Of all the Star Wars shows on Disney Plus, "Andor" has consistently been the most critically acclaimed. It's also proven incredibly popular with viewers and was nominated for multiple Emmy Awards.
All of that adds up to a high level of anticipation for the forthcoming second season, which will also be the show's last. Showrunner Tony Gilroy always planned for "Andor" to end after its second season, which will take Diego Luna's main character Cassian Andor right up to the point where he was introduced in the Star Wars movie "Rogue One."
That still leaves a lot of room for new developments in the story, although most of the details about the second season of "Andor" are being kept locked up tighter than the plans for the Death Star. We do have casting announcements and some idea of what will happen, but an official synopsis won't arrive just yet.
Still, Gilroy and some of the actors have shared a few tidbits in recent interviews, along with Luna himself. Here's everything we know so far about "Andor" season 2.
'Andor' season 2 release date speculation
No official release date has been announced for the second season of "Andor," and the projected release date has slipped further into the future due to production delays caused by the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. While production on the 12-episode second season began in November 2022 and partially continued after the WGA strike began, it was halted in July 2023 when the actors joined the writers on strike for fair and equitable treatment from the studios.
With just a small amount of the season yet to be filmed, production resumed in January 2024 and finished on February 9. Showrunner Tony Gilroy has previously estimated that postproduction on the season would take about a year, which would put the second season premiere sometime in the first quarter of 2025. Some are speculating online that it will air in spring 2025.
Even if we have to wait until next year for "Andor" to return to the small screen, there's still "Skeleton Crew" to look forward to in December 2024.
'Andor' season 2 cast
Likewise, no official cast list has been released for the second season of "Andor," and some characters from the first season may return only in limited capacities if they return at all. Diego Luna will once again lead the cast, and major characters including Stellan Skarsgård's Luthen Rael are certain to return as well.
It's unclear whether fan-favorite guest stars like Forest Whitaker as Star Wars mainstay Saw Gerrera or Andy Serkis as prisoner Kino Loy will be back, although Whitaker made vague indications in an interview with Comicbook.com that he'd be returning. Even with "Andor" relying less on franchise Easter eggs than other Star Wars series, there's a good chance that some familiar faces will show up. Benjamin Bratt has been cast in an undisclosed role, and he could just as likely be playing a well-known Star Wars character as a complete unknown.
For now, here's what we anticipate the "Andor" season 2 main cast to look like.
- Diego Luna as Cassian Andor, a thief who becomes a key player in the Rebel Alliance
- Stellan Skarsgård as Luthen Rael, a Rebel operative who recruits Andor
- Genevieve O'Reilly as Mon Mothma, an Imperial Senator who's secretly supporting the Rebel Alliance
- Kyle Soller as Syril Karn, a corporate security inspector determined to capture Andor
- Denise Gough as Dedra Meero, a supervisor for the Imperial Security Bureau
- Adria Arjona as Bix Caleen, a mechanic and Andor's friend and ally
- Faye Marsay as Vel Sartha, a Rebel operative and relative of Mon Mothma
- Varada Sethu as Cinta Kaz, a medic for the Rebel Alliance
- Elizabeth Dulau as Kleya Marki, assistant to Luthen Rael
- Alan Tudyk as K-2SO, a reprogrammed Imperial security droid and the co-pilot of Cassian Andor
At ACE Superhero Comic Con (per PopVerse), lead star Diego Luna teased that "Andor" season 2 would be a 'very special' watch for "Rogue One" fans, specifically because it'll feature characters from the prequel movie. "I can tell you, "Rogue One" is coming, so there will be characters there that you will be recognize. There will be cool stuff. For those who love Rogue One, this season is going to be very special".
And in a subsequent interview with The Playlist, Alonso Ruizpalacios — who directed the last three episodes of the forthcoming season — has let slip that Ben Mendelsohn is among those returning faces. Ruizpalacios heaped praise on some of the actors he's just worked with, namedropping Stellan Skarsgård, Forest Whitaker and Ben Mendelsohn in particular.
The first two already appeared in season 1, but Mendelsohn's yet to make an appearance. And since Mendelsohn already reprised the villainous role of Orson Krennic in "The Bad Batch", it looks like he'll be showing up again in "Andor" season 2.
UPDATE (August 16): Entertainment Weekly also gave us some exciting casting news. Alan Tudyk will return as K-2SO in season 2! Diego Luna spoke about his reunion with the droid: "It was delicious to get to work with Alan again and be on the same set with him. It just helps fulfill the full circle."
It makes sense for K-2SO to make his streaming debut in "Andor" season 2 considering this series will lead straight into "Rogue One", where we see Cassian and the droid together. Luna also talked a bit more about the importance of their meeting: "You're going to see why K-2 is so important in Rogue One. And how does he get to be such an important character for the Rebellion."
UPDATE (November 1): Rumors have been swirling around that Andy Serkis could return as Kino Loy in season 2. MyTimeToShineHello, an industry scooper said in a quick statement on X: "He's back in season 2". Again, nothing has been confirmed, this is just a rumor.
Alan Tudyk also talked with Collider recently about bringing his "smartass" droid to "Andor" season 2: "Tony Gilroy is a very skilled writer. He's a big-brained guy. It’ll be interesting for people to see K-2SO in that world because he was such a smartass, and there was a lot of humor around his being there.”
He also went on to say that K-2SO’s return will bring some levity to the darker tone of the next season: “That will be a fresh… I don't know. We’ll see! Let’s just watch it.”
'Andor' season 2 plot
No plot specifics for "Andor" season 2 have been announced, and the teaser footage that screened at Star Wars Celebration in April 2023 has not been released to the public. Reports from the event describe scenes of Andor on various undercover missions and eventually reuniting with Bix Caleen. An emboldened Syril Karn continues to hunt for Andor, and Rebels Vel Sartha and Cinta Kaz may be trapped behind enemy lines.
Showrunner Tony Gilroy has previously said that the second season will cover four years in Andor's life, leading right up to "Rogue One," with major time jumps every few episodes. "When we come back later, it’ll be literally like a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And then, we’ll jump a year, and then it’ll be, like, four or five days, and then we’ll jump a year, and then there’ll be another four or five days, and then we jump a year, and be another four or five days," he told Deadline.
Co-star Adria Arjona praised the time-jump format in a recent interview with Collider, and also talked about its challenges. "You're seeing the evolution of these characters through such a large span of time, and I've never done that," she said. "You're aging subtly, and I'm a very different person than I was last year, but to many other people, I might not be. So, it was really tricky and interesting to get to those places and find where Bix sort of shifts a little bit."
Without providing any details, Stellan Skarsgård recently told Total Film that he believes fans will be satisfied with where the season goes: "It ends where 'Rogue One' starts so it’s up to that point. I think it will be very good as already the first one was satisfying for me because it’s sort of Star Wars for grown-ups – it’s a more realistic and complicated society that they’re living in and the claustrophobia of the fascist regime is palpable. I think we have a good season ahead of us."
UPDATE (July 30): During a panel event at ACE Superhero Comic Con 2024, Luna offered some insight into the next season: "At the very beginning before we even started, we thought we were going to manage to do multiple seasons. And then the first season took two and a half years of our lives.”
He then continued : "So, we said, 'There’s no way we can do five seasons of this. I’ll be with my cane pretending to be on my way to Rogue One.' Tony came up with a great idea of doing four blocks, and each block is a year before Rogue One."
This means we’re going to get four separate three-episode arcs, and each arc will apparently move the story forward a year.
UPDATE (August 16): In the same interview with Entertainment Weekly, Luna spoke more on the final season: "I think people watching Rogue One, after watching season 2, are going to see a different film. Everything will be signified differently knowing what had to happen for K-2 to be there. It's going to make you witness the journey of Rogue One in a different way, I think. And not just with K-2, but with many other characters. I think it'll be really cool."
UPDATE (September 12): Luna recently spoke with IMDb about "Andor" season 2 and how fans will probably want to watch a specific movie when going into the next season: "I think audiences are going to want to watch Rogue One again after watching Season 2. You are going to see it from a different perspective." This is interesting because we'll get to see Cassian's path leading up to "Rogue One" and how he came to be in that position when meeting Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones). It's unknown whether she'll make any type of appearance in "Andor."
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