Andor Season 2 will bring the story full circle to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and with that, it means the return of Orson Krennic, played by Ben Mendelsohn. Created for Rogue One, Orson Krennic is the Galactic Empire’s Director of Advanced Weapons Research and has been overseeing The Death Star. Mendelshon’s performance in Rogue One earned praise from fans and critics alike, and despite not being a Sith Lord or a bounty hunter, he became a fan-favorite villain in the franchise. Nine years later, he is set to return as the character in Andor Season 2.
Empire Magazine unveiled the first look at Ben Mendelsohn’s return as Orson Krennic for Andor Season 2, wearing his all-white Imperial uniform. Mendelsohn revealed one of his big opponents in Andor Season 2 would be a fellow Imperial officer, Dedra Meero (Denise Gough). Mendelsohn said, “If they didn’t see eye to eye, to me, it’s cute. Dedra versus Krennic? I think it’s a bit of a mismatch. They’re all underlings to Krennic.”
Mendelsohn isn’t the only Rogue One actor returning for Andor. Alan Tudyk is set to reprise his role as K-2SO, the reprogramed Imperial Security droid who served by Casian’s side through Rogue One. There is no word on any other characters from Rogue One, specifically Imperial pilot Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) or the father of Jyn Erso and key scientist to the Death Star’s operation, Galen (Mads Mikkelsen). Andor Season 2 will consist of blocks of episodes that each move forward one year, with the final batch of episodes taking place days before Rogue One.
Andor Season 2 Can Complete One of Star Wars’ Most Successful Stories
While fans certainly are excited to see Mendelsohn return to the Star Wars franchise, this is not the first time he or Krennic have appeared since Rogue One. Mendelsohn voiced Krennic in the Season 1 penultimate episode, “The Summit,” where he delivered details on the Death Star’s construction to fellow Imperial officers. Krennic was mentioned many times during Star Wars: Rebels, but series creator Dave Filoni did not include him to avoid conflict with the movies. However, the 2019 novel Star Wars: Thrawn: Treason by author Timothy Zahn did feature a moment between Krennic and Vice Admiral Thrawn right before the events of the Star Wars: Rebels series finale. Andor, hopefully, will deliver more of Krennic for fans who were upset he died after only one film.
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Andor Season 2 will debut on Disney+ on April 22, 2025, making it the only Star Wars series debuting on Disney+ next year. Disney is slowing down production on Star Wars television series and shifting the focus back to feature films with many different titles in development. Andor Season 2 will debut almost nine years on from Rogue One’s theatrical opening. It is fascinating to see how far the franchise has come since then and how, despite Rogue One killing off its lead characters, they have found a way to revisit them and make them vital elements of the overall Star Wars franchise.
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