Andor season 2: Disney Plus release date prediction, likely cast, and more news on the acclaimed Star Wars show’s return

Andor season 2 will take this Star Wars story to the start of Rogue One

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• Will be released on Disney Plus sometime in 2025- Filming wrapped in February- No trailer released yet- Creator Tony Gilroy returns as showrunner- Diego Luna, Genevieve O’Reilly, Denise Gough, and Kyle Soller among returning cast members- TV show’s second and final chapter- Comprises 12 episodes spanning four years in theStar Warstimeline- Leads directly into the events of 2016’sRogue One: A Star Wars Storymovie

Andorseason 2’s release is drawing ever closer, but it’ll still be a number of months before the critically-acclaimedStar Warsseries is back on our screens. It’s been over two years since its first chapter debuted onDisney Plus, so the wait has certainly been a long one. But, as we head into the final third of 2024, its absence won’t be felt for much longer.

Ahead ofAndormaking its grand return, you’ll want the latestintelon its second installment. In this guide, we’ve rounded up every piece of official news (and the odd rumor or seven) for you to catch up on. That includes our release date prediction, season 2’s likely cast, plot threads it’ll need to pick up from its forebear, and more about theRogue One: A Star Wars Storyprequel show.Major spoilers for Andor season 1 follow,so proceed at your own risk (or read ourspoiler-freeAndorseason 1 reviewinstead).

Andor season 2 release date prediction

Andorseason 2 doesn’t have a release date yet. The only official information we have is that it won’t arrive this year, with Disney confirmingAndorseason 2 wasn’t part of Disney Plus' 2024 line-uplast December. Still, with principal photography wrapping in February, aside from its lengthy post-production phase,Andor’s second and final chapter isn’t too far away now.

So, when do we think it’ll land on Disney Plus? Earlier this year, Stellan Skarsgård, who plays Luthen Rael inAndor, toldGamesRader/Total Filmthat he expects it to “be out towards the end of the year or early next”. The latter is pretty much nailed on now, too, withStar Wars: Skeleton Crewset to race onto one of the world’sbest streaming serviceson December 3 (US) and December 4 (UK and Australia).

Our best guess, then, is thatAndorseason 2 will debut in January 2025. That’s mainly based on lead star Diego Luna tellingRotten Tomatoesthat “you’ll have to wait for the beginning of next year” for confirmation about some big cast rumors (more on these shortly). WithMarvelset to releaseDaredevil: Born Againon Disney Plus next Marc, Disney won’t want two of its biggest 2025 shows to clash, which is another reason why we believeAndorwill return just after New Year’s Day.

Andor season 2 trailer: is there one?

Fight the Empire. #Andor’s @diegoluna_ has made his return to #D23. pic.twitter.com/brKMamtbjjAugust 10, 2024

No, there isn’t. We don’t expect a teaser will be released until around October or November, either, which is when Disney/Lucasfilm will start to ramp up their promotional campaign for the hit series' return.

For what it’s worth, a short video – comprising some behind-the-scenes shots and actual season 2 footage – was shown exclusively to D23 Expo 2024 attendees in early August. While there wasn’t much to glean from the footage shown to the event’s audience, it did confirm that at least two key characters fromRogue Oneare part of season 2’s cast. Speaking of which…

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Andor season 2 cast: confirmed and rumored

Full spoilers follow forAndorseason 1.

Here’s who we expect to return inAndorseason 2:

Speaking toEmpire, Andy Serkis also hinted – or, more accurately, didn’t deny – that his season 1 character Kino Loy will live to fight another day. Chatting toSlashFilm, Gilroy also teased “we didn’t see him die”, so Kino may still be alive.

As for newcomers, Lucasfilm is yet to officially announce new season 2 stars, though Spanish siteLevante(thanks toStarWarsNewsNetfor the find) claims it spotted Benjamin Bratt (Poker Face) when filming took place in València. This has led fans to assume he’s bagged himself a role in outer space.

Andorhasn’t gone particularly big on cameos from legacyStar Warscharacters, either, but its first outing contained appearances from characters we’ve seen in other projects. For one, we already knowRogue Onesoldier Ruescott Melshi is back, with Gilroy confirming as much toDeadline. Imperial bigwig Wullf Yularen (Malcolm Sinclair), who dates all the way back toEpisode IV:A New Hope, and extremist Rebel Saw Gerrera (played by Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker) also featured in season 1, so we also expect this duo to return.

First look at K-2SO, Krennic, Melshi, and Draven in #Andor season 2 shown at #D23 pic.twitter.com/lqMLhr8K2rAugust 10, 2024

As for otherRogue Onecharacters who’ll feature, K-2SO – the Imperial security droid who’s Cassian’s mechanical BFF inRogue One– was shown off in the D23 Expo-exclusive teaser. After reports emerged thatRogue Onevillain Orson Krennic would appear in some capacity inAndorseason 2, the same teaser confirmed Ben Mendelsohn will reprise his role as the Galactic Empire’s Director of Advanced Weapons Research. We wouldn’t be surprised if they’re joined by more familiar faces fromRogue One, too. Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed), an Empire pilot who defects to the Rebellion and Tivik (Daniel Mays), the Rebel spy Cassian kills early on inRogue One, could both cross paths with the nascent Rebel Alliance.

As for more potential actor appearances, Gilroy (viaSlashFilm) and Luna (perThe Pop Verseand Rotten Tomatoes) have teased that other characters seen inRogue Onemay pop up. Which ones do, though, remains to be seen.

Star Wars: Andor season 2 plot speculation

Major spoilers follow forAndorseason 1.

Andor season 2’s plot brief hasn’t been revealed, but there’s plenty we can speculate on in the meantime.

Firstly, while season 1 mapped out 12 months in Cassian Andor’s life,Andorseason 2 is spread across the four years leading up toRogue One. That means this 12-episode season will be split into four installments – comprising three episodes apiece – that each depict a 12-month period covering a pivotal few days of the Star Warstimeline (check out our guide tohow to watch theStar Wars moviesin orderfor more on where it’ll be set). Gilroy also revealed toColliderthat “a great deal has happened in the interim [between season 1’s finale and the start of season 2]”, so expectsomeplot exposition to be laid out in season 2’s opening episode.

“When we come back, it’ll be literally like a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,” Gilroy toldDeadline. “And then, we’ll jump a year, and then it’ll be, like, four or five days, and then we’ll jump a year, and then there’ll be another four or five days, and then we jump a year, and be another four or five days. Our last block is the last three days beforeRogue One. So, the last shot will be walking intoRogue One. So, you can imagine that we have to do a lot of interlacing at the end, with the [Star Wars] calendar.”

We know, then, the beginning and end ofAndorseason 2 – but everything in between remains something of a mystery. Well, aside from other tidbits that Gilroy, Luna, and other individuals have teased.

Tony Gilroy just received the WGAE’s Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement. The #WritersGuildAward is presented to a WGAE member in honor of their body of work as a writer in motion pictures or television - describing Tony’s resume as deserving is an understatement 🏆 pic.twitter.com/sVtwwiOMJQApril 15, 2024

For one, Gilroy told the Writer Guild of America East (see the X/Twitter post above) that he doesn’t think he’s done “anything as important” or “big before” as the show’s sophomore outing. Considering the size and scope of its predecessor, it sounds like season 2 will be even more impressive from narrative, visual, thematic perspectives.

“The beauty of this show is that even though sometimes you know what’s going to happen, it hits you as though you’re learning it for the first time,” star Diego Luna further elaborated in a discussion withEntertainment Weekly(EW). “You are witnessing this from the inside, from the personal perspective. You get to live it with the characters, or through the characters. Therefore, it hits you differently. It’s not about the events, necessarily, but about the choices made and the risks these characters are taking. It’s because you know them that you care like you didn’t care before.”

Diego Luna on the potential goodbye between Cassian and Bix in season 2 of #Andor for Rotten Tomatoes 🔗: https://t.co/RHDZTHIPcQ pic.twitter.com/RnXwosUwioAugust 10, 2024

So, what did the season 1 finale set up for its successor? In it, Cassian Andor briefly returned to his home planet Ferrix for the funeral of his adoptive mother Maarva. After she posthumously incited an anti-Imperial riot (via a recorded hologram), he managed to rescue ex-girlfriend Bix Caleen from Imperial torture and convince morally flexible Rebel Alliance kingpin Luthen Rael not to kill him. Now that the previously ambivalent Cassian has a reason to take the fight to the Empire, it looks like he’ll be a fully fledged member of the Alliance next time we see him.

“Cassian’s commitment to the cause is not in doubt,” Gilroy explained toPolygon. “If it was about him becoming a revolutionary, then the second half is about him becoming a leader.”

Although her name isn’t in the title,Andorwas as much about Mon Mothma as its eponymous antihero. In season 2, the character has to evolve from a respected senator helping fund the Rebels on the sly, to the leader we see making pivotal decisions on Yavin IV inRogue One. So, you can expect her character to evolve further, such as her needing to turn a blind eye to the activities of the Rebel Alliance’s operatives (like the aforementioned Rael) who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty.

“If your business is based on paranoia and secrecy and death, how do you expand your business?” Gilroy asked inEW. “How do you go public? How do you go wide? What happens to all the original gangsters and the hardcore people who built that road? What happens to them, and how do they integrate with [a legitimate Rebel Alliance]?”

Speaking of Yavin IV, Gilroy let slip toColliderthat we’ll be paying a visit to the Rebel base’s headquarters soon. That’s just one of “five different planets” we’ll visit, too, Luna confirmed in his D23 Expo chat with Rotten Tomatoes.

Elsewhere, Cassian will also be doing his best to stay ahead of Dedra Meero, the ambitious Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) agent who became obsessed with catching him. Matters may be a bit more complicated, however, now that she owes a debt to disgraced police officer Syril Karn, who saved her from rioters on Ferrix in season 1’s finale.

After their surprisingly close encounter in a broom cupboard, Karn – the most intriguing, multi-layered character in the show – surely has a big part to play in the pursuit of Andor, the man who effectively ruined his career.

“The end of season 1 is so perfect for Syril,” toldEsquire. “He’s kept Cassian as this talisman that’s giving him fuel to stay alive, basically. It’s a receptacle to put his frustration and aggression. And he’s still living at home, so he doesn’t have any friends or a therapist. He doesn’t have a dog. He also knows that he’s right.

“Then, through his relationship with Dedra, being seen by her and feeling seen, that’s a massive indication. And so this is like, ‘Wow, it’s [Cassian’s] mom’s funeral, it’s all coming together again. It’s at the place where I f***ed up last time. I can put this right'. He sees this opportunity to swoop in. It’s not even that he views it as a hero moment. I think it’s just his obsession with Cassian, that starts to extend itself to Dedra, because she’s involved in the same obsession. He recognizes that the two of them are more powerful together than they are separately.”

GivenAndorseason 2 directly leads intoRogue One(and, by proxy,Star Wars Episode IV), we’ll eventually see the Rebel Alliance learn about the Death Star and the Empire’s plan to use it against its critics. In the post-credits scene of season 1’s final episode, we learned that Cassian, Kino, and other Narkina 5 prisoners had been building components for the Death Star’s lazer array, meaning they had a hand in its creation.

“It [the Death Star’s construction] will still be the looming threat,” Gilroy toldThe Hollywood Reporter. “Rogue Oneis all about discovering what it is. [Season two is] about who picks up the final breadcrumbs that lead to the beginning ofRogue One. InRogueOne, Cassian goes to the Ring of Kafrene to meet Tivik, who is from Saw’s group, and he says ‘Oh my God, it’s a planet killer’. Cassian knows some shit, but he’s looking for answers. So we’ll [cover] the breadcrumbs that lead up to that. But we have a situation where Cassian will never know that what he was building is actually the machine that’s going to kill him.”

Amid all the intergalactic and political warfare, one seemingly forgotten plot thread continues to dangle in the background: has Cassian given up on finding his sister, which is what setAndor’s events in motion in its premiere?

“I don’t think so,” Luna teased toCollider. “I don’t think it’s over inRogue One, because I see that as one thing. It’s like the feeling, it’s one of those things that kind of follow every decision you make, or never letting [go] anymore, not again. That kind of thing. And I think that’s behind the decision of that last mission, that suicide mission inRogue One. That’s for her. That’s for Maarva, that’s for his people, for his community. I love the arc that Tony has built, and the arc ends inRogue One, not in season 2. I think it’s going to be quite amazing to watchRogue Oneafter you see season 2.”

What to watch while you wait for Andor season 2

WithAndorseason 2’s release date still TBD, Star Wars fans new and old may want to pass the time with other TV shows set in Lucasfilm’s iconic galaxy far, far away. If that’s you, stick one of these series (two in particular are considered to be some of thebest Disney Plus showsever made) on to pass the time:

Andor season 1

Alright, you might think I’m cheating here, but what better way is there to prepare forAndorseason 2 than by watching its predecessor? In my view, it’s the best Star Wars TV show on Disney Plus – and that’s not just because it foregoes lightsabers, Force wielders, or anything Jedi and Sith-related. It’s compellingly dramatic, is full of political paranoia and thrilling action sequences, has a cast at the top of their game, and some absolutely gorgeous shots and visuals that wouldn’t look out of place on the big screen, let alone Disney’s primary streaming platform. Stick in on your watchlist ASAP.

The Mandalorian

Billed as a space western, and set betweenStar Wars Episode VIandEpisode VII,The Mandaloriansees Pedro Pascal’s lone gunslinger becomes a surrogate father to ‘baby Yoda’, a juvenile of the legendary Jedi’s alien race, who is apparently vital importance to a Machiavellian scheme concocted by the Galactic Empire’s remnants. It’s more kid-friendly thanAndoris, which makes it entertaining in a completely different way. Season 3 is the weakest entry so far, but its first two installments are well worth investing in. The duo will make the leap to the silver screen in 2026, too, withThe Mandalorian and Grogu- the first Star Wars movie in, by the time it’s released, seven years!

Star Wars: Ahsoka

A sequel to animated showStar Wars: Rebelsthat runs parallel to events inThe Mandalorian, this live-action series sees the fan-favorite Togruta Force wielder reunite with herRebelsallies to thwart the return of a menacing Empire general. Narratively,Star Wars: Ahsokacan be sluggish in places and some of its cast performances come across as somewhat wooden (read more on the positive things I had to say in myspoiler-freeAhsokareview). It picks up as the show progresses, however, and the mysteries at its heart are certainly engrossing enough. You can stream all eight episodes now and then read myStar Wars: Ahsokaending explainerto see how it sets up the recently confirmedAhsokaseason 2.

For moreStar Warscoverage, read our guide on all of thenewStar Warsmovies and TV showsthat are in the works. Alternatively, get the lowdown onThe Mandalorianseason 4, or find outwhy Star Wars should learn fromAndorand stop making Disney Plus shows that are so obsessed with the Jedi.

As TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You’ll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as thisMoon Knight TV spot.

Away from work, Tom can be found checking out the latest video games, immersing himself in his favorite sporting pastime of football, reading the many unread books on his shelf, staying fit at the gym, and petting every dog he comes across.

Got a scoop, interesting story, or an intriguing angle on the latest news in entertainment? Feel free to drop him a line.

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