Andor season 2: Release date speculation and latest news
When will Cassian Andor return?
It's already been a long wait for Andor season 2 but thankfully tidbits about the highly-awaited second instalment of the Diego Luna Star Wars show have been emerging.
The second instalment in the series has been long awaited ever since Diego Luna's Cassian Andor stole everyone's imagination in season 1, with the show quickly becoming one of the most beloved Star Wars instalments in recent memory.
Showrunner Tony Gilroy is back on board to helm the epic series, the second season of which will lead directly into the events of Rogue One.
Here's everything we know so far!
Andor season 2 release date speculation
Andor season 2 will be released sometime in 2025.
That release date has somewhat been delayed, as Gilroy previously revealed that Andor season 2 was expected to be released in August 2024.
That's because season 2 took a long time to film due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, with filming beginning in November 2022 and ending in February 2024 with various breaks and delays in between.
Andor season 2 cast speculation: Who will return?
Most of the Andor cast is expected to return for the second season in some capacity, which will be led once more by Diego Luna in the titular role.
We're expecting the following cast members to return:
- Diego Luna as Cassian Andor
- Genevieve O'Reilly as Mon Mothma
- Adria Arjona as Bix Caleen
- Joplin Sibtain as Brasso
- Stellan Skarsgård as Luthen Rael
- Faye Marsay as Vel
- Varada Sethu as Cinta
- Kyle Soller as Syril Karn
- Denise Gough as Dedra Meero
- Andy Serkis as Kino Loy
Based on the season 1 finale, it seems that Stellan Skarsgård will continue to be a key player in season 2 as rebel spy Luthen Rael, along with his longtime associates Vel (Faye Marsay) and Cinta (Varada Sethu).
The climactic episode also saw three of Andor's friends escape the Empire's attack on Ferrix – Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona), Brasso (Joplin Sibtain) and adorable droid B2EMO – with the fugitive promising that he'll reunite with them one day.
A great hero needs a great villain to face off with and Cassian has two, with Kyle Soller's Syril Karn and Denise Gough's Dedra Meero seeming likely to combine their dastardly plans in the second season.
Meanwhile, on Coruscant, embattled politician Mon Mothma, played by Genevieve O'Reilly, will continue organising the rebellion as her personal life completely unravels.
Tony Gilroy has also hinted that Andy Serkis could return as Empire prisoner Kino Loy, although this is still to be confirmed.
As fans expected, the first season of Andor had quite a high death count, killing off Maarva (Fiona Shaw), Nemik (Alex Lawther) and Skeen (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), all of whom are unlikely to reappear – except, perhaps, in flashbacks.
How many episodes will there be in Andor season 2?
There will be 12 episodes in Andor season 2.
Tony Gilroy has written the first three episodes, with Beau Willimon writing episodes 4 to 6.
Dan Gilroy has witten episodes 7 to 9 with Tom Bissell writing the final episodes.
What could happen in Andor season 2? Plot theories
Tony Gilroy has teased what's coming down the line for Andor in several interviews, including a conversation with Rolling Stone where he promised things will be "very different" when the show returns.
"The first year is really about him becoming, and the last line of this tranche of 12 episodes will sum up where we’ve been trying to get to. And we come back a year later. It’ll be very different," he began.
"The next four years [of story] are not about becoming a revolutionary. They’re about learning to be a leader and how difficult it is to put the alliance together and what happens to people who are the original gangsters versus the establishment and a lot of different other issues."
Andor season 2 will have a new narrative structure, skipping forward one year for every three episodes, but Gilroy has promised that the show won't feel any less detailed.
"What becomes interesting is now we can play the negative space. When you jump a year, what happened in between? You know the people, you know what their trajectory was. It’s energising," he continued while speaking to Rolling Stone.
"People grow up and people get tired and people betray each other and people change their minds and people get weak and people get crazy."
Gilroy has also said that Andor season 2 will tie in more directly with the main Star Wars saga, as it begins hurtling towards the events of A New Hope at lightspeed, with the rebel base on Yavin 4 set to be a key location in the story.
The showrunner let that detail slip while discussing a new addition to the writing team with Collider.
"Tom Bissell is really cool and really, really interesting, versatile, really good writer," he said. "But also a very, very, very big Star Wars fan, which we really wanted to make sure we had another pro because we’re going into Rogue [One].
"We’re going to Yavin, and then we’re going into places where we eventually need to really weave our way back to the source."
Is there an Andor season 2 trailer?
Not just yet, but we'll update this page the moment that new footage drops.
Lucky fans at Star Wars Celebration 2023 were treated to a glimpse of new footage while the series is in production, which set up Cassian becoming a fully-fledged member of the rebellion.
Andor is available to stream on Disney Plus now. Sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 a month or £79.90 for a year.
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Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.