As many dialed-in fans on social media know, season two of “Andor” has finished shooting. Both Diego Luna and Adria Arjona, stars of the Lucasfilm series, recently posted on Instagram, saying goodbye to their respective roles and confirming that production on the second season of the “Star Wars” spin-off prequel had finished.
READ MORE: Tony Gilroy Discusses Taking ‘Star Wars’ Seriously, The Original 5-Year-Plan, & Where ‘Andor’ Is All Headed [The Rogue Ones Podcast Interview]
A prequel series to “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Andor” comes from writer/director Tony Gilroy, who wrote and directed the expansive reshoots of ‘Rogue One.’ “Andor” has already included at least one major ‘Rogue One’ character other than Andor, Forest Whitaker Saw Guerra, an extremist fighter who is so radical that he eventually breaks ties with the Rebellion.
At the end of season one, “Andor”—spoilers that haven’t seen it—reveals that the prison that Diego Luna’s character was jailed in was building parts for the Death Star. The construction of the Death Star is a major plot point of “Rogue One,” and the thinking was: given how instrumental Ben Mendelsohn’s Orson Krennic character was in “Rogue One”—he’s already cameoed in a voice role for the animated “Bad Batch” series—he would likely turn up in season two of “Andor.”
But doing press for the new Apple series, “The New Look,” Mendelsohn has seemingly poured cold water on that series and said he hasn’t been contacted for any live-action Krennic appearances.
“As for being contacted by Lucasfilm for a new project, I can tell you that no, I have not been approached for something like this,” he told Bad Taste in Italy this week.” And yes, it would be great to see him again somewhere, but for now, everything stops here. But as far as I’m concerned, I would be very willing to explore it further and significantly in that world. I never expected to play a character like that, but then again, I never expected to become an actor, either. For me, they are all wonderful things.”
“I think Krennic has a tremendous amount of things left to give to the audience,” he continued. “What you need to understand about a character like Krennic is that, if he had the chance, he would have tried to take over the entire game, and it seems to me that this aspect has not yet been explored sufficiently. “
“Maybe they’ll just do a Krennic backstory,” Mendelsohn suggested in a separate interview with Collider this week. “But they’ll have to shoot it quick or use a lot of CGI, you know? Krennic the Younger or something, and then they’ll get someone cheaper to play it, I’m sure. I could be there as an advisor to help the younger actor out and just go, “Mate… Mate. Mate!” You know?”
Gilroy, in the past, has said that “Andor” ends right as “Rogue One” the film begins, suggesting a lot of interconnectivity and crossover between the series and the movie. And the writer/director had hinted that more ‘Rogue One’ characters could appear. But given Mendelsohn’s comments, unless he’s lying, it seems like Imperial Director Krennic won’t be one of them.