‘Andor’ season 2 resurrects more ‘Rogue One’ legends and hints that it could one-up ‘The Marvels’

Andor is blowing things up in Season 2, literally and figuratively. Based on what we’ve seen so far from the Season 2 trailer, the critically acclaimed (and they want you to know it) Star Wars series on Disney+ is returning with recognizable characters, big fight sequences, and a space ball?!

The first season of this show was surprisingly thoughtful, with characters monologuing about oppression every minute. So why does Season 2 seem kinda fun? Not that I’m necessarily complaining. We need to see a little action in these dark IRL times, and it is definitely the same show.

With a bouncing 00s soundtrack and a clear revolutionary message, the trailer reveals a lot of returning characters from Andor Season 1 including: Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona), Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård), Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), Brasso (Joplin Sibtain), Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), Syril Karn’s mother (Kathryn Hunter). Genovieve O’Reilly returns as Mon Mothma, a role she first played in a Revenge of the Sith deleted scene.

Missing are space sapphic power couple Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay) and Cinta Kaz (Varada Sethu), though they are supposed to be in this season. There are some new, as yet unidentified, faces as well.

Our first (new) look at Krennic & K-2SO since Rogue One.

The second season of the series should take us right to the beginning of Rogue One. So it’s not too surprising that more of the characters from the film will start to pop up in Cassian Andor’s orbit. Forest Whitaker reprises his role as Saw Guererra the radical rebel he played in Rogue One and Andor Season 1.

The character first appeared in The Clone Wars voiced by Andrew Kishino, but has been voiced by Whitaker since. Based on the amount of grey hairs in his beard at two different points in the trailer, it looks like one of the scenes may be a flashback. Another member of the Rogue One squad who showed up in Season 1 on the infamous Narkina 5, Melshi (Duncan Pow), can be spotted in the trailer briefly.

Two other Rogue One characters, Cassian’s sarcastic droid K-2SO, voiced by Alan Tudyk, and the dashingly evil Director Orson Krennic, played by Ben Mendelsohn, also appear to be joining the party in Season 2. According to Krennic in the trailer, “what a swell party it is.” These were both fun characters in Rogue One. It’ll be great to see how Cassian and K-2SO link up, and to see Krennic interact with characters like Dedra, Syril, and Mon Mothma. Speaking of the Senator from Chandrila…

Why is there a choreographed dance in my Star Wars?

Mon Mothma should be at the club! Instead, she’s at a formal event with a rollicking dance floor. This is the stuff that dreams are made of… except that I never in a million years would have guessed that the sad lady who shows up for two seconds to talk about many dead Bothans in Return of the Jedi would become one of my favorite Star Wars characters.

In the first season, Mon walked a tight rope informing for the still growing Rebel Alliance from inside the establishment. Her behavior at this party might be a total meltdown; or it might be her last hurrah before she puts this lavish life behind her for good. This social gathering could also be her conservative daughter’s arranged wedding, which is sure to stir up some complicated feelings.

Not only is the Senator kicking up her heels in her finest regalia, but the scene itself looks like it could become a song-and-dance number at any moment. What is this, the iconic singing planet from The Marvels? Sorry to say that there probably won’t be any K-drama stars playing princes in Andor Season 2. Realistically, this looks to be more like Pride and Prejudice than Singing in the Rain. (It might end up reminding fans of that one episode of Firefly.) Still, it’s delightful to see dancing in Star Wars–especially a Star Wars as dark and serious as Andor.

Here’s everything else we noticed in the Andor Season 2 trailer:

• Some four-legged aliens on leashes I need to know more about.
• A wheat planet. Do they have a brewery?
• Cassian stealing and piloting a TIE fighter. Perhaps this is how K-2SO comes in?
• So many good coats, jackets, ponchos, and capes. Star Wars is nothing if not a showcase for outerwear, and Andor has some of the best.
• The base on Yavin 4 that’s integral to Star Wars: A New Hope. It’s also the birth place of Poe Dameron, NBD, though that won’t happen for a few very important years in Star Wars history. (Shara Bey hive, however, rise up.)
• Cassian wearing his Rogue One costume, a.k.a. the last outfit he will ever wear – noooooooooo!!

What did we miss? What are you looking forward to in Andor Season 2? Which London theatre actors have been cast in small roles that have yet to be announced or revealed? Who will deliver the monologue that you and all your friends will post to your Instagram stories in times of crisis? (Miss you every day, Alex Lawther!)

Andor is finally back, right when we need it most, and not a moment sooner.