Star Wars: Andor showrunner discusses the canceled K-2SO "horror movie" origin episode.

      Alan Tudyk's beloved droid K-2SO made his long-awaited appearance in Andor this past week during the penultimate storyline of Lucasfilm's acclaimed Disney+ series. His first meeting with Diego Luna's Cassian Andor takes place amid the massacre on Ghorman, nearly resulting in the demise of the rebel spy.

      The episodes concluded with the Imperial security droid being rebooted at the Rebel base on Yavin 4 after being reprogrammed into the K-2SO character we came to admire in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. However, showrunner Tony Gilroy disclosed that the initial concept for K-2SO’s origin and introduction into the series was intended to be a horror-themed standalone episode written by his brother Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler).

      “Dan Gilroy crafted an incredible, entirely self-contained episode for episode 209,” Tony Gilroy shared with EW. “It was an outstanding episode that resembled a horror film. It told the K2 story, where they had to bring a massive, ugly tanker ship to Yavin, containing a KX unit that was trapped inside and hunting. It felt somewhat like a monster movie featuring K2. It was really intriguing.”

      Ultimately, however, Disney's budget constraints in the aftermath of the pandemic led to the abandonment of this plan, with Gilroy remarking, “We couldn’t afford to do it. It became clear that it was beyond our budget, so we had to let it go and streamline our approach. The entire dynamic and economics shifted between season 1 and season 2.”

      This week, we will witness K-2SO reuniting with Cassian as Gilroy wraps up the Rogue One prequel with the concluding episodes of Andor's second and final season.

      Season 2 of Star Wars: Andor features Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Genevieve O’Reilly, Denise Gough, Kyle Soller, Adria Arjona, Faye Marsay, Varada Sethu, Elizabeth Dulau, Ben Miles, Duncan Pow, Richard Dillane, Alistair Petrie, Alan Tudyk, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, and Benjamin Bratt.

      Star Wars: Andor is available for streaming on Disney+.