» ‘It’s big in every possible way’: Diego Luna teases ‘Andor’ Season 2

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TOKYO — Diego Luna has been saying it since the beginning: By the time you get to the end of Andor, you’ll have an entirely different appreciation for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

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The 12-episode first season kicked off five years before 2016’s Rogue One and traced Cassian’s beginnings from his life as a child to his years as a thief who gets drawn into the Rebellion’s fight for freedom. 

Season 2 of the Disney+ series charts the next four years of his exploits, delving further into the backstory of how Cassian became the leader of a ragtag group of rebels who set out on a mission to steal plans to the Death Star.

Luna — who was joined by his co-stars Genevieve O’Reilly (who plays Mon Mothma), Alan Tudyk (K-2SO), Kyle Soller (Imperial officer Syril Karn), Adria Arjona (Bix Caleen) and Denise Gough (Imperial official Dedra Meero) as well as creator Tony Gilroy and executive producer Sanne Wohlenberg — was on hand at Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo to talk about saying goodbye to the character and the world of Star Wars.

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After his character was (spoiler alert!) killed at the end of 2016’s Rogue One alongside Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), Luna didn’t think he’d ever return to a galaxy far, far away.

So he was surprised — and grateful — when Lucasfilm decided to green-light a prequel series that would explore Cassian’s history. 

“It’s just so big in every possible way,” said Luna of Andor’s new episodes. “There’s more adventure and action and drama. We’re getting close to Rogue One, so everything matters so much. It’s emotionally charged. You have the story of all the characters you met in Season 1, plus many new characters you’ll meet in the second season … It’s going to be intense. And when you finish watching this second and last season, go straight to Rogue One, because you’re going to see a different film.”

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After exploring Cassian’s life over the course of a year in Season 1, Gilroy explained that Season 2’s 12 episodes will cover a four-year period. “Three episodes will represent one year, and we’re going to drop them three a week. So, it’s basically, like dropping a movie every week,” he said. 

Initially, producers pondered the idea of a five-season arc, with each season exploring a year in Cassian’s life. But this storytelling method will allow Gilroy to get the episodes out faster.

“They’ll be in chunks. It will be one year, one year, one year, one year, and when we land, we only land for a couple of days. It’ll be a very, very intense experience and we tried to find the most important three days we could to land on,” he said.

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“We feel like we’ve been sitting on a little bit of a diamond, and we can’t wait to share it with you,” added O’Reilly, whose character dates back to 1983’s Return of the Jedi. “We go to some dark places this season.”

After their romance was teased in Season 1, Arjona said the upcoming episodes will offer more of a “peek into this beautiful relationship” between Bix and Cassian.

“Everyone was like, What are you guys? Are you guys together?’” Arjona said of the initial reactions to their onscreen pairing. “Well, I think this season, you’ll really get to see these two characters come together, which is really beautiful. It’s probably one of my favourite parts.”

With Tudyk’s Imperial droid K-2SO left out of Season 1, devoted fans will also get to learn how the two buddies from Rogue One met in the first place.

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“I always held out hope,” Tudyk said of his return. “I really wanted it to happen … We get to see how our two characters meet and the birth of K-2SO.”

With the final scene of the show expected to directly lead into Rogue One, Gilroy is also planning on reviving that film’s villainous Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn), with expanded arcs for rebel leaders Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) and Stellan Skarsgard’s Luthen Rael.

“We’re going to follow everybody you like and everybody you love,” Gilroy said. “Cassian’s at the centre of this, but there’s a choir all around him and we care about these characters as much as you do. So we will tell every story full out … We go all in on all of them all the way.”

The first three episodes of Andor Season 2 premiere April 22 on Disney+.

mdaniell@postmedia.com

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