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Credit: LucasfilmHold on to your lightsabers, Star Wars fans, because one acclaimed entry in the Disney era of the franchise will be changed forever in 2025.
Disney’s Star Wars
Since acquiring Lucasfilm in 2012, Disney has significantly expanded the Star Wars franchise with new films, TV series, and other media. The sequel trilogy, consisting of Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars: Episode VIII—The Last Jedi (2017), and Star Wars: Episode IX—The Rise of Skywalker (2019), reintroduced the saga with a mix of new and legacy characters.
While the trilogy was commercially successful, each movie grossing over a billion dollars during their respective theatrical runs generated mixed reactions, particularly with Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi and J.J. Abrams’ The Rise of Skywalker.
At this year’s D23 Expo, Lucasfilm confirmed its return to movie theaters in 2026 with Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian and Grogu, starring Pedro Pascal.
Alongside the main saga, Disney produced semi-standalone films like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). The former received praise, while the latter underperformed significantly due to a bloated production budget, leading Disney to rethink its strategy on such films.
There have been many attempts to fix the Disney era of Star Wars storytelling through other tie-in media and shows on Disney+. The Mandalorian, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, and now Leslye Headland’s polarizing The Acolyte have all woven in cloning elements or Force lore that help patch together the gaps of the sequel trilogy.
Rogue One Is Changing Forever in 2025
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a pivotal entry in the Star Wars franchise, directed by Gareth Edwards. As the first standalone film in Disney’s Star Wars anthology series, it serves as a direct prequel to the original 1977 Star Wars film, Star Wars: Episode IV–A New Hope.
The story follows a group of unlikely heroes on a daring mission to steal the plans for the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon, laying the foundation for the Rebel Alliance’s first significant victory against the Galactic Empire.
The film’s cast is led by Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso, a determined young woman with a complicated past who becomes the unlikely leader of the Rebel mission. Diego Luna stars as Cassian Andor, a seasoned Rebel intelligence officer, while Ben Mendelsohn portrays Orson Krennic, the ambitious Imperial Director overseeing the Death Star’s construction.
The supporting cast includes Mads Mikkelsen as Jyn’s father, Galen Erso, a scientist who secretly undermines the Empire’s plans, Donnie Yen as the blind warrior monk Chirrut Îmwe, and Alan Tudyk as the voice of K-2SO, a reprogrammed Imperial droid with a sharp wit.
Rogue One was a resounding success at the box office, grossing over $1.05 billion worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 2016. The film was praised for its darker tone, mature themes, and portrayal of the harsh realities of war within the Star Wars universe.
Its thrilling and intense final act, in which the team makes the ultimate sacrifice to secure the Death Star plans and includes the shocking returns of Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia (via CGI) and Darth Vader, is considered one of the standout moments in the entire franchise.
But by next year’s release (hopefully, anyway), Rogue One will be changed forever in the eyes of fans after star Diego Luna doubled down on his sentiments that the movie will be a “different” entity following the culmination of Andor’s story in the second season of Tony Gilroy’s Star Wars: Andor.
Andor is a Disney+ series set in the Star Wars universe, serving as a prequel to the film Rogue One. The series, which debuted in 2022, focuses on Cassian Andor, portrayed by Diego Luna, and explores his journey from a cynical, reluctant participant to a committed member of the Rebel Alliance.
Unlike other Star Wars entries, Andor delves deeply into the gritty, often morally ambiguous world of espionage and rebellion, offering a more grounded and mature narrative.
Andor‘s success lies in its urgency and place within the universe–inside the throes of the Galactic Empire. One character that was not present in the first season of Andor was droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk).
And it is K-2SO’s appearance in Gilroy’s sophomore season that will supposedly trigger Rogue One to never be the same again.
“I think people watching Rogue One, after watching season 2, are going to see a different film,” Andor star Diego Luna told Entertainment Weekly. “Everything will be signified differently knowing what had to happen for K-2 to be there. It’s going to make you witness the journey of Rogue One in a different way, I think. And not just with K-2, but with many other characters. I think it’ll be really cool.”
Interestingly, this is not the first time Luna has spoken about Rogue One changing following Andor Season 2. At ACE Superhero Comic Con 2024 earlier this year, 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: Disney Defies George Lucas, Reinstates Removed ‘Star Wars’ Element 47 Years Later
During his time with EW, Luna also dropped hints as to how he thinks fans may like to tackle the Andor finale and Rogue One, confirming once again that the final episode will lead directly into the events of the latter.
“I’m sure someone from Lucasfilm and Disney will give us the opportunity to watch season 2 and then go straight to watch the film on a big screen with tons of popcorn and friends around,” the actor said.
Creator Tony Gilroy had already revealed this connection way back in 2022.
“Gilroy also revealed the show’s master plan includes the debut season covering one year in Andor’s life and the second – and final – season will cover four years,” The Hollywood Reporter noted at the time. “[He said] ‘Our last scene of the show, our 24th episode, will walk the audience directly into Rogue One and directly into the first scene of Rogue One.'”
This then makes Lucas’s first-ever movie, A New Hope, the conclusion to a new sort of trilogy, one that is as interconnected as it possibly can be: Andor Season 2 moves directly into Rogue One and Rogue One, as audiences have already seen, moves straight into A New Hope.
With Rogue One and A New Hope‘s over two-hour run times, plus–if it follows the pattern as Andor Season 1–Andor Season 2’s close to one-hour length, this new trilogy of sorts will come in at just over five hours. That’s a long time to be sat in the movie theater if Disney does link the entire trio.
Andor has been praised for its strong character development, complex storytelling, and darker tone, distinguishing it from other Star Wars series. It has been lauded for expanding the Star Wars universe by focusing on the human stories behind the rebellion, offering a fresh and compelling perspective within the franchise. But it wouldn’t have been as powerful without the previous success of Rogue One.
The legacy of Rogue One is significant, as it proved that Star Wars could successfully venture beyond the Skywalker saga to explore darker, more self-contained stories. The film’s unique approach to storytelling and its exploration of the moral complexities of rebellion resonated with audiences, solidifying its status as a fan favorite.
Related: Disney Officially Reboots ‘Star Wars’ After String of Disasters, Removes Sequels From Canon
Andor Season 2 will join shows including The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Bad Batch, and The Acolyte on Disney+.
How do you think Rogue One will be retconned with Andor Season 2? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!