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ANDOR Creator Explains Why Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine Don't Show Up in Season 2
If you’ve been holding out hope for Darth Vader or Emperor Palpatine to appear in Andor Season 2, it’s time to let that dream go. Series creator Tony Gilroy recently sat down with Rolling Stone and made it clear that neither Sith Lord is showing up.When talking about Vader first, Gilroy explained, it was never in his plan to include him:"No, that was never on my agenda. Writing for Darth Vader is really limiting. I’ve done it. He doesn’t have a lot to say."Vader’s intimidating presence might have been a showstopper in Rogue One, the film Gilroy helped develop, but for Andor, he sees it as more of a creative cage. And when it came to Palpatine, he said:"He was too big a piece of meat for me to introduce. It was too heavy a lift. I thought about it at one point, but it was too heavy a lift."Even in a galaxy full of massive characters, Palpatine apparently carries too much narrative weight. Gilroy clearly knew he wanted Andor to stay grounded in the experiences of the everyday citizens and mid-level figures tangled up in the Empire's web. Adding in a character like Palpatine would’ve shifted the gravity of the entire story.One of the things that’s made Andor stand out is how refreshingly it steers clear of nostalgia overload. No forced cameos, no mandatory character checklists. Gilroy confirmed that Disney and Lucasfilm didn’t hand him a list of "must-use" characters either, giving him and his team the freedom to build something new within the familiar world. Of course, when you think of Vader, it’s not hard to think back to Rogue One, and his brutal hallway massacre that left fans speechless. With nine episodes still to go in Season 2, Gilroy could have easily dodged the question or teased fans with some "never say never" ambiguity. Instead, he set expectations early, and that’s probably for the best. Now we can all sit back and stay locked into the story that Andor has been building so meticulously without waiting for these characters to show up.
If you’ve been holding out hope for Darth Vader or Emperor Palpatine to appear in Andor Season 2, it’s time to let that dream go. Series creator Tony Gilroy recently sat down with Rolling Stone and made it clear that neither Sith Lord is showing up.
When talking about Vader first, Gilroy explained, it was never in his plan to include him:
"No, that was never on my agenda. Writing for Darth Vader is really limiting. I’ve done it. He doesn’t have a lot to say."
Vader’s intimidating presence might have been a showstopper in Rogue One, the film Gilroy helped develop, but for Andor, he sees it as more of a creative cage. And when it came to Palpatine, he said:
"He was too big a piece of meat for me to introduce. It was too heavy a lift. I thought about it at one point, but it was too heavy a lift."
Even in a galaxy full of massive characters, Palpatine apparently carries too much narrative weight. Gilroy clearly knew he wanted Andor to stay grounded in the experiences of the everyday citizens and mid-level figures tangled up in the Empire's web. Adding in a character like Palpatine would’ve shifted the gravity of the entire story.
One of the things that’s made Andor stand out is how refreshingly it steers clear of nostalgia overload. No forced cameos, no mandatory character checklists. Gilroy confirmed that Disney and Lucasfilm didn’t hand him a list of "must-use" characters either, giving him and his team the freedom to build something new within the familiar world.
Of course, when you think of Vader, it’s not hard to think back to Rogue One, and his brutal hallway massacre that left fans speechless.
With nine episodes still to go in Season 2, Gilroy could have easily dodged the question or teased fans with some "never say never" ambiguity. Instead, he set expectations early, and that’s probably for the best. Now we can all sit back and stay locked into the story that Andor has been building so meticulously without waiting for these characters to show up.
