacific Rim: Uprising, has joined the cast of theRogue Oneprequel series, although details on the character she will portray are currently unknown. She joins a cast that includes Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly, Stellan Skarsgard, Kyle Soller, and Alan Tudyk returning to provide the voice and motion capture performance of Andor’s reprogrammed Imperial droid ally K-2SO. Additional credits to Arjona’s name includeLife of the Party,6 Underground, and the upcomingMorbiusopposite Jared Leto.
Rogue Oneco-writer Tony Gilroy, who reportedly reshot a significant portion of the footage shot by director Gareth Edwards,will oversee the seriesand serve as showrunner alongside Stephen Schiff. Gilroy also wrote the pilot for the series and will direct multiple episodes. AdditionalStar Wars projects being developed for Disney+ include an Obi-Wan Kenobi series, a female-centric show fromRussian Dollcreator Leslye Headland, and animated series titledThe Bad Batch.
Considering the generally positive reception towards Luna’s Cassian Andor, interest in theRogue Oneprequel is understandably high, especially after the praise and accoladesearned by the first season ofThe Mandalorian. Of course, not everyone was a fan ofRogue Oneand it may be frustrating to see Lucasfilm’s plans to expand theStar Warsuniverse remain largely focused on creating prequels with characters fans have met before.
Still, after the negative reactions toThe Rise of Skywalkerand the poor box office performance ofSolo: A Star Wars Story, fans might be more interested in seeing Disney shift their attention to the franchise’s television projects regardless of who the main characters will be. After all,The Mandalorianarguably showed that the television division is working out better, in terms of quality, than the film side.
TheCassian Andorseries will be available exclusively on Disney+ at an undetermined date.
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