As we're sure you'll remember, it was initially reported that Andor would be a five-season season. That seemed hugely ambitious for a tale about Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's co-lead, especially when fans know how Cassian Andor's story ends.
The idea was for each season to be devoted to a year in the Rebel's life. However, Lucasfilm's approach suddenly seemed to change, and it was trimmed down to only two seasons. That decision was clearly made relatively late into production, as it came following the news that season one would explore a single year of Cassian's life.
Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy later claimed that it was always the plan, with the second twelve-episode season broken down into four three-episode blocks. Each of them will be devoted to another year, taking us through those four years relatively quickly.
It's an unorthodox approach and has led to concerns that those might feel a little rushed compared to how things played out during the show's first season. While Andor is frequently hailed as the best Star Wars TV series, speeding up the pace may be beneficial to Andor.
Talking to SFX, Gilroy explained why the change and narrative shift was ultimately "born out of desperation."
"We were halfway through shooting season 1, coming through Covid, and the monumental size of the show, the effort, and everything else was just dawning on us," he recalled. "We realized that I didn't have enough calories to do it, and Diego's face couldn't take the timing, because it just takes too long to make it. We were saved by Disney saying, 'Okay, if you guys can figure out a way to do it, we're into it.'"
"It's a fascinating experiment and I don't know if anyone's ever done it before," Gilroy continued. "We're going to jump a year between each block, and we're going to use that negative space in a really interesting way, coming back for three days at a time, so it's like a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday."
"The challenge is, how do you come back [to start each chapter]? We wanted to have it be as elegant and seamless as possible, and just hit the ground running. There was a lot of experimentation to make sure that would work," he concluded.
Luna, who reportedly wasn't keen on devoting several years of his career to a five-season series, has previously said they've essentially shot "four movies" for Andor season 2, so chances are it won't disappoint.
The second season of Andor takes place 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.
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 a disinterested, cynical nobody into a rebel hero on his way to an epic destiny.
The first chapter of Andor season 2 will premiere April 22, with subsequent chapters debuting each week, exclusively on Disney+.