Star Wars Weekly: Sharpshooter (05/05/25 to 11/05/25)

The end is near for Andor...

Last Tuesday, during the Andor episode, “Who Are You?”, for just the briefest of moments, I found myself thinking about Bill Burr’s character in The Mandalorian.

When we first met Burr, he was introduced to us as a former Imperial sharpshooter. This did not impress Din Djarin, who snidely commented, “That’s not saying much.”

“I wasn’t a stormtrooper, wiseass,” Burr replied, allegedly in character as Miggs Mayfeld.

The reason this moment popped into my mind was because we saw, for the first time, what Mayfeld meant when an Imperial sharpshooter fired the shot to incite the killing.

Andor, for whatever reason, stirs up debates over which Star Wars series is “best,” which inevitably moves quickly from praising one show to tearing down another. It’s understandable; comparing and contrasting things is an impactful way to make a point. But it also misses the point: not everything will land for everyone, and we should let people enjoy what they enjoy. Hype up what we love, sure, but try to avoid spoiling others’ fun by tearing down what they enjoy.

It can be a fine line to walk. I say this as someone who prefers Andor over most other live-action Star Wars shows, and wish more shows would take its approach when it comes to writing and execution. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy The Mandalorian or Ahsoka, or view them as valueless. And I take great joy in seeing the moments, even subtle, small ones like this, where we get reminders that they exist in the same universe and are part of the same story.

Admittedly, I didn’t dwell on this thought for long. Shortly after the Imperial sharpshooter showed up, all hell broke loose and one of the most harrowing sequences in all of Star Wars. But we’ve already talked about that.

With Andor, Star Wars stepped out of its usual comfort zone of telling stories inspired by the serials of the 30s and 40s that inspired George Lucas. Tony Gilroy and his team decided to take a universe based that in part on those pulpy stories and use it to create something prestige. The result has been a joy to watch, even as it bashes us over the head with harrowing moments and devastating character arcs.

They can do this because Andor exists in this era of Star Wars, where there are many different types of stories being told. Instead of a movie every three years followed by a decade or more between trilogies, we’ve had at least one new live-action movie and/or TV show every year since 2015. This opens up the opportunity to tell different types of stories. You can do Andor, a very modern political thriller, AND The Mandalorian, an 80s-inspired action series.

Not everyone will like everything, of course, and reasonable people should be able to disagree about a movie/show without taking away each other’s joy. Plus, it’s fun to have a universe that can do both. Every imaginable genre is at least partially based on someone’s lived experience here on Earth, so surely an entire galaxy’s worth of stories can do more than one genre.

But the stories don’t need to remain separate, secluded in their little genre bubble. Crossovers and connections, as big or small as possible, remind us that these stories share a setting. So even when the tone and types of stories being told feel disparate, these little ties between them bind them. They shouldn’t overshadow the story being told (something Star Wars is guilty of doing from time to time), but each element should stand on its own in its own story.

That is why I liked this Imperial sharpshooter connection. Neither The Mandalorian nor Andor needs the other for these stories to make sense. The sharpshooter inciting the massacre and Mayfeld teaming up with Mando have no bearing on each other. Each worked very well in its story independently of the other. But when we look at The Mandalorian now, and the journey Mayfeld goes on, we have a deeper understanding of why he was so dangerous in the first place, and it adds a new layer to his redemption arc.

It’s the sort of thing that adds to the richness of the galaxy far, far away.

Top Story

Tony Gilroy Reveals Alternate, Unmade K-2SO Introduction

The final moment of last week’s Andor episodes finally showed us a moment fans had wondered about since 2016*: the first meeting between Cassian Andor and K-2SO.

*Yes, I know the comic exists. But it’s a different beast to see it on screen, plus the comic didn’t resonate with audiences the same way Andor or Rogue One did. Anywho…

In the episodes, we saw Cassian pick up the bisected corpse of a KX droid from the Ghorman massacre and bring it back to Yavin. There, rebel technicians reassembled the droid, changing its programming. As they are about to wake up the droid, armed rebel fighters—including Cassian—aim their blasters at the droid.

“If I’ve offended you, I apologize,” the droid says, “if not, I’d appreciate you pointing that elsewhere.” Then, the episode ends.

This, however, was not the original plan for K2’s introduction, according to showrunner Tony Gilroy in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Instead of being tacked on to the end of the Ghorman massacre, the reprogrammed Imperial droid was meant to have an entire episode dedicated to his inception.

“They had to bring this huge, ugly tanker ship to Yavin, and there was a KX unit that was trapped inside there, hunting,” Gilroy said of the original episode, written by his brother Dan and separate from any other arc. “It was sort of like a monster movie with K2 on it. It was really cool.”

The episode would have been the ninth episode of the season, but they had to scrap the idea due to budget constraints. As a result, K2’s introduction was consolidated into the existing Ghorman storyline. While Andor season two was still very expensive to make (almost $300 million), Disney’s shift in focus from streaming back to cinemas for Star Wars did impact the series.

“The whole dynamic and the economics of everything changed between season 1 and season 2,” Gilroy said. He later elaborated that, “By the time we got to season 2, and Bob [Iger] came back, everything had changed and everybody was belt-tightening. It's hard to ask for more money when they're laying people off at Disney […] We made as many concessions as we could, but it was still a huge gamble on their part to keep going and still a huge ask. […] It was lot of tough conversations and a lot of anxiety, but really, in the end, they really backed our play.”

As someone who is not the biggest fan of how K2’s introduction was handled (I’d say it’s one of the few weaker elements of the season of Andor), I appreciate the context for why it is the way that it is. That said, I so wish Tony and Dan Gilroy had been able to make their original concept for his introduction a reality. The episode sounds great and it would have given the beginning of Cassian and K2’s relationship the spotlight it deserved, rather than feeling like an afterthought in a separate story.

In the full interview, Gilroy also gives some context as to why they waited so long to introduce K2 (and why he thinks previous iterations of the show failed). It’s well worth a read. EW also has another story about how the line “Rebellions are built on hope” made its way back into the story, which is very charming. It’s also worth a read.

Headlines

Andor Interview Round Up

With the end in sight for Andor, the cast has been out there doing a final round of interviews before the series finale drops this week. They’ve been on talk shows reflecting on the series, and doing extended sit down interviews looking back on the season so far.

Here are some of the highlights:

• Diego Luna appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show to reflect on saying goodbye to Cassian after playing him for almost ten years. He also talked a little about his experience at Star Wars Celebration Japan.

• Ben Mendelsohn was on Late Night With Seth Meyers to talk about returning as Director Orson Krennic for the final season—and his love of lying to protect the secrets of his projects.

• Benjamin Bratt spoke with Good Morning America about joining Andor as Bail Organa, including what it was like to take over the role from Jimmy Smits.

• Denise Gough sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to discuss Dedra Meero’s relationship with Syril and what motivates her actions in season two.

• Gough was also joined by her co-star Kyle Soller for an interview with the Phase Hero podcast to talk about Andor’s incredible sets and Syril’s arc.

• Verada Sethu spoke with Collider about Cinta’s death and her friendship with her onscreen partner Faye Marsay.

• Elizabeth Dulau spoke with Entertainment Weekly about Kleya’s arc and increased role this season. She was also featured in Vogue Singapore, where she reflected on Kleya’s evolution in season two.

I expect we’ll hear more from the cast and crew next week after the finale, when they are free to discuss all the secrets and spoilers that will be revealed!

Diego Luna & Tony Gilroy To Host Live Q&A Ahead Of Andor Series Finale

The series finale of Andor is very nearly here, but before we see the final steps in Cassian’s journey that will lead him to Rogue One, Lucasfilm is hosting one last livestream with Cassian himself, Diego Luna and series showrunner Tony Gilroy.

The two will be live on the official Star Wars YouTube channel on Tuesday, May 13th at 12 pm ET/9 am PT to look back on the season so far and tee up the highly anticipated finale. They will be joined by several of Luna’s castmates, with Genevieve O'Reilly, Adria Arjona, Kyle Soller, Denise Gough, and Elizabeth Dulau slated to appear.

Before the season began, Gilory took part in a similar event where he was joined remotely by several cast members to look back at big moments from season one and preview the then-upcoming season two. You can watch that (again) above.

Destiny 2: Renegades Trailer Teases Star Wars Crossover

Bungie revealed the first teaser trailer for the upcoming Destiny 2 expansion, “The Edge of Fate,” earlier this week. In the teaser, we got our first look at the Star Wars crossover event that will be a big part of the expansion. The teaser features the classic Star Wars alarm sound effect (You’ll know it when you hear it) and features a character wielding a lightsaber.

Much like last week’s Fortnite/Star Wars crossover, I am totally out of my depth when it comes to discussing video games. Anytime there’s a Star Wars crossover with something, it catches my attention but beyond the teaser I have no idea what to expect from this. That said, I have heard that there’s been some grumbling amongst Destiny 2 fans about this crossover, as some worry that it may compromise the integrity of the game.

The game’s assistant director, Robbie Stevens did offer some reassurances for fans in a Tweet, saying, “Rest assured, Guardians - everything in Renegades is in-canon for the Destiny universe, but we're leaning into the aesthetic, tone and vibe of Star Wars to tell a Destiny story with Destiny characters.”

More details about the Star Wars crossover and the “Edge of Fate” expansion in general will be revealed this September ahead of a December 2025 release.

Hey, Check This Out!

Star Wars: The Complete Canon Timeline (2025) | Star Wars Explained

In what’s become an annual tradition, YouTuber Star Wars Explained has posted a video covering the entire canon timeline of the Star Wars galaxy. The video is almost two hours long and covers all facets of the current canon, including the movies, TV shows (live action and animated), video games, books, comics, and beyond.

It’s an incredible accomplishment. Alex and Mollie Damon, the duo behind Star Wars Explained, deserve massive kudos for the massive amount of work that surely went into the creation of the video. It’s always fun to compare the new version of the Complete Timeline video to the previous years to see how the new stories impact the timeline, and where the focus has shifted in the last twelve months.

From The Archives

Star Wars: The Arcade Game Was Released May 5th, 1983

One of the very first Star Wars video games was released this week, forty-two years ago. Star Wars: The Arcade Game was a flight simulator, where players played through three phases that recreated the Battle of Yavin (aka the Death Star assault) from A New Hope. The first-person rail shooter used 3D colour vector graphics to simulate the battle.

The game featured audio samples from the film, including lines from Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Han Solo. A standard stand-up version of the game and a more intricate sit-down iteration. The game would be made available for home play on various Atari consoles and personal computers in 1983 and 1984.

The high score on Star Wars: The Arcade Game was set in 1984 by Robert Mruczek, who scored 300 million points during 49 hours of gameplay. In 2005, Brandon Erickson set the record for longest play on a single token, playing the game for 54 hours (but “only” scoring 283 million points).

In Other News

George Lucas and Mellody Hobson at the Met Gala

When you think of fashion, of course, one of the first names that comes to mind is George Lucas, right? Right?

The Star Wars creator made an appearance, alongside his wife, Mellody Hobson, at the Met Gala last week. Though he didn’t go all out the way other stars in attendance did when it comes to his outfit, he did ditch his usual flannel shirt in favour of a suit. He did, however, skip the dress shoes in favour of a $60 pair of Nikes. Never change, George!

You have to wonder how Padme Amidala would have handled the Met Gala.

Podcast Corner

I finally made my full return to the Star Wars Underworld Podcast, joining my co-hosts Ben Hart and Hannah Raeside (also making her return to the show) to break down Episodes 7-9 of Andor. We were joined by our pal Tom Chansky, and Chris made a late appearance to round out the show. It was good to be back!

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or watch above on YouTube!

And, with the Toronto Maple Leafs continuing their push for the Stanley Cup, we’ve been having lots of fun on Game Over Toronto! I was on for the breakdown of Game One of their second-round series against the Florida Panthers. It was a great conversation!

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or watch below on YouTube!

Coming Soon

Always in motion is the future, but here’s a look ahead at what we can expect in Star Wars over the next seven days:

• The final three episodes of Andor will be released on May 12th.

• Also on May 12th, the script for the High Republic audio drama, Tempest Breaker by Cavan Scott, will be released.

• And, hitting shelves on May 13th is Jedi Knights #3 by Marc Guggenheim.

Rebellions are built on Hope.