By George & Josh Bate
Tony and Dan Gilroy are making a range of media appearances as Andor gears up for Emmys night on September 14. In a recent episode of the Script Apart podcast, Dan Gilroy revealed that, had the series ran for five seasons as initially intended, Emperor Palpatine would have featured.
Here’s what Dan Gilroy said….
“I mean, I can’t imagine over five years we wouldn’t have shown the Emperor at that point. I think we would have gotten closer to [Palpatine’s] world. I think we would have gone — we’re really getting a good sense of opposition forces here, but let’s go deeper into the power at the moment, the halls of power. I think we would have gone deeper into the halls of power and explored that. That would have been the natural way to go, I think, the progression of it.”
Based on Gilroy’s quote, it seems that Palpatine’s inclusion would have been more substantial than a mere cameo appearance. Given Andor‘s focus on the inner-workings of the Empire, there likely would have been a peak behind the curtain at how Palpatine controlled the Empire. Just imagine Ian McDiarmid delivering dialogue written by the Gilroys, Beau Willimon, and company. How incredible would that have been?
When the plan for Andor adjusted from five seasons to two, it seems that one of the pieces that got left behind was old Sheev. Previously, Tony Gilroy spoke about his distain for cameo appearances in his explanation for why the likes of Darth Vader and Jyn Erso didn’t appear in the show. But Palpatine would have been interesting. The Emperor’s presence looms large over Andor and he’s name-dropped on a number of occasions. However, perhaps there’s something more frightening about the hidden villain we don’t see operating from the background.
If Palpatine had ended up in Andor, he would have likely been played by Ian McDiarmid. The Scottish actor is no stranger to cameo appearances as the Emperor, having playing a small part in the finale of Obi-Wan Kenobi in 2022. That marked his last live-action appearance as the character, although he has voiced the character in episodes of Tales of the Jedi and The Bad Batch since.
Regardless of Palpatine’s inclusion, Andor still reigns supreme over most shows in television history. Months after it released, the Star Wars series still generates so much conversation, especially as the parallels to our real world political landscape grow ever more apparent. Fingers crossed Andor sweeps at the Emmys in September.