Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy has confirmed the second season’s unique structure was “born out of desperation.” The second and final season of the popular Star Wars series is set to premiere later this month, covering multiple years of the early Rebellion, leading up to the events of Rogue One. However, covering so much time in a single season wasn’t the original plan from Gilroy and Lucasfilm.
As it stands, Andor season 2 will consist of 12 episodes, split up into four 3-episode arcs, with each arc taking place during a different year. Not only that, but Lucasfilm will be releasing three episodes a night each week starting April 22nd, effectively giving Star Wars fans a new movie every seven days for four weeks. However, Tony Gilroy recently gave new insights about this unique and surprising format in a new interview with SFX magazine, one “born out of desperation“:
“We were halfway through shooting season 1, coming through Covid, and the monumental size of the show, the effort, and everything else was just dawning on us. We realized that I didn’t have enough calories to do it, and Diego’s face couldn’t take the timing, because it just takes too long to make it. We were saved by Disney saying, ‘Okay, if you guys can figure out a way to do it, we’re into it.
It’s a fascinating experiment and I don’t know if anyone’s ever done it before. We’re going to jump a year between each block, and we’re going to use that negative space in a really interesting way, coming back for three days at a time, so it’s like a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. The challenge is, how do you come back [to start each chapter]? We wanted to have it be as elegant and seamless as possible, and just hit the ground running.
Hearing Tony Giloy’s reasoning in this new interview, it definitely makes more sense why we’re not only getting two seasons of Andor, when the initial plan was for more.
Andor Was Originally Meant To Be Five Seasons Long
A Plan That Was Quickly Scrapped (For Good Reason)
Originally, the plan was for Andor to receive five seasons. Under that model, each season would have covered a single year leading up to Rogue One, a far more typical narrative television structure that’s far more common. However, it seems the length of time it takes to make each season was too great, especially with Andor’s status as a prequel to Rogue One, a movie Diego Luna starred in nearly 10 years ago.
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Andor Recap: Everything You Need To Remember Ahead Of Season 2
Andor season 2 is almost here, meaning many will wish to look back on the first season to remember what happened going into Star Wars’ next TV show.
This certainly explains the new narrative structure for Andor overall that’s “born of desperation”. While Andor season 1 covered the first year in its entirety, Andor season 2 will handle the following four. While this seems like quite an undertaking and indeed, a bold experiment, I can appreciate the necessity. Likewise, Gilroy’s comments about how they’re handling the time jumps make me confident that the experiment and unique structure will be a success.
I’m Now More Hopeful About Andor Season 2’s Unique Structure
With Gilory referring to a focus on “the negative space” and a desire to make the transition between arcs as “elegant and seamless as possible”, I feel pretty hopeful that Andor season 2’s unique structure is going to work. Furthermore, what Star Wars fan wouldn’t be excited about a new movie a week for four weeks? As such, all signs are pointing to Andor season 2’s grand experiment being a great success when it starts streaming later this month.
Andor season 2 is set to premiere its first three episodes April 22nd on Disney+.
Andor
10/10
- Release Date
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2022 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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Disney+
- Showrunner
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Tony Gilroy
- Directors
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Susanna White
- Writers
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Dan Gilroy