Cassian Andor has always had a final destination. When we met Star Wars’ down-and-dirty rebel hero in Rogue One, he gave his life for the cause (along with the rest of the squad). And so, the story of Andor has always been about getting him to that point – spanning five years, taking him from lone schemer striking small blows to the Empire, to a fully-fledged member of the Rebel Alliance. The events of Andor Season 1 covered the first year of that period, bringing him into the orbit of Luthen Rael, who introduced him to the radical factions organising into a force strong enough to take down the entire Empire. And as Season 2 spans the four years leading up to Rogue One, we’ll see Diego Luna’s Cassian become more and more central to the cause.
“He’s a man fully committed to the Rebellion,” Luna tells Empire of Cassian in Season 2, in our world-exclusive new Andor issue. “It’s someone who has to ascend. There’s a huge mountain for him to climb in order to [become] the guy we meet in Rogue One.” And he won’t do it alone. Andor’s closest ally in Gareth Edwards’ 2016 film was K-2SO, the reprogrammed Imperial droid, voiced sardonically by Alan Tudyk. In Season 2, we’ll discover exactly how the two became allies. “From an audience perspective, they’ve probably made their own story about how Cassian and K-2 got to work together,” says Luna. “It tells you a lot about Cassian that his best friend is a droid. And a droid he had to reprogramme. But how did that actually happen and who was he before? Those questions are going to be answered.”
Across the span of Season 2, expect to see Cassian (and K-2) venturing to all kinds of destinations. "We move in space more than ever — the amount of planets and sets you’re going to get to see. There are some familiar and new locations,” teases Luna. And there’s one in particular that fans will be thrilled to get back to. “I mean, we have to end up in Yavin, right?” says Gilroy, promising a return to the Rebel base from the original Star Wars, also seen in Rogue One. “So, we’ll tell the story of Yavin. No-one has quite dealt with Yavin the way we will be doing it.” The Rebellion is rising – and Cassian Andor’s destiny awaits.
Read Empire’s full cover story on Andor Season 2 – speaking to Tony Gilroy, Diego Luna, Genevieve O’Reilly and Ben Mendelsohn on the final chapters of Cassian’s story – in the January 2025 issue, on sale Thursday 21 November. Pre-order a copy online here. Andor Season 2 comes to Disney+ from 23 April.