As expected, Star Wars fans are giddy over ‘The Eye’, Andor‘s sixth episode. Though the Aldhani rebel’s mission to steal the Imperial payroll was a success, it came at a high price. Despite only meeting these characters two weeks ago, they’ve already been embraced by fans, so seeing them fall (particularly the idealist Karis) reminded us that fighting the Empire is a deadly job.
But, no doubt buoyed up by season one’s success, Andor‘s stars are already beginning to look to the second season.
‘Andor’ stars tease more crossovers in season two
We’re only halfway through Andor‘s six-episode first season, but rumblings have already begun about season two. This will follow Cassian Andor up until we meet him in Rogue One, which each ‘block’ of storytelling moving the story one year closer to Andor’s heroic sacrifice on Scarif.
Now an interview with Kyle Soller and Denise Gough (who play Imperials Syril and Dedra), has given us some insight into how COVID-19 affected the first season shoot and what means now that restrictions are lifted. Gough says that the pandemic meant the cast being separated from one another while filming, but now those restrictions are lifted, “you’ll see how they all kind of start to cross paths” in season two.
Soller also dropped a hint about Syril’s arc, saying “I definitely view Syril as a hero of his own struggle of his own journey.”, but also confirming that “it’s really fun to play a villain.”
Andor season two will begin its nine-month shoot in November and is expected to air in fall 2024.
But has the ‘Andor’ backlash already started?
Anything that garners near-universal praise will face a backlash, and Andor is no exception. Given that many Star Wars fans enjoy the franchise for lightsaber battles, Jedi vs Sith mythology, wild alien creatures, and outer space dogfights, it’s perhaps understandable they’d be turned off by a show that features none of these elements.
But saying that it’s the worst piece of Star Wars media since The Rise of Skywalker? That’s where we draw the line at acceptable criticism.
Even so, it’s been noted that Andor discussion online has been muted compared to Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Mandalorian. We think that’s simply because this show stands alone as a story and doesn’t feature characters from the Skywalker saga (well, aside from Mon Mothma). It doesn’t seem likely that Andor is going to throw in a surprise Ewan McGregor or Hayden Christensen cameo anytime soon, but we’re happy the show forges its own path, even if it’s not pleasing everyone.
How to fix ‘The Book of Boba Fett’
The Book of Boba Fett was likely greenlit to fill the long gap between The Mandalorian‘s second season and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Robert Rodriguez is known for quick shoots and keeping budgets down, many of the costumes and sets were already ready, the majority of the story being set on Tatooine means fewer location shoots, and the story doesn’t interfere with other Star Wars stories.
What resulted was an okay show with a few great episodes (notably the ones that feature much of Boba Fett). Now fans are wondering how they’d fix it if they were in charge of a second season.
The best suggestion is that if Boba Fett is Tatooine’s new Jabba the Hutt, he needs to embrace crime. The show’s Fett felt neutered, likely because Disney and Lucasfilm were nervous about a heroic protagonist running spice or extorting people. But Fett is all about his killer instinct, carefully calculated plans, and stopping at nothing to get the job done. We only saw glimpses of this in the first season, so we join fans in demanding that Fett toughen up and take his new job seriously.
Beyond all things Andor, fans are beginning to get hyped for the animated show Tales of the Jedi, which drops on Oct 26.
We now know Ashley Eckstein is back as Ahsoka, Ian McDiarmid will play the Emperor and, perhaps most excitingly, Liam Neeson will once again play Qui-Gon Jinn in an episode exploring his past as Dooku’s Padawan. The entire season will drop on the same day, so expect fans to be going over it with a fine tooth comb for revelations about their favorite Jedi.