‘Secret Invasion’ Proves We Need Ben Mendelsohn in Season 2 of ‘Andor’

We’ve got Ben Mendelsohn back for one Disney franchise. Now, how about a second?

It’s excellent to see him in Secret Invasion reprising the role of Talos, a character he first portrayed in 2019’s Captain Marvel. That said, we’re already thinking ahead to next year and to the conclusion of a Star Wars triumph: Andor. The show’s second season is set to air during the second half of 2024, and seeing Mendelsohn in a Disney property has reminded us just how much we miss him in a galaxy far, far away. Here’s why we’re hoping he again dons that white cape—and why we think it might happen.

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How Could Ben Mendelsohn Return to ‘Star Wars?’

Two words: Death Star. At the end of Season 1, we glimpsed the Death Star’s construction as a post-credits scene revealed Cassian (Diego Luna) and his fellow prisoners on Narkina 5 were building pieces of the Alderaan-incinerating space station’s laser. With Season 2 set to involve the Empire’s deadliest weapon in an even greater capacity, it seems reasonable that the man leading the top-secret project might make an appearance. Enter Director Orson Krennic.

If you’re familiar with Rogue One, you know that Krennic doesn’t survive to see his precious Death Star destroy Princess Leia’s (Carrie Fisher) home planet. He also wasn’t aboard when it got blown up by Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) — Krennic was already dead by then. But while he does wind up vaporized on Scarif at the conclusion of Rogue One’s third act, at the risk of stating the obvious, Andor is a Rogue prequel. (You might also remember that Cassian dies at the film’s end.) Because the 12-episode Season 2 will cover a period of four years and conclude where Rogue begins, there’s plenty of time for the Director to smirk and schmooze his way into one of Andor’s central storylines.

Disney+/Lucasfilm

What Could Krennic Do in Season 2?

We’re not totally sure how Krennic might enter the conflict with the rebels, but we could easily imagine him striding down the Imperial Security Bureau’s sterile, imposing corridors. While the Death Star’s existence was kept need-to-know and extremely hush-hush even within the Empire as it was being built, it’s possible that some ISB personnel had knowledge of it—after all, the Death Star had to be built in someone’s sector.

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With that in mind, it’s possible Krennic will enter the fray because of supply chain disruptions resulting from rebellious activity. His foremost priority is the timely completion of the Death Star project, and he views anything that threatens that goal as a threat to him. Krennic might go to the ISB for information about the Narkina 5 prison escape—since we know Imperial prisons doubled as parts manufacturers—or in response to some other danger that might slow construction down. We’d bet serious credits that would lead him to cross paths with Supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), whose sheer, sneering ambition might land her on Krennic’s radar, or Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), who’ll likely be helping (and continuing to obsess over) Dedra as she hunts down rebels in Season 2.

Unfortunately, Mendelsohn’s return is far from confirmed. As is the nature with all things Star Wars, no one’s saying for sure whether Krennic will appear—but Mendelsohn did reprise the role recently to voice the character in The Bad Batch, so it seems he’s open to a return. We’re crossing our fingers that he shows up, at least for an episode or two; after all, the Death Star is his achievement.

Andor Season 2, 2024, Disney+