Andor creator Tony Gilroy attempted to include more characters from Rogue One in the second and final season of the Star Wars show, but it wasn’t meant to be. While promoting the upcoming Andor Season 2, Gilroy spoke with The Hollywood Reporter and discussed the show’s refreshing lack of franchise fan service. He mentioned that Disney didn’t have any mandates for who the creative team had to include, giving them complete freedom to tell the story they wanted. Apparently, versions of the Andor Season 2 story involved some other returning legacy characters, but scheduling issues prevented some from being used.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“If anything, legacy characters are really tricky to bring back. They’re very, very expensive,” Gilroy said. “A lot of times, their schedules don’t work out. There’s probably a couple people that we wanted to have in Yavin at the end, who are in the beginning of Rogue, but we just couldn’t get them because they were busy.” After a follow-up question, Gilroy confirmed this is why an unnamed legacy character has been recast for Andor Season 2.
As Andor builds to the events of Rogue One, Gilroy & Co. dialed up the connections to the acclaimed spinoff movie for Season 2. This time around, characters like Director Orson Krennic and K-2SO are set to play key supporting roles. Andor Season 2 marketing materials have also prominently featured the Death Star; a trailer strongly hints that the Rebel Alliance learns of the weapon’s construction in one of the episodes.
[RELATED – Star Wars Fixed One of Its Biggest Problems With Its Best Movie]
While Andor Season 1 was notable for not leaning heavily on nostalgia, there were plenty of returning faces from Rogue One there as well. Besides Cassian (obviously), the show featured Mon Mothma as she worked behind the scenes to help the rebellion gain traction. The Narkina 5 arc shows that Cassian and Melshi served time in the Imperial prison together. Luthen Rael also has multiple interactions with Saw Gerrera.
Gilroy doesn’t shed light on who these other Rogue One characters were, but based on the context it sounds like they were Rebel Alliance figures. One possibility might have been General Jan Dodonna, who is portrayed by Ian McElhinney in the spinoff film. He’s the type of character audiences would expect to see walking around the Yavin IV base, though his inclusion isn’t critical to the story. Andor was written in a way that these kinds of returning faces aren’t needed. There’s plenty of narrative material to cover with the other characters. It seems like Gilroy thought it would be fun and nice to see some of the old rebel leaders again, but he wasn’t dead set on featuring all of them if circumstances didn’t line up.
Andor star Diego Luna teased that the show’s second season will change the way audiences watch Rogue One moving forward, so it will be interesting to see how the series handles characters who are returning. Seeing the beginnings of Cassian’s strong friendship with K-2SO should enhance their dynamic in the film, and it will be great to see Ben Mendelsohn chewing scenery as Krennic once again. He made a memorable impression in Rogue One, so viewers should enjoy seeing the character be fleshed out a bit. It’ll be fascinating to see which legacy character had to be recast and how fans react to that development. Gilroy must have felt that figure needed to be included or else he wouldn’t have gone that route.
