Tony Gilroy And Diego Luna Explain The Absence of K-2S0 In 'Andor'
Star Wars: Andor promises to be an exciting show with the return of several fan-favourite characters. Well, except maybe one.
K-2S0, the witty repurposed Imperial Security Droid voiced by Alan Tudyk from Rogue One, has notably been absent from any of the previews and trailers, and there’s a reason for that.
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Tony Gilroy, the showrunner for the new Disney+ show and the writer for Rogue One, addressed the absence of K2 in the first season at the Television Critics Association conference. “It’s a story we are eager to tell. It’s difficult to carry an Imperial droid around with you and not draw all kinds of attention…When we do it, we’ll do it in a spectacular fashion as opposed to presenting it and ignoring it, or presenting it or hiding it, or the bad versions we would have been forced to do.” (Hollywood Reporter, 2022) The show’s star, Diego Luna, chimed in that it’s a five-year journey, and if K2 was around since the beginning it would diminish the journey the two of them went through to get where they are when we see them in Rogue One.
It fits in with their approach to the show, since the first season will be approximately a year in the Star Wars timeline, and the second season will consist of four three-episode arcs, each covering a year, leading up to the beginning of Rogue One. The series is meant to follow Andor’s journey five years before the start of Rogue One, so there is plenty of time for the friendship between K2 and Andor to start and flourish. As Gilroy said, “We’re starting him so far away from the person who would know how to — or be motivated to — reprogram an Imperial droid.” (Hollywood Reporter, 2022)
It will also be interesting to see how they incorporate K2 into the story from a technical perspective. Gilroy went on to explain they will not be using the incredible technology of the Volume that rose to fame for its use in The Mandalorian, claiming that the show is just too epic. With all the movement of the characters, it’s just not there to be able to do both the Volume and all the scenes they had filmed. Going more hands-on and practical with the scenes, it would be interesting to see if they build an actual, working K2 droid for when he makes his appearance. In Rogue One, Alan Tudyk donned a special suit and stilts for the visual effects crew to turn into the droid on screen. A practical, working K2 droid would be an incredible feat to pull off.
Season one of Andor debuts September 21 with the first three episodes on Disney+.
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Source(s): Hollywood Reporter, YouTube