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Credit: LucasfilmLucasfilm is looking for a new hit Star Wars series, and it is not afraid to retcon the beloved Rogue One (2016) in order to do so.
Disney+ came strong out of the gate in 2019 when the streaming service premiered The Mandalorian and Wandavision as its first live-action Star Wars and Marvel Cinematic Universe series, respectively. Since then, Disney has seen diminishing returns for both Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios, with subsequent series struggling to achieve the same audience numbers and critical acclaim.
At this point, The Mandalorian has become a launching pad for Clone Wars characters like Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), as Lucasfilm Creative Chief Dave Filoni tightens his grip on the Star Wars universe, only to see fans slip through his fingers.
Plans for a Mandalorian season 4 have been transformed into a feature film, while shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka, and The Acolyte try to replicate the seismic effect of Grogu on pop culture.
Related: ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ Gets Astonishingly Low Budget, Updates Given
Among all the post-Mandalorian Star Wars projects, none have been more critically acclaimed than Andor, the bleak and gritty spy drama starring Diego Luna as Rebel spy Cassian Andor.
The first season of the show (created by Tony Gilroy) currently holds 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, and season 2 is currently in development; however, the show was more of a critical darling than bonafide streaming hit, which apparently means that Disney+ is going to start retconning things.
Specifically, it seems that Andor season 2 will retcon Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the prequel film (co-written by Tony Gilroy) that introduced Cassian Andor and ended…well, pretty badly for almost everyone involved in it.
In addition to Diego Luna, the film co-starred Felicity Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen, and Forest Whitaker, and it seems Andor season 2 is going to take some revisionist looks at the story.
Diego Luna was recently at ACE Superhero Comic Con 2024 and revealed (via Popverse) some interesting details about Andor season 2, including that it would include appearances from more Rogue One characters and that it would, apparently, change some perspectives on the film.
Luna said: “I can tell you, Rogue One is coming, so there will be characters there that you will recognize. There will be cool stuff. For those who love Rogue One, this season is going to be very special. And it’s going to be fascinating to go straight to Rogue One after watching this second season, because you will see Rogue One from a different perspective. I promise you that.”
Related: ‘Andor’ Director Jumps Ship From Disney to ‘Star Trek,’ Updates Given
“It’s fantastic. The only thing I can tell you is what happens at the end. It’s the world upside down. That’s the only thing you don’t talk about in an interview, but here, we all know what the end is.
I can tell you one thing: Tony Gilroy is a fantastic writer, and he created amazing characters that we got to meet in Andor season one,” Luna continued. “It’s going to be a very rich second season because all those stories matter today. It is a true ensemble piece. It got very complicated in season one, and everything has to get resolved. Every story matters.”
Lucasfilm has a long history of story revisionism, going all the way back to the subtitle “Episode IV: A New Hope” being retroactively added to the 1977 film. These days, however, fans are a lot less forgiving, to the point of a supporting Jedi’s birthdate being a major bone of contention for The Acolyte. Hopefully, Andor season 2 will not be so foolhardy as to think it can get away with something major like that.
What do you want to see happen in Andor season 2? Tell us your theories!