Fans of the franchise Stars Wars were shocked to hear the news today on the hit Disney+ series Andor. Ahead of the second season premiere, Andor creator Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Legacy, Night Crawler) revealed how they originally planned a five-season series. In an article from Comicbook, Gilroy discussed why he ultimately decided to condense the story into only two seasons. 

The show was originally set to have a five-season storyline highlighting the character Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Book Of Life). With such a dramatic change brought speculation about whether the decision was made by the network or creators. Comicbook also shared that the decrease in seasons came down to practicality. The show began its filming during the pandemic, which brought on challenges in the production process.This ultimately led to budget cuts and the change of season numbers. Due to less time for story-telling, creators decided to focus on a certain storyline and time jumps to explain the remainder of Cassian’s tales set before the film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Gilroy also shared what the season is going to look like for viewers in an exclusive interview with SFX. “We were halfway through shooting season 1, coming through Covid, and the monumental size of the show, the effort, and everything else was just dawning on us.” 

Despite the disappointing news, writers were able to figure out the storyline and produce the show. Gilroy also shared what the season is going to look like for viewers. “It’s a fascinating experiment, and I don’t know if anyone’s ever done it before, we’re going to jump a year between each block, and we’re going to use that negative space in a really interesting way, coming back for three days at a time, so it’s like a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.” 

As fans wait for the season two premiere on April 22nd, catch up on season one that is available to stream on Disney+.