A Rogue One: A Star Wars Story star has explained why their character didn’t appear in Andor season 2, despite the narrative overlap between the anthology film and Tony Gilroy’s groundbreaking Disney+ show. As a prequel series to Rogue One, Andor had a difficult balance to strike: how do you make sure that Star Wars’ already fragile Imperial era canon remains intact while telling a compelling, well-rounded story?
Part of accomplishing that balance included ensuring that the final season didn’t provide too much fan service. This meant that even vital characters such as Riz Ahmed’s Bodhi Rook, an Imperial pilot who defected to the Rebellion just before the events of Rogue One, never appeared in Andor. During an interview with Inverse, Ahmed explained why he didn’t get to play a part in Andor‘s grand finale:
“I spoke to [showrunner] Tony Gilroy about this afterwards. I was like, ‘Yeah, thanks a lot, bud. Everyone gets a cameo apart from your old pal, Riz.’ He was like, ‘Actually, I thought about it, but it would’ve thrown all the timeline off and it would’ve unpicked a lot of the plotting.’ Much like Bodhi Rook, I’m willing to sacrifice myself for the greater cause here: the story making sense.”
Though thematically, a cameo from one of the Empire’s earliest known defectors would have slotted into Andor perfectly – Andor is all about the underlying threat and viciousness of the Empire, and how the strength of ordinary people standing up to oppression can change the fate of a galaxy – Gilroy’s thoughts, and Ahmed’s agreement, make sense.
Although Andor season 2 consisted of a whopping 12 episodes, the season was divided into four blocks of three episodes. Each block detailed a year in the life of Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and the Rebellion, leading straight into the events of Rogue One. Having to focus on specific, historically significant events, like the Imperial occupation of Ghorman, didn’t provide much room to explore additional conflicts in the wider galaxy.
Our Take On Andor Season 2’s Rogue One Connections
Handing out cameos left and right in season 2’s final few episodes would have distracted from Andor‘s core story, namely Cassian’s and the Rebellion’s development into a true threat against the Empire. Bodhi Rook’s heroic sacrifice was a big part of what made Rogue One so successful, but this was Cassian’s journey, and Bodhi didn’t have an impact on his life until the very end.
The Rogue One cameos that were included in Andor‘s final season, such as the Rebel Alliance leaders who worked alongside Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) on Yavin 4, made more sense. Cassian interacted with these characters on a near-daily basis; they shaped his career in the Rebellion. Andor creator Tony Gilroy understood the most important part of making a prequel, especially a Star Wars prequel, work: sometimes, less is more.
Andor
8/10
- Release Date
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2022 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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Disney+
- Showrunner
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Tony Gilroy
