"The Empire is a disease that thrives in darkness, it is never more alive than when we asleep. It's easy for the dead to tell you to fight, and maybe it's true, maybe fighting is useless. Perhaps it's too late. But I'll tell you this, if I could do it again, I'd wake up early and be fighting those bastards from the start! Fight the Empire!"
We got a first look at the second season of Lucasfilm's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story prequel series, Andor, yesterday via a promo banner spotlighting Diego Luna as the titular Rebel operative in some new duds, and the first trailer is expected to screen later today during D23 Brazil.
Whether the teaser will be released online afterwards remains to be seen, but while we await the presentation, Disney+ has finally announced an official premiere date.
Andor will return to our screens on April 22, 2025.
For many Star Wars fans, Andor is still the best Disney+ show Lucasfilm has produced, and even though we know how Cassian's story ultimately ends (spoiler alert: not well), there's a lot of excitement for is upcoming second season, will reportedly lead directly into the events of Rogue One.
During an appearance at this year's ACE Superhero Comic Con (via The Popverse), Luna shared his enthusiasm for the show's return, while confirming that we will see other characters from Rogue One during season 2.
“I can tell you, Rogue One is coming, so there will be characters there that you will recognize. There will be cool stuff. For those who love Rogue One, this season is going to be very special. And it’s going to be fascinating to go straight to Rogue One after watching this second season, because you will see Rogue One from a different perspective. I promise you that.”
“It’s fantastic,” Luna continued. “The only thing I can tell you is what happens at the end. It’s the world upside down. That’s the only thing you don’t talk about in an interview, but here we all know what the end is. I can tell you one thing, Tony Gilroy is a fantastic writer, and he created amazing characters that we got to meet in Andor season one. It’s going to be a very rich second season, because all those stories matter today. It is a true ensemble piece. It got very complicated in season one, and everything has to get resolved. Every story matters.”
It was initially assumed that Luna was referring to Cassian's former Imperial Droid sidekick K2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk) who has previously been confirmed to return for season 2, but according to The Playlist, Ben Mendelsohn will also be back as villainous Imperial Officer Orson Krennic.
Director Alonso Ruizpalacios, who will board season 2 along with Ariel Kleiman and Janus Metz, mentioned Mendelsohn's name among some of the actors he was looking forward to working with. He also revealed that he will helm the last three episodes of the 12-episode series.
We don't have many other details, but we have heard that Mendelsohn will likely show up towards the end of the season, which would make sense given the timeframe.
Andor follows thief-turned-rebel spy Cassian Andor during the five years that lead to the events of the two films, exploring how he becomes radicalized against the Galactic Empire and how the wider Rebel Alliance is formed.