Favorite Characters: Cassian Andor, Revisited (Star Wars)

*Rogue One spoilers—and if anyone still needs the warning, a spoiler from A New Hope, too.*

With the premiere of Andor fast approaching, I obviously needed to rewatch Rogue One. Just as obviously, I needed to write about it for Y tu Luna también. However, I’ve already done a review of the film, a Favorite Characters post for Cassian, and a Relationship Spotlight for him and Jyn. So in looking back at Cassian and Rogue One today, I’m just going to follow my thoughts where they take me.

First, though, here’s Y tu Luna también addendum to my original review:

 

Recommend?

In General – Yes. Outside of the original trilogy, it’s the film that best captures the feeling of Star Wars for me. Equal parts action-packed, beautiful, and hard-hitting.

Diego Luna – Absolutely. Luna is so great in this role, but in a really subtle way. Excellent work.

 

In the years prior to Rogue One’s release, I’d seen Diego Luna in a handful of films. At first, he was, “Hey, it’s the other guy from Y tu mamá también!”, and then later, “Hey, isn’t that Diego Luna?” I didn’t seek out his work, but I was always pleased when I saw him pop up in things.

And even though my first viewing of Rogue One didn’t send me immediately turning his filmography into a to-do list, there was still a shift that took place. In fact, I’d say Rogue One was the film that set me on the path to being a legitimate Star Wars fan. I’d always enjoyed the franchise, but it didn’t excite my passion like the MCU, or Jane Austen, or Lord of the Rings. I remember I’d seen The Force Awakens a few weeks after it came out, when I made time for it. But after Rogue One, I was strictly opening weekend, often opening night.

I’ve spoken before about my franchise rewatch earlier in the pandemic, and it was revisiting Rogue One under those circumstances that really made me realize I needed all the Diego Luna content. That led me to Narcos: Mexico, to Maya and the Three, and beyond, so it was really cool now to come back to the film after having started my exploration of his career.

So what is it about Luna’s portrayal of Cassian that hits me so hard? I love the subtle journey he goes on over the course of the film. He’s someone with decades of experience fighting the Empire, a matter in which he had no choice, but he’s become a loyal soldier to the cause. Through him, we see that just because the Rebellion is fighting for good, that doesn’t mean that everything it asks you to do is good, and Cassian has gotten his hands dirty in ways that’s hard to reckon with. But during the film, he reconnects with fighting for, not just against. Sometimes that means defying orders, and sometimes it means dying to give others a chance to live.

I love Cassian’s relationship with K-2SO. The focused spy and the blunt reprogrammed droid are very different, but the history between them is clear in their interactions. K-2 doesn’t always do what Cassian tells him, but he worries about Cassian’s well-being and sometimes follows him to make sure he doesn’t get into trouble. Cassian gets irritated by the droid’s strategic analysis and they bicker over tactics, but they care about each other—Cassian’s panic when K-2 locks him and Jyn into the vault on Scarif, realizing something’s going very wrong on K-2’s end, hits me right in the gut.

And probably most of all, I love the evolution of Cassian’s relationship with Jyn. Even though they only know each other for a few days at most, every beat of their story together rings true. Again, it’s subtle, but I absolutely buy their gradual shift from wariness to trust as they keep one another live on Jedha. Cassian’s guilt as he wrestles with his orders to take out Jyn’s father as a valuable Empire asset, Jyn’s hurt as he realizes what he was about to do, their passion as they argue about the fight against the Empire and all it can take from someone. And then, still standing with her, defying orders again to execute the mission to Scarif. Walking into the belly of the Empire beast together, defending one another. Sending out their all-important beacon at the last possible moment, the tiny spark of hope that Luke Skywalker will use to set the Death Star ablaze. Realizing they won the day but won’t get out alive, holding each other on the beach at the end of the world.

I just… gahhh! It’s too wonderful. But while the greedy part of me wishes we could’ve had more of Cassian and Jyn’s interactions, more from the entire Rogue One crew, I’m also content with what we got, an exquisite capsule of a film about fighting alongside your comrades in arms and dying for a cause that’s bigger than yourself. And so, I’m okay with the fact that the coming Disney+ series is just about Cassian and the formation of the Rebellion. I’m so excited to dig more into this character’s origins and learn about what shaped the man we meet in Rogue One.