Andor took the Star Wars fandom by storm with, among other things, how it filled in the gap of the pre-Rebellion years. Season 2 is shaping up to turn that distinction — and every other — up to 11.
Though we have some time to wait, there’s a lot we already know about the upcoming season, and Cassian’s story within it. (Spoilers below for Andor season 1.)
Andor Season 2 Release Date & Cast
No official launch date for Andor Season 2 has been announced as of yet. According to showrunner Tony Gilroy, “We’ll shoot from November to August [2023], and then our post[-production] last time was about a year.” So season 2 will probably land on Disney Plus some time in autumn 2024.
Besides Diego Luna, there hasn’t been any confirmation on who’s returning. But Gilroy has confirmed that no one will die during the time skip between Andor‘s season 1 finale and the beginning of season 2; and given their importance to Cassian’s character development and the creation of the Rebellion, some returns are likely. Stellan Skarsgård as Luthen Rael and Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma, for example.
Lesser-known players, too, though. For instance, Duncan Pow’s character, Melshi — one of Cassian’s fellow workers and escapees from Narkina 5 — actually had a supporting role in Rogue One. As a sergeant in the Rebel Alliance, he rescues Jyn Erso from an Imperial labor camp (how apropos), helps Cassian put together the titular Rogue One team, and eventually dies in the Battle of Scarif. Mayhaps we’ll see him and Cassian reunite in season 2 — now as capital-R Rebels?
Gilroy has also strongly hinted that K-2SO will be showing up — though there’s no news on whether or not Alan Tudyk will be reprising the role. Additionally, Ariel Kleiman, Janus Metz, and Alonso Ruizpalacios will be joining to direct blocks of episodes, with new writer Tom Bissell joining returning writers Dan Gilroy (Tony Gilroy’s brother) and Beau Willimon.
Andor’s Story, Cassian’s Character
Probably the most interesting thing we know regards Andor season 2’s story structure: time skips set the stage for everything.
According to Tony Gilroy and Diego Luna, season 2 will begin a year after the end of season 1, and each of its four blocks of three episodes will be structured “like movies that would have a beginning and an end,” with roughly a year in between each block. “This next season ends with the beginning of Rogue One, and we all know what happens then,” Luna told Deadline.
Which means Andor season 2 has a lot of ground to cover, particularly with Cassian. As Luna told Collider:
“The responsibility he takes on at the beginning of Rogue One is huge. Imagine what has to happen for someone to say he’s the right person to do it. Cassian Andor is going to be the person we’re going to trust with this. There’s a lot for him to discover and a big transformation to come.”
A Hero Rises
Gilroy showed us a great deal of that transformation in Andor season 1. Cassian being radicalized by his imprisonment and rebellion on Narkina 5, for example; to the point where he goes from being hesitant to take Nemik’s manifesto after the Aldhani heist, to rewinding it in between episodes 11 and 12 so that he can listen to Nemik’s revolutionary rhetoric again.
We don’t know how much time passed between the Aldhani heist and Cassian’s imprisonment, or between his imprisonment and escape, or between him retrieving the manifesto in episode 11 and us hearing a portion in episode 12 that he was purposefully listening to for a second time. But clearly, Gilroy is taking character and story development between Andor season 2’s time skips seriously:
“I don’t know if anybody ever got to do this before, maybe someone’s done it in a novel. … It has a couple of things that make things difficult, they have to be very brave about the negative space between the years, and you have to really trust the storytelling to not explain everything.”
New it may be; but Andor season 1 blazed a groundbreaking trail. I’m pretty confident Gilroy, Luna, and their team can pull off season 2 with flying colors.
For more Star Wars TV show reviews, check out our synopsis on what’s coming in 2023.
- Sony Fears Microsoft Monopolization Of Call Of Duty … As Do Antitrust Regulators - March 20, 2023
- Bobby Kotick Is Getting Sued After Activision Fires Employees - March 10, 2023
- 5 Things the Halo TV Series Did Right - February 28, 2023