Dan Gilroy

Dan Gilroy: How Palpatine Might’ve Snuck into Andor if It Had Spanned Five Seasons

Moody poster-style artwork inspired by Andor, showing Coruscant’s skyline with a shadowy Imperial presence hinting at Emperor Palpatine.

One of the most compelling Star Wars spin-offs, Andor, concluded after two seasons—but it almost had a much different story arc. A Famous Emperor That Could Have Appeared According to writer Dan Gilroy (yes, Tony Gilroy’s brother), if Andor had gone the distance as originally planned, it likely would’ve brought Emperor Palpatine into the narrative. The show was initially envisioned as a five-season saga charting Cassian Andor’s rise and the Empire’s growing dominance. Even though Palpatine was frequently mentioned, his physical presence was always beyond reach—until now, at least in concept. Tony Gilroy previously confirmed Darth Vader was never a narrative priority. He felt that writing Vader was creatively restrictive—Palpatine, perhaps less so, but still a weighty figure to introduce. Why Andor Ended Early Andor wrapped up with a dramatic second season because the scale of production became unsustainable—both logistically and financially. Instead of traversing five chronological seasons, the team…

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