The gaming website Polygon has reported that the acclaimed Star Wars series Andor was originally conceived as a very different show — a Cold War-style spy drama in the vein of the original Mission: Impossible television series. The revelation comes from the official behind-the-scenes companion book, The Art of Andor, and matters because it shows how close the franchise came to producing a markedly different take on Cassian Andor's origins before Tony Gilroy's version prevailed.

In April 2018, writer-director Jared Bush — known for the animated films Encanto and Moana — was tasked with explaining how Cassian became the hardened rebel seen in Rogue One. His outlines, variously titled Star Wars: Alliance and Star Wars: Andor Five under the codename "Whitesnake", cast Cassian as an established intelligence operative who, after being wrongly accused of being an Imperial mole, must infiltrate the planet Okara to clear his name alongside a love interest named Avnee and the droid K-2SO. Bush's concept was ultimately shelved after Gilroy submitted his own pitch to then Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, resulting in the slower-burn first season that was eventually made.