Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy has revealed that he did consider including a cameo from one of the original Star Wars trilogy's leads, Princess Leia Organa, in the second season, but the idea was ultimately scrapped.
"There were some conversations early on, there was much to be made. This is in the sketching stage," Gilroy told ScreenRant. "This is in the really soggy beginning, trying to figure out what to do because trying to figure out, I was trying to make that Investiture Week I idea. I was trying to get the most out of that investiture week and those parties, and we have Alden's party now… and we're making a thing out of it. And we were trying to find out on the timeline where she would be in the Senate."
While an appearance from either Luke Skywalker or Han Solo wouldn't have made much sense, Leia was already an active participant in the Rebellion prior to the destruction of the Death Star, and her father Bail Organa (Benjamin Bratt) played a key role in the final few episodes of Andor.
Even so, it was decided that a Leia cameo would simply be too much of a "distraction."
"There were some nutrients for a scene between her and Mothma that if she was going there at 16 and Mothma had gone to the Senate when she was 16, there was some basic cool things for a scene, but it never got past that, and it never went to the casting stage, or it never got more real than that. I remember talking to Kathy [Kennedy] about it and talking to Pablo [Hidalgo] about it, but it never got traction, and then it became a distraction."
In hindsight, this was probably for the best. Though there were a few little nods and references to the wider Star Wars universe here and there, Andor largely avoided fan-service, and a cameo from Leia - no matter how tastefully it was handled - probably would have seemed somewhat jarring.
The late Carrie Fisher returned as Leia for the Star Wars sequel trilogy, and a rather dodgy CGI-recreation of the character (with actress Ingvild Deila beneath the VFX) made a brief appearance in the final moments of Rogue One.
What did you make of the final three episodes of Andor? Let us know in the comments section.
Season 2 will see the characters and their relationships intensify as the horizon of war draws near and Cassian becomes a key player in the Rebel Alliance. Everyone will be tested and, as the stakes rise, the betrayals, sacrifices and conflicting agendas will become profound.
Rife with political intrigue, danger, tension, and high stakes, the series is a prequel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which portrayed a heroic band of rebels who steal the plans to the Empire’s weapon of mass destruction: The Death Star, setting the stage for the events of the original 1977 film.
Andor sets the clock back five years from the events of Rogue One to tell the story of the film’s hero, Cassian Andor, and his transformation from disinterested, cynical nobody into a rebel hero on his way to an epic destiny.
Says creator and executive producer Tony Gilroy, “One of the great thrills of making ‘Andor’ is the scale of the story and the number of characters we’re able to meet -- ordinary people, Imperial overlords, passionate revolutionaries. They are real people making epic decisions, all of them staring down questions with terrifying consequences. Cassian’s journey is the soul and spine of our story, but it’s the choir that makes the show. I’m so excited for audiences to see where we go in Season 2.”
The final season will unfold over 12 episodes, broken down into four chapters of three episodes each. The first chapter will premiere April 22, with subsequent chapters debuting each week.
Andor Season 2 stars Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Genevieve O’Reilly, Denise Gough, Kyle Soller, Adria Arjona, Faye Marsay, Varada Sethu, Elizabeth Dulau, Alan Tudyk, with Ben Mendelsohn and Forest Whitaker. The series was created by Tony Gilroy, who also serves as an executive producer along with Kathleen Kennedy, Sanne Wohlenberg, Diego Luna, Luke Hull and John Gilroy.
Gilroy wrote the first three episodes, with Beau Willimon writing episodes 4-6, Dan Gilroy penning episodes 7-9 and Tom Bissell putting pen to paper for episodes 10-12. The directors for the series are Ariel Kleiman (Eps. 1-6), Janus Metz (Eps. 7-9) and Alonso Ruizpalacios (Eps. 10-12).