With Obi-Wan Kenobi just around the corner bringing the long-awaited return of fan favorites Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christiansen, Star Wars fans have plenty to be excited about. They shouldn't forget, though, that there's another adventure brewing in a galaxy far, far away. Andor, which will detail the origins and adventures of Diego Luna's titular rebel, Cassian Andor, is on the horizon as well.
The show, set in the early days of a brewing rebellion against the Galactic Empire, is sure to bring plenty of unique stories of spies and soldiers. The project will star Diego Luna as the titular Andor alongside returning Star Wars cast members such as Genevieve O'Reilly as Mon Mothma and Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera in addition to newcomers like Stellan Skarsgård and Adria Arjona. Lucasfilm has been developing Andor since 2017 and its first season is seemingly releasing later this year.
Disney and Lucasfilm certainly seem confident in the series, with a second season already confirmed. Some new details have emerged about the upcoming production.
When Does Star Wars: Andor Season 2 Start Filming?
According to Making Star Wars, Lucasfilm is returning to a familiar location in England's Elstree Studios to begin production on the second season of Andor, which is expected to begin filming in November 2022.
Of particular interest though is that the studio seems to be devoting "18 months for this production."
Another Star Wars Project at Elstree?
As noted above, 18 months is a very long time to be filming a project, even with the increasingly high production values of Disney+ shows. That being the case, what exactly is Lucasfilm up to with all this time?
While it certainly is possible that they really do intend to pour that much time into the second season of Andor, that's far from the most likely option. This is a very long time to be devoted to filming a project, and one season of a Disney+ show shouldn't take anywhere near that long.
If Lucasfilm really is confident in Diego Luna's ability to turn Cassian Andor into a household name, there's a solid chance that they're filming back-to-back seasons in order to keep the content pipeline flowing. As seen with the slew of slated MCU projects, Disney seems to like to keep a well-stocked arsenal of programs to deploy throughout the year to maintain subscribers of all fanbases. The extra production time could very well be for shooting a potential third season of Andor.
There's also the chance that the remaining time is for another project entirely. Elstree Studios is no stranger to Star Wars, with A New Hope, The Empire Strike Back, and Return of the Jedi all having been filmed there. While The Acolyte is already set to film in October, the Rogue Squadron film is still on the docket, and the remaining production time at this familiar Star Wars location could be set aside for that project.
Only time will tell what Disney and Lucasfilm have in store. For now, Star Wars fans can eagerly await Obi-Wan Kenobi's debut on May 27 with the first season of Andor igniting the flames of rebellion later this year.
