Moving even further back in time, an enduring franchise continues its expansion through the universe.

Premiering Wednesday on Disney Plus, "Andor" will explore a new perspective from the "Star Wars" galaxy, focusing on Cassian Andor's (Diego Luna) journey toward discovering his full power and the difference he can make, embarking on the road that is destined to turn him into a hero of the Rebel Alliance. A prequel to the 2016 film "Rogue One," the spy-thriller series brings forward the tale of the burgeoning rebellion against the empire and how people and planets became involved.

The story begins in an era filled with danger, deception and intrigue as Cassian, whose home planet was destroyed by the Galactic Empire, finds a new world and an adoptive mother in Maarva (Fiona Shaw).

In time, he is hired by Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard) to steal a certain item from the evil autocracy. Along this path, Cassian will raise the suspicions of Imperial security officers Dedro Meero (Denise Gough) and Syril Karn (Kyle Sollar), but the revolution-averse thief will also make the life-changing acquaintance of Imperial senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly), who endeavors to navigate the politics of the empire while secretly helping found the Rebel Alliance.

"This is a prequel series set five years before the dramatic events of 'Rogue One' and will show fans how a revolutionary is born, how Cassian Andor evolves to become the rebel hero we know in 'Rogue One,'" said Lucasfilm's Chris Coxall. "Our story is real, visceral and gritty, while still delivering the signature action and adventure on an epic scale that 'Star Wars' fans expect."

With the space-opera multimedia behemoth's ever-growing list of film, TV, video game and printed titles, it requires an epic concerted effort to ensure that all the diverse story lines and their characters are in harmonious agreement.

"If you think about 'Star Wars' as the Roman Catholic Church or you think about it as a religion, it has all kinds of factions and groups and apocrypha and legends, and within it there are all kinds of canon," creator and showrunner Tony Gilroy said.

He went on to say that there are various levels of canon in the "Star Wars" world.

"There's elaborate and beautiful fan fiction, and there's the comic books — we are constantly in touch with 'the Vatican' about what we do. We are constantly checking everything we do. I've been on this for three years now, and we have a very complicated relationship with how we deal with everything that exists. We're telling the story that we want to tell, and we're not violating the grand canon," said Gilroy. "You can spend a long time talking about the levels and complications of 'Star Wars' canon. You know, just go on Wookieepedia for an hour and a half and tool around, and you'll get a very clear idea of how much is going on. It's fascinating."

The origin story of "Andor" carries inherent sympathy for the title character, for, as every devout "Star Wars" follower knows, the rebel hero is doomed to die at the end of "Rogue One," the first installment of the "Star Wars" anthology series.

"Above anything, this is a show about regular people," Gilroy said.