Credit: LucasfilmRogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) star Felicity Jones is setting the record straight regarding her possible return to the galaxy far, far away.
One of the best-reviewed Star Wars projects to date, Rogue One landed in theaters in 2016, providing a nuanced and brilliantly-written prequel to Episode IV – A New Hope (1977). The film was directed by Gareth Edwards, with a screenplay penned by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy.
A much-needed refresher for the franchise, the movie follows Jyn Erso (Jones), the daughter of an ex-Imperial scientist who joins forces with Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), a spy, and other resistance fighters to steal the Death Star’s plans for the Rebel Alliance to save her father and the galaxy as a whole.
The film was met with rave reviews from fans and critics alike, though its “everyone dies” ending didn’t show much promise for the continuation of its characters.
However, Andor, a Disney+ spinoff series focused on the origin story of Cassian, arrived on the streaming service in August 2022. Its release raised fans’ hopes that Jyn would appear in the show in some capacity, though in canon, their characters meet much later in the timeline.
Recently, while appearing on an episode of BBC’s The One Show, Jones was again asked about her possible return to the Star Wars franchise after her character’s death in Rogue One.
Sadly, it sounds like fans shouldn’t get their hopes up, as Jones said “[she] won’t be” in Andor‘s sophomore run, but that she hopes her character can “make a comeback” somewhere down the line:
I’m afraid to say I won’t be, but I still have hope for Jyn Erso at some point to make a comeback. But no, sadly, I won’t be.
Following her disappointing update, Jones spoke on the extensive prep work she underwent to join the Star Wars universe, saying:
Yeah I did. I mean, it was a massive, massive challenge, I was doing a lot of martial arts in preparation for it. I mean it’s on such a huge scale, I was quite in awe of the whole thing honestly.
Even though the Academy Award-nominated actress showed excitement for the idea of Jyn showing up again in future projects, she went on to say how once “[she’s] kind of put [a character] to bed, then you’re ready for the next challenge:”
I actually wouldn’t want to repeat any of them. It’s so funny, once you’ve sort of done it and you’ve kind of put them to bed, then you’re ready for the next challenge.
Unless Star Wars tries to pull another surprise resurrection similar to Boba Fett’s, odds are, no—Jyn likely won’t return to the franchise anytime soon. However, even though projects involving Jyn’s future are seemingly out of the picture, there’s ample opportunity for creators to explore her dark past in the form of an Andor-esque prequel series.
It remains to be seen if Star Wars still has unfinished business with Jyn. It would be incredibly difficult, though not impossible, to squeeze her into Andor Season 2, as showrunners have confirmed the story will feature several time jumps leading directly into Rogue One.
Even if we only see Jyn in a quick cameo scene, perhaps capping Andor off with a nod to Rogue One‘s final moments, seeing these characters’ stories come full circle would be extremely gratifying.
What do you think of Felicity Jones denying her return to the Star Wars franchise in Andor? Would you like to see more of her character in the future? Chime off in the comments below.