The first season of Star Wars: Andor came out on Disney+ in 2022, and surprised everyone with how rich, subtle and powerful it was. There are no lightsabers or Jedi in this show, just normal people trying to resist the newly triumphant Empire in whatever way they can, which usually means scheming, subterfuge and sabotage. Words like "mature" and "dark" get thrown around a lot when discussing TV, but Andor really did feel like a darker, more mature take on Star Wars, not something I was initially expecting from a prequel to the movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The show had things to say about oppression, about the banality of evil, about the horror of prisons, and it did it without resorting to cheesy action scenes or syrupy speeches. It was just really good.
Stellan Skarsgård, who plays the rebel spymaster Luthen Rael, teased what to expect in the second and final season while speaking with GamesRadar. "It's the last season of it. It ends where Rogue One starts so it’s up to that point," he said. "I think it will be very good as already the first one was satisfying for me because it’s sort of Star Wars for grown-ups – it’s a more realistic and complicated society that they’re living in and the claustrophobia of the fascist regime is palpable. I think we have a good season ahead of us."
He also gave an update on a potential release date. "It will probably be out towards the end of the year or early next," Skarsgård said. Originally, we thought Andor season 2 would come out this year, but Disney hasn't been touting it as one of their big releases for 2024, so it's very possible Skarsgård is right about it slipping into next. There are two other live-action Star Wars shows coming out this year — The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew. Given that Disney is now trying to space its big franchise releases out a bit more, I'd bet on a 2025 release for Andor season 2.
The Mandalorian & Grogu will be the first Star Wars movie shot in California
Besides Andor, the other Star Wars show that's really struck a chord is The Mandalorian, which stars Pedro Pascal as a bounty hunter protecting and training the adorable Baby Yoda, otherwise known as Grogu. For good or ill, Disney is making a Mandalorian & Grogu movie, which Deadline reports will be the first Star Wars film shot in California.
The Mandalorian & Grogu is sticking around Hollywood because of nearly $22 million in conditional tax credits. Believe it or not; that's not the highest number of tax credits a movie has gotten for choosing to shoot in the Golden State — that would be the Transformers spinoff Bumblebee, which received $22.4 million in credits — but it's still a whole lot. The government of California is currently trying to tighten its belt, but the tax incentive programs have been left largely intact because of how many jobs they provide to people in the entertainment industry.
The second season of Star Wars: Andor won't be out for a while, but you can see Stellan Skarsgård this weekend as the vile Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in Dune: Part Two. As for Pedro Pascal, where can't you see him? He just won an award for his work on The Last of Us, he'll star in Gladiator 2 later this year, and he was just cast as Mister Fantastic in Marvel's Fantastic Four movie.
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