He is set to return to the role of rebel spy Cassian Andor in a new Disney+ series, which will be released in 2021.
And Diego Luna spoke in delight about the forthcoming Rogue One prequel show as he took part in a live Q&A with IndieWire via Instagram on Thursday.
The Mexican actor, 40, admitted he has to keep a tight lip on plot details, but has found it a ‘nice challenge’ to return to the character given his bleak end in the Star Wars film.
Exciting: Star Wars’ Diego Luna said on Thursday that it has been ‘a nice challenge’ to return to role of Cassian Andor in Disney+’s Rogue One prequel as viewers ‘already know his ending’
The show finds Cassian during the early days of the rebellion, and prior to the events of Gareth Edwards’ 2016 spin-off film in which his character dies alongside the crew of Rogue One during their mission to steal the plans for the Death Star.
Sharing his excitement at getting to return to the character, Diego said: ‘I think it’s a nice challenge, it’s a good way to approach a show.
‘What happens when you already know the ending? Everything is in how you tell the story, how many layers you can find, this cant be a show where we surprise you, like oh no it wasn’t him, he didn’t die.
‘We know the ending… the last scene was a scene we all know so it makes a different part of your brain work, you cant use the same storylines people are used to, now we start with a character that people already know what he’s capable of.’
Intriguing: While he kept a tight lip on plot details, Diego shared his excitement by saying: ‘It’s a good way to approach a show. What happens when you already know the ending?’
Rogue One also starred Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso daughter of scientist Galen, who was co-erced into building the Death Star and secretly built a defect inside that could be used to destroy it.
Determined to get the schematics for the planet killer, the duo enlisted the help of droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), Imperial defector pilot Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed), and the Guardians of the Whills’ Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen) and Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen).
While their mission was successful it wasn’t without its consequences, as, sadly, none of the Rogue One crew survived the operation in Scarif as K-2SO, Bodhi, Chirrut and Baze died in battle, while Jyn and Cassian were killed after the Death Star’s superlaser was used on the planet.
New challenge: Diego added that ‘everything is in how you tell the story… this cant be a show where we surprise you, like oh no it wasn’t him, he didn’t die’ (pictured with Felicity Jones)
Together again: The show finds Cassian during the early days of the rebellion, and prior to the events of Gareth Edwards’ 2016 spin-off film, with his right-hand droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk)
Gushing about working on set of the space opera, Diego went on: ‘I remember the shoot of that film as the time I experienced the most freedom in quite a long time, in every possible way.
‘The way it works its pretty much at least the one I participated in, it was a homage to the early films, it was shot like back in the day, there were no green screens, we were in the ships and everything.
‘Whatever you try to do you can do because you have the resources, the time, very talented people who are the best at what they do, so you have the chance to aim far.’
Great memories: Gushing about working on set, Diego went on: ‘I remember the shoot of that film as the time I experienced the most freedom… in every possible way’ (L-R: Riz Ahmed, Diego, Felicity, Jiang Wen and Donnie Yen)
Diego went on to say that working on the film changed his life in ‘a very positive way’ as it gave him ‘the freedom to do the other stuff’ he was interested in working on, such as theatre productions or independent films.
The Cassian Andor series is not the only Star Wars show on Disney’s new video-on-demand platform, as the first season of The Mandalorian has already been released, with a second season on the way.
Meanwhile, an Obi-Wan Kenobi series is currently slated to come out in 2022, with prequel actor Ewan McGregor back in the leading role.
More to come: The Cassian Andor series is not the only Star Wars show on Disney+, as an Obi-Wan Kenobi series with prequel star Ewan McGregor (pictured) is slated to be released in 2022