Andor star Fiona Shaw explains Cassian’s relationship to her character Maarva in the upcoming Star Wars show. Lucasfilm first announced the new spy thriller series in 2018. It serves as a prequel to the 2016 movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Andor sees the return of both Rogue One co-writer Tony Gilroy (now serving as showrunner) and star Diego Luna, who once again plays Rebel spy Cassian Andor. The series will consist of two twelve-episode seasons and premieres on Wednesday, September 21, on Disney+.
Andor begins five years before the events of Rogue One as the story follows Cassian’s journey to joining the Rebellion as a spy. Although the prequel series will include several characters from Rogue One, like Genevieve O’Reilly’s Mon Mothma, it will also introduce new characters to the Star Wars universe. One important new character is Maarva, Cassian’s adopted mother, portrayed by Killing Eve‘s Shaw. There has been little information released about Maarva beyond her relation to Cassian, but now audiences will get a closer look at the character.
Shaw gives audiences a sneak peek into Maarva’s character in a new interview with Screen Rant. The Andor actress explains Cassian and Maarva’s relationship in the new Star Wars show and breaks down how the two characters’ unsteady mother-son dynamic affects them amid the Rebellion’s beginnings. Check out Shaw’s full explanation below:
With Maarva, she lived kind of a wild life, and then found a son who came to her, and took him home. And I think they probably have a different problem. It’s not that Maarva’s the problem. It’s that Cassian doesn’t know where his sister is, and can never quite yield entirely to being Maarva’s son.
Though he’s grateful to have a mother, and really likes having a mother, that’s part of his problem. It’s that he’s not found. He can’t find himself. So, she functions as a mother. But actually, that makes her upset, because she can’t intrude more.
In Rogue One, Cassian appeared to be a highly devoted member of the Rebellion who distanced himself from others. While Rogue One introduced him to audiences, Andor is expected to explore Cassian’s character more deeply over the series’ two seasons. Interestingly, Shaw’s description of Cassian’s relationship with his adopted mother doesn’t seem very different from the character’s personality in the film. Although Shaw’s words imply that Cassian is more devoted to his sister than the Rebellion, it seems that Cassian holds himself back from trusting Maarva the same way he did with Jyn Erso in Rogue One. In contrast, Maarva seems to want to be closer to Cassian than she is now and sees Cassian’s distance as a problem.
This current dynamic raises the question of how Cassian and Maarva’s relationship will change over Andor season 1. Because Andor focuses on Cassian, it will of course be disappointing to Star Wars fans if they don’t see any character development, but Cassian can’t change too drastically without retconning Rogue One. Additionally, there’s also the question of how closely tied Maarva is to the Rebellion. While Shaw’s explanation gives hints about Cassian and Maarva’s personalities, she reveals nothing about Maarva’s larger role in the science fiction spy thriller. It seems viewers will have to watch for these answers when Andor premieres this week.
