Disney+ Postponed the Premiere of New ‘Star Wars’ ‘Andor,’ Most Likely Due to ‘House of the Dragon,’ ‘Rings of Power’

On Monday, Disney released a new trailer for “Andor,” the next “Star Wars”-related series that will stream on Disney+. The series functions as a prequel to the 2016 film “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” and focuses on rebel spy Cassian Andor (played by Diego Luna), who was central to that film’s story.

Created by Dan Gilroy, best known for writing several of the “Bourne Identity” films, the series is set at a time in the “Star Wars” chronology when the Rebel Alliance is first coming into being. The show also stars Genevieve O’Reilly, Stellan Skarsgård, and Adria Arjona.

Watch the new trailer for “Andor”:

One surprise piece of news from the trailer is that “Andor” has a new release date. Previously announced as arriving on Aug. 31, the new premiere date is now apparently three weeks later, on Sept. 21.

The first three episodes will arrive on that date, with a new episode debuting each Wednesday through Nov. 23. When Aug. 31 was the planned release date, “Andor” was scheduled to start with two episodes.

Why has the date moved? Disney has not explained its reasoning, but it would appear that it’s an attempt to get past the fantasy streaming logjam expected in late August and early September. HBO Max will debut its “Game of Thrones” prequel series, “House of the Dragon,” on Aug. 21, with Prime Video bringing out “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” on Sept. 2.

With the move, Disney won’t be dropping its latest “Star Wars” series in between the releases of two of the most highly anticipated genre titles in recent memories. This move will give “Andor” a three-week cushion from the buzz of the releases for it to build its own momentum. Admittedly, it will still need to compete with the dueling fantasy series.

Both “House of the Dragon” and “Rings of Power” will release episodes weekly, meaning that there will be some overlap with “Andor,” but not nearly as much before. Currently, Sept. 21 is the announced season finale for “The Rings of Power” and Sept. 23 for “House of the Dragon.” By pushing back the “Star Wars” show’s season, its Season 1 finale is now scheduled to drop two months after the other series on Nov. 23.

As for the Disney+ schedule in September, it includes episodes of the Marvel series “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” as well as the second season premiere of “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” at the end of the month. But it’s not so heavy that the “Andor” won’t crowd other things out. As for Disney’s other service, Hulu will premiere a new season of “The Handmaid’s Tale” on Sept. 14, a week before “Andor,” but those aren’t likely to be in too much direct competition.

With “The Mandalorian” not returning until 2023, “Star Wars” fans will have a new live-action show to watch for a large chunk of the fall.