Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy teases season 2 of the Star Wars show: "It's a really cool storytelling opportunity"

Andor will return. Long before the first season of the Star Wars: Rogue One spin-off had even premiered, a second installment – also consisting of 12 episodes – was confirmed. While season 1 is set to span a year in the life of Diego Luna's titular Cassian, season 2 will cover the following four years, taking us directly into Rogue One. Total Film sat down with showrunner Tony Gilroy to talk all things Andor – and he opened up on how season 2 will be different to the first. 

"What's cool is that we'll be introducing new characters in the second half, but there's 25, 30 characters of import that we're carrying forward from one to the next," he reveals. "You already know them, you already know a lot about them."

New characters aren't the only shake-up, either. By the time we reach season 2, Cassian will have undergone a change himself. "Also, Cassian Andor, at the end of 12 episodes, has finally had some sort of an education," Gilroy says. "It takes a long time for him to make a commitment to the Rebellion, but he's kind of there. And so in the second part, we can explore a bunch of different things and time becomes our friend, then."

As Gilroy explains, playing with the timeline not only opened up new possibilities, but also allows for the veteran writer to do something experimental. "We're going to do three episodes and jump a year, and three episodes and jump – we're going to do four years in 12 episodes," he says. "And I don't know, maybe someone's had a chance to do that before. I can't think of a comparison. But from a storytelling point of view, it's like being allowed to paint with a new color or something. It's a really cool storytelling opportunity after a long time of telling stories. I've never had the chance to do this before."

Andor drops a new episode on Disney Plus every Wednesday, beginning this September 21. In the meantime, you can get up to speed on the galaxy's goings on with our guide to the Star Wars timeline, and see more from our interviews with Gilroy and the Andor cast, as well as Gilroy on episode 1's shocking opening scene, and Fiona Shaw on her character Maarva.