The hype around Andor is real. Disney+’s new Star Wars series comes to us from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Tony Gilroy, screenwriter of The Bourne Trilogy, writer and director of Michael Clayton, and co-writer for Rogue One, arguably the best of the modern Star Wars films.

Through its three-episode premiere, it’s not only the high point of Disney+’s television slate already, but one of the best-written shows of the year, shifting what Star Wars is capable of narratively when it's unafraid of changing its formula and telling a complex tale with a focus on more mature genre storytelling.

Andor tells the story of Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), one of the protagonists of Rogue One and a key player in how the rebellion in the Star Wars Universe became what it did in the original films. We get introduced to Cassian as he investigates the whereabouts of his sister he believes works at a brothel on a corporate planet he has infiltrated.

Two disgruntled corporate police officers follow Cassian into the rainy streets after exchanging some discourtesies at the bar, trying to impose the power they think they can get over on him and flex their authority which is the only thing they have. They pick a fight with the wrong individual as Cassian quickly turns the tables, but one of the officers dies after a brief struggle, forcing Cassian to kill the surviving officer because he can't afford to leave a witness.

The opening is a violent and morally ambiguous beginning to what is a Star Wars show. It's very neo-noir, from the jargon to the rain-drenched streets and overcoats that would fit right in a sort of Blade Runner aesthetic. The franchise has always had a very simple black-and-white moral compass. There are good guys and bad guys that are easily distinguished from each other, even color coded. Andor is firmly dealing within the morally gray and leaves the simple binary of good and evil in the margins to tell a story about rebellion and the not-so-pretty things that happen on both sides of a conflict.

Gilroy has commented on how at its core, the story is about rebellion, the actual rebels in Star Wars, but broadly how a revolution grows out of oppression and how it develops. Star Wars has always been based on real-world conflicts and politics (despite what some fans would like to think), with creator George Lucas being inspired by the Vietnam War in its depiction of a rebellion against a massive superpower.

The Empire has always evoked the fascist authoritarianism of their inspirations from the extreme rightwing regimes in our history. Andor, through its subtext and details, examines the finer and grimier beginnings of the struggle between good and evil in the original films. Rouge One similarly achieves the same results, and Andor, as its prequel, builds on the ideas the film introduced to the franchise.

The level of writing is what makes this show not only good for Star Wars but one of the best of the year. There is so much thought put into the characters and their motivations and histories with one another. The first episode tells us everything we need to know about Cassian's personality. He is a guy living on the edge. Everyone he meets either owes money or is wronged in some way, and he's been doing this so long that some don't want anything to do with him.

It’s implied multiple times he is one to get caught up because of his love life. When he goes to Bix (Adria Arjona) for help, the scene shows the viewer they clearly had a thing in the past, and it didn't go well, but they still have feelings for each other. Their current standing and past inform their decisions and affect what happens in the first three episodes so effectively that the emotional payouts of their respective journeys feel genuinely earned.

The subtext and complexity of these characters are striking compared to the previous Star Wars shows, where characters often feel like they exist only to serve the characters that actually matter, like Boba Fett or Obi-Wan Kenobi. The side characters in Andor feel important to the fabric of the story and are used in a way that enriches the main character’s journey.

The “villain” through the first slate of episodes is the perfect example of why this show works so well. Syril (Kyle Soller), a corporate officer, who is dedicated to his job in contrast to most of his colleagues, is simultaneously sympathetic and reprehensible in all his bureaucratic authority.

In a conversation with his commanding officer about investigating the killing of the two officers that Cassian eliminated, he is ordered to let the investigation go because it will cause more problems than it’s worth. His superior explains that the two dead officers were at an establishment that technically isn't supposed to exist on their planet and essentially tried to exploit the wrong guy, picked a fight with him, and lost. It would be better to paint them as two officers who died trying to be helpful instead. The commander notices that Syril’s uniform is tailored, a little detail showing his absolute belief in what he does. He really lives for this job and will go out of his way to do his job despite the warnings. It’s funny but also informs everything we need to know about a character in one scene, and that level of writing permeates throughout the entire show.

Andor is remarkable and gives fans who have been waiting on a mature story set in the universe they have been invested in for decades. From its production design which uses vastly more practical effects and actual physical structures, to its writing to its performances from Diego Luna and Stellen Skarsgård– it’s an incredible and fully realized series that is poised to get even better.

Andor is available to stream on Disney+