“Star Wars” could be looking forward to the subsequent main cinematic occasion on the horizon, however a few of us nonetheless have not left the final space-bound journey that captivated us all on the small display. It is solely been just a few months since “Andor” season 2, arguably the high-water mark of the complete franchise, introduced the acclaimed collection to an epic and grand conclusion. Some followers could have assumed that there was nothing left to be taught and no stones left to be uncovered by now. Fortunately, these followers could be flawed. Like, “Dedra Meero discovering herself on the new seat and getting jabbed by Director Orson Krennic’s finger”-levels of flawed. Let’s simply say that, in an alternate universe, these trying ahead to an Emperor Palpatine cameo in “Andor” would’ve discovered themselves very happy.
We all know that “Andor” had initially been conceived as a collection meant to span 5 full seasons, however what we did not understand was precisely how a lot storytelling potential fell by the wayside as soon as creator Tony Gilroy and his artistic staff readjusted their strategy. In a latest episode of the Script Aside podcast (by way of Complete Movie), Gilroy’s brother and author Dan Gilroy joined as a visitor to speak all issues “Andor.” Naturally, the dialog turned in direction of what the Gilroy brothers would’ve finished had their preliminary plans for a five-year present truly panned out. In keeping with Dan, this might’ve resulted in one of many largest villainous cameos of any “Star Wars” manufacturing but:
“What else would we now have explored? Oh my god, the place would we now have gone? I imply, I am unable to think about over 5 years we would not have proven the Emperor at that time. I believe we might have gotten nearer to that world. I believe we might have gone — we’re actually getting a great sense of opposition forces right here, however let’s go deeper into the facility in the mean time, the halls of energy. I believe we might have gone deeper into the halls of energy and explored that. That might have been the pure approach to go, I believe, the development of it.”
Andor in all probability would’ve introduced in Emperor Palpatine, however would which were as efficient?
Some of the gratifying thought experiments whereas watching “Andor” was imagining what different characters within the huge canon of the franchise have been as much as at that actual second. Jar Jar Binks, as an illustration, may’ve been prancing round someplace on Coruscant throughout all these sequences involving Senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) assembly in secret with Insurgent mastermind Luthen Raal (Stellan Skarsgård). It is hilarious to think about the esteemed prepare dinner and Jedi ally Dexter Jettster doing his factor in that Nineteen Fifties diner from “Assault of the Clones,” too. However all through the collection (and particularly in season 2), one character was name-dropped and alluded to greater than another unseen presence: Ian McDiarmid’s Emperor Palpatine.
That proved to be one of the crucial efficient selections in the complete season, giving the authoritarian despot an added enhance in mystique by merely exhibiting us the reactions he provokes in different, extra grounded figures. He was the one pulling the strings on the Dying Star “vitality venture,” the fascistic enhance in “safety” galaxy-wide following the Insurgent heist on Aldhani in season 1, and the one finally answerable for the Ghorman Bloodbath. Many viewers had hopes of an precise look by the large unhealthy in direction of the later levels of the second season, particularly when a lot of the motion on Coruscant was set in the exact same Senate chamber the place a sure green-colored Jedi and the newly-unveiled Darth Sidious duked it out in a battle royale for the ages in “Revenge of the Sith.”
However would an precise cameo within the flesh have undercut all of that cautious bricklaying? I am of two minds on this: On one hand, I respect the extent of restraint to keep away from the fan-service pandering that has stricken so many different “Star Wars” tales as of late; however, are you able to think about the extent of scenery-chewing McDiarmid may’ve finished with a Tony Gilroy script and the regular path of, properly, actually any of the filmmakers concerned within the present? It will at all times be an interesting what-if state of affairs, however I, for one, am content material with the model of “Andor” we obtained.
Each seasons of “Andor” are presently streaming on Disney+.
