Star Wars: Andy Serkis Addresses Future for Andor Character, “We Don’t See Him Die”

After an acclaimed 12-episode run last year, Star Wars: Andor is returning for a second season at some point in the future. The second installment of the series will bring the story of Cassian Andor to the start of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, completing Tony Gilroy’s prequel treatment. We know Diego Luna’s Cassian will be back for another round of action, but one of the lingering questions fans have about the new season is whether or not Season 1’s most popular guest star will be back. 

Kino Loy, played by Andy Serkis, left a mark with his multi-episode stint in the latter half of Andor Season 1. His arc ended with a massive prison escape, leaving Kino’s future open-ended. During an interview with EW, Serkis was asked about a potential return for Kino in Andor Season 2.

“Well, there weren’t really many discussions about the afterlife of Kino. All that we do know is that he survives. I mean, we don’t see him die. We see him left for a further life of the character,” Serkis explained. “But prior to that, there were no discussions at all about [what] might happen afterwards. I was just excited enough about the arc that I had to play, which was a really beautifully crafted illustration of a man who has a belief system that gets broken that then has nothing to believe in, that then gets kind of reignited by someone who inspires him to find himself again, and then self-sacrifices.”

“So it was a really extraordinary journey to go on within a prison setting, and a very sterile prison setting – quite a heartfelt journey considering the environment that they’re in,” he continued. “But that’s the brilliance about Tony Gilroy’s writing. He provides these environments for characters to thrive and survive in. And you learn about their internal journey, their psychology, their complexities and flaws in response to the world that they’re in.”

Andor Season 2

The second season of Andor has been filming earlier this year, but things were seriously cut back when SAG-AFTRA strike began and actors in the union had to step away. While he was still in production, star Diego Luna told the Associated Press that filming the Season 2 scenes was a bit sad, as it likely marks the end of his run as Cassian Andor.

“I am very excited filming, all the time I feel that we are approaching the end and, therefore, the process is lived with a certain melancholy,” Luna said. “There is also an inevitable part of saying how sad it is to leave this team, to leave this dynamic, to leave this time living here.”