While “Star Wars” fans await the premieres of “Ahsoka,” “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew,” and “The Acolyate,” another anticipated series looms on the release horizon: “Andor” Season 2. And excitement for Tony Gilroy‘s show is well deserved. It’s easily the best live-action “Star Wars” series of the Disney+ era, even if “The Mandalorian” is arguably more popular. And its segueing into the story of 2016’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” will keep “Andor” from overstaying its welcome. Next season will be the show’s last twelve episodes, whether “Star Wars” fans like it or not.
READ MORE: Denise Gough Promises ‘Andor’ Season 2 Will Be “Epic” [Interview]
But expect Gilroy to have plenty of surprises in those installments. And as “Andor” hurdles towards the events of “Rogue One,” expect more characters from that film to start popping up, too. Of course, Genevieve O’Reilly‘s Mon Mothma is already a main character in the series, and Forest Whitaker‘s Saw Gerrera showed up in a brief cameo. But The Direct (via EW) reports that Gilroy confirmed the “inevitable” appearance of other “Rogue One” characters.
“Of course,” Gilroy answered when asked if more characters from Gareth Edward‘s film will arrive in “Andor.” Yeah, I mean, yes. The answer is yes. And there are some that are inevitable, there are some that are surprising, there are some that we probably can’t get for various reasons… But, you kinda know who’s in the stew there. You certainly know who’s gonna be on Yavin 4. [Cassian] and Mon Mothma have a scene together in “Rogue [One].” So yeah… And the calendar’s inevitable, in some ways, for the people in this convention, for the people who really know these five years, there’s some big events on the calendar that we have to pay attention to. And we will.”
There are already a couple of easy answers for who from “Rogue One” will show up in “Andor” Season 2. Back in January 2021, long before “Andor” Season 1 even premiered, Alan Tudyk confirmed in an interview with Collider that he’d reprise his role as the deadpan droid K-2SO in the series. “I’m going to be in the show,” said Tudyk. “It’s just that the story that Tony [Gilroy] is telling doesn’t involve K-2SO until later on… I can’t be too specific, but I can definitely say that I’m not going to be in the first season.”
And an on-set photo posted to Twitter confirmed that the white-haired alien Moroff, part of Saw Gerrera’s militant group, will show up “Andor” Season 2, too. It’s safe to expect Whitaker’s Gerrera will have a more prominent role in the show’s next season, but don’t expect Felicity Jones to reprise his role as Jyn Erso. She told BBC in May that “[she] won’t be” coming back to the “Star Wars” universe in the near future.
But expect other crossover appearances in “Andor” Season 2 beyond the likes of Saw Gerrera, K-2SO, and Moroff. Denise Gough, who plays Imperial officer Dedra Meero in the series, teased to The Direct that fans should expect other familiar faces to show up. Jimmy Smits‘ Bail Organa feels the likeliest to happen, but given the Rebellion gaining traction around the Galaxy, some Imperial higher-ups like Grand Moff Tarkin or even Darth Vader could show up to try and suppress it.
As for Gilroy, he told Deadline last month that he recently finished work on the end of his final script for “Andor” Season 2: a huge action set-piece that ends the third episode. In that conversation with Pete Hammond, Gilroy revealed he’s only talked to George Lucas once in all his time working in the “Star Wars” universe. “George Lucas called me after “Rogue [One],” I had a 45 minute conversation with him after he saw “Rogue,” and that’s the only time I’ve ever spoken to him.” And Gilroy confirmed that Lucas was a fan of the film: “He loved it. He really did,” although Gilroy joked that Lucas had a couple of points to make, but didn’t disclose what they were. In any case, “it was like a call from the president,” Gilroy chuckled.
As for “Andor” Season 2, it’s currently in production with shooting likely wrapping this August. As for a premiere date? Expect the series on Disney+ in August 2024.