‘Andor’ Showrunner Explains K-2SO’s Absence From ‘Rogue One’ Prequel

James Hibberd
·3 min read
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Star Wars fans are excited about Disney+’s Rogue One prequel drama Andor, but one beloved character from the movie isn’t showing up anytime soon: Alan Tudyk’s acerbic Imperial droid K-2SO.

“From a storytelling point of view, there are multiple reasons,” head writer Tony Gilroy told critics at the Television Critics Association’s press tour on Wednesday. “I would say, ‘Wait and see.’ It’s a story we are eager to tell. It’s difficult to carry an Imperial droid around with you and not draw all kinds of attention. It’s a difficult piece of luggage. When we do it, we’ll do it in a spectacular fashion as opposed to presenting it and ignoring it, or presenting it or hiding it, or the bad versions we would have been forced to do.”

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“We have five years [before the events in Rogue One],” star Diego Luna said. “If he knew K2 back then there would be no journey to go through.”

“We’re starting him so far away from the person who would know how to — or be motivated to — reprogram an Imperial droid,” Gilroy added.

Gilroy also revealed the show’s master plan includes the debut season covering one year in Andor’s life and the second – and final – season will cover four years. “Our last scene of the show, our 24th episode, will walk the audience directly into Rogue One and directly into the first scene of Rogue One.”

That the audience already knows Andor’s fate in Rogue One isn’t a concern, the writer added.

“We’re all living in a prequel, we’re all gonna die,” he quipped. “You can watch a movie for the third time and even if you just saw it six months before … you’re invested in it if you love it.”

Gilroy also revealed the show’s master plan includes the debut season covering one year in Andor’s life and the second – and final – season will cover four years. “Our last scene of the show, our 24th episode, will walk the audience directly into Rogue One and directly into the first scene of Rogue One.”

The writer also explained why the show would not use the volume LED stage that Disney+’s other Star Wars shows use. The stage is a cost-saving measure that handily inserts real-time backgrounds but can also lend itself to a fuzzy, claustrophobic feeling and some fans online have been celebrating Andor‘s apparent rejection of the technology.

“The technology is extraordinary and it’s going to become a larger and larger force in filmmaking,” he said. “Nobody’s against the volume, the volume is fantastic for the things that it’s for. Our show was just on a massively epic scale and people would be running off the set all the time. Right now, there’s no good way to do both. You have to make a decision to be a volume show or a non-volume show. You can’t jump back and forth. There are some things that we we wish we could have done on volume, they might have been simpler. But our show is huge. We have 211 speaking parts. It just didn’t lend itself to that kind of production.”

Andor is is billed as “a new perspective from the Star Wars galaxy,” that focuses on “Cassian Andor’s journey to discover the difference he can make. The series brings forward the tale of the burgeoning rebellion against the Empire and how people and planets became involved. It’s an era filled with danger, deception and intrigue where Cassian will embark on the path that is destined to turn him into a rebel hero.” The series is set five years before the events in the film Rogue One.

The 12-episode series will launch with a three-episode premiere on Sept. 21.

Executive producers are Kathleen Kennedy, Tony Gilroy, Sanne Wohlenberg, Diego Luna and Michelle Rejwan. Tony Gilroy is also the creator and showrunner.

Watch the trailer below.

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