Draft:Andor season 2

The second season of the American television series Andor is part of the Star Wars franchise and a prequel to the film Rogue One (2016), which in turn is a direct prequel to the original Star Wars film (1977). The season covers the four years between the first season and the two films, continuing the story of thief-turned-rebel Cassian Andor as he fights the Galactic Empire with the emerging Rebel Alliance. The season is produced by Lucasfilm with Tony Gilroy serving as showrunner.

Diego Luna stars as the title character, reprising his role from Rogue One. Stellan Skarsgård and Genevieve O'Reilly also star. The series was announced in November 2018, and Rogue One co-writer Gilroy was hired as creator and showrunner. The original plan was to cover the five years before Rogue One over five seasons, but after production on the first season Gilroy decided to cover the next four years in one season which leads directly into the events of the film. The second season was officially announced in May 2022, and filming began that November. Production was suspended in the first half of 2023 due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, resuming in January 2024 and wrapping the following month.

The season is expected to premiere on the streaming service Disney+ and consist of 12 episodes.

Cast and characters

 * Diego Luna as Cassian Andor
 * Stellan Skarsgård as Luthen Rael
 * Genevieve O'Reilly as Mon Mothma

Development
A spy thriller prequel series to the film Rogue One (2016) focused on the character Cassian Andor was revealed in November 2018. Tony Gilroy, who was credited as a co-writer on Rogue One and oversaw extensive reshoots for the film, was set serve as showrunner by April 2020. In February 2022, star Stellan Skarsgård revealed that filming for a second season was set to begin in late 2022. That April, cinematographer Adriano Goldman said there had originally been plans for the series to last five seasons, but he believed those had changed and it was now expected to last three. At Star Wars Celebration a month later, Lucasfilm confirmed a 12-episode second season. Gilroy explained that the original five-season plan was deemed to be impractical, and instead they realized that they could end the series with one more season that led directly into the events of Rogue One.

Writing
The season covers the four years before the events of Rogue One and leads directly into the film, with Gilroy approaching the season as if it was the second half of a novel. He said Andor would meet Rebel leader Mon Mothma in the season after the pair had separate stories in the first.

Casting
Diego Luna was confirmed to be reprising his role as Cassian Andor from Rogue One with the series' announcement in November 2018. In April 2019, Alan Tudyk was announced as also reprising his Rogue One role of K-2SO, but in January 2020 Tudyk revealed that he would no longer be appearing in the first season due to story changes. He said there was potential for him to appear in future seasons. Of the first season's more than 200 named cast members, Gilroy said there were "at least a dozen seriously important characters" that would return for the second. Skarsgård confirmed that he would return for the season in February 2022.

Filming
Principal photography began on November 21, 2022, and it was expected to wrap in August 2023. In March 2023 Season 2 was revealed to be filming in Xàtiva and Valencia with director Metz among the cast and crew including actor Benjamin Bratt indicating he had joined the series. In April 2023, filming was suspended in Winspit Quarry, near Worth Matravers in Dorset due to landslip concerns. The next month filming was suspended again due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. By that June, production had been approximately halfway completed. In July 2023, filming was cut short for the duration of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, with plans to resume production after the both strikes concluded. Filming resumed in early January 2024 and wrapped on February 9, 2024.

Release
The season is scheduled to premiere on Disney+.