Latest news with #Yavin
Gizmodo
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
This VFX Breakdown for ‘Andor' Season 2 Showcases the Power of Practical Locations
Viewing this reel of Scanline VFX's work on Andor season 2's most iconic sets makes us want to watch the show all over again. The digital effects breakdown from the post-production house showcases that VFX and practical effects orchestrated in balance are what made Tony Gilroy's take on the Star Wars universe so cinematic. The reel displays the exceptional work that went into making places like Coruscant, Mina Rau, and Yavin look so richly alive. Through the use of real locations, environments, and scenery, the next-level post-production magic seamlessly disappears into every single frame. There's no obvious LED volume used like on the other Star Wars shows, including The Mandalorian universe, and it shows. Seeing how it's all layered together is that good sort of dopamine process content that is such a joy to watch. Notice how real fields of grain were used with the silos composited in; you can hardly tell. The VFX industry is one that, while mired with rush jobs and artists not being given their due with proper time, really shines when the value is placed on the artists behind the screen. When we get wins like this in such a huge franchise, it shows that's how it should be. The Coruscant hospital was a major part of the breakdown, and how they scaled it up to be a high-rise from a backlot set is absolutely astounding. Time and time again, supporting the entertainment industry's VFX creatives produces the best art over digital environments, bar none. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Gizmodo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
They Just Gave Kleya a Goddamn Gun
Sometimes a blaster is just a blaster, but often in 'Star Wars,' it says something about its wielder. There's a scene in the ninth episode of Andor's second season where Vel Sartha, inspecting a table full of requisitioned weaponry at the Rebellion's Yavin base, picks up a blaster and asks whose it is. Except, that's not what she asks, raising the pistol into the air in front of a crowd of new recruits. What she actually says is 'Who belongs to this?' I was thinking a lot about that line an episode later, when, as she infiltrates a hospital in a desperate attempt to end the life of the man who saved hers as a child, Kleya Marki, one of Andor's standout characters, slips a tiny blaster with one hell of a kick out of her purloined nurse's scrubs and calmly executes an ISB tactical officer. And then does it again. And again. It's the climactic, tense moment of an episode that builds up to this singular moment of emotional and dramatic release as she tearfully turns off Luthen's life support. In many ways, Kleya's whole life, one torn apart by the Empire, and rebuilt out of her hatred of it, is leading to this moment, and this moment of infiltration and execution is just the final flourish. The scene is incredible beyond the slickness of Kleya's mission, but in the week since Andor came to an end I find myself drawn back to that blaster. Or really, it's just a gun. Not in the way that those terms are particularly a differentiator, in Star Wars the former is far more common, but they are interchangeable. Star Wars is famous for having many of its most iconic blasters have origins in real-world weaponry—not just inspired by but literally being actual guns that just have bits greebled on or lopped off and shifted around. Kleya's pistol feels less like that approach of Star Wars design. Sure, what little we see of it there is a little acquiescence to sci-fi beyond the fact it shoots energy clean through a Stormtrooper's skull, like a little light on the side. But it's the Star Wars blaster that's just looked the most like a regular gun that I've seen in a while, it almost looks like a derringer with its stacked barrels and the small grip. It almost doesn't feel like a blaster. It's not the first time we've seen that kind of design philosophy inverted on Andor—the Aldhani heist crew in season one, before they purloined more Star Wars-y weapons from the base, were essentially running around with AK-74s. But being stripped of so much of the Star Wars artifice in that way feels like a parallel to how Kleya handles it and herself alike. It's telling that this scene is actually the first time we see her wielding a weapon in Andor; up to this point Kleya has been a coordinator, a go-between for Luthen, and her tools of resistance have been her comms system and icy looks in equal measure. And yet that little blaster is still thoroughly her. There's no frills, there's nothing more than what it needs to do: point, pull the trigger, put a bolt through someone. If Cassian's Bryar pistol reflected his own sense of character in that characteristic little whirring sound whenever he primed it, it's that simplicity that makes Kleya's reflect her. It's not elegant in its simplicity, it's almost brutal even, because the blaster isn't meant to be grand or say something about her character in that regard. It's not even meant to be iconic, even if the scenes of her using it have quickly become since the episode aired. It's a tool that puts people who are in her way down, and that's all it needs to be. It all comes back, again, to that scene with Vel. The story of Andor is, in some ways, the story of that blaster she picks up: it's Syril's pistol from when he came to arrest Cassian on Ferrix, which Cassian then stole, took with him to Niamos, then he gifted it to Melshi after their Narkina 5 breakout, and now it's made its way to the heart of the Rebel Alliance. Do Andor's characters belong to their weapons, once they've chosen to pick them up? Are they defined by that choice, the symbolic gesture of their resistance to the Imperial regime? Sometimes they are. Or sometimes a gun is just a gun, no more, no less. In Kleya's case, it can be a bit of both. After all, that in-between is where she's always worked best.
Geek Feed
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Feed
Andor Could have Gotten a Standalone Horror Episode about the Creation of K-2SO
The end of the last Andor arc had the creation of K-2SO which reveals he was an imperial droid that was reprogrammed by the Rebellion. While his introduction seemed simple enough, the series apparently had different plans for him originally. Talking to Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Tony Gilroy reveals that Dan Gilroy had written a standalone episode that was supposed to be 'like a horror movie' that would have dealt with the rebels reprogramming K-2. Gilroy explained: 'It was the K2 story… They had to bring this huge ugly tanker ship to Yavin, and there was a KX unit that was trapped inside there hunting. It was sort of like a monster movie with K2 on it. It was really cool.' As for why the story was cut, it was revealed that they didn't have the budget for it. Originally it was planned for Episode 09, but since they couldn't do it, they just pushed forward with Mon Mothma's speech which was supposed to be Episode 10. If anything, having the creation of K-2 being the closing of the Ghorman arc does feel like it makes sense organically; but it also makes Mothma's speech more urgent and her escape more heart-pounding seeing that it takes place so close to the massacre. For now, fans are expecting one last time jump to build up to the events of Rogue One . We don't know if Cassian will ever see Bix again, but the fanbase is hoping that she eventually sees him one last time before he dies on Scarif. Catch the final arc of Andor when it comes to Disney+ on Tuesday next week.
Gizmodo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
K-2SO's Andor Origin Story Was Almost a Standalone Horror Episode
The end of this week's episode arc on Andor finally welcomed K-2SO into the fold. In an enemies to besties moment on the streets of Palmo, Cassian (Diego Luna) is saved from the KX droid when it gets run over and he takes the pieces back to Yavin with him. After finding out Bix is nowhere to be found, he and Draven gather to witness the re-programming of the KX droid on a metal bed that gives Frankenstein vibes. K-2SO awakens and asks why a gun is pointed at him in actor Alan Tudyk's recognizable character voice. Originally, however, his introduction was a lot more unsettling. 'Dan Gilroy wrote an amazing, entirely self-contained episode that was episode 209,' Tony Gilroy told Entertainment Weekly, 'It was an amazing episode that was like a horror movie.' 'They had to bring this huge ugly tanker ship to Yavin, and there was a KX unit that was trapped inside there hunting. It was sort of like a monster movie with K2 on it. It was really cool.' But ultimately it wasn't meant to be. 'We could not afford to do it,' he said. It was great that there were still some strokes of horror in the episode as he's jolted back to life in a mad-scientist, old-school spooky way, but it also would have been interesting to see the extended version. However, 'it was made clear that it was out of the range, so we had to abandon that and consolidate things,' Gilroy said.
Geek Tyrant
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
ANDOR's Scrapped K-2SO Story Was Straight-Up Sci-Fi Horror and It Would've Been Awesome — GeekTyrant
We all knew that Andor was going to bring back the fan-favorite droid character K-2SO, and it finally happened in the recently released wave of episodes. But his original reintroduction was way darker than what ended up on screen. In fact, it was almost full-on horror. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Andor creator Tony Gilroy opened up about a scrapped concept that would have brought K-2 back into Cassian's orbit in a much more terrifying fashion. Written by Tony's brother Dan Gilroy, the episode was meant to be a standalone thriller that sounded like it came straight out of a Star Wars-flavored haunted house. 'Dan Gilroy wrote an amazing, entirely self-contained episode that was episode 209. It was an amazing episode that was like a horror movie. 'It was the K2 story. They had to bring this huge ugly tanker ship to Yavin, and there was a KX unit that was trapped inside there hunting. It was sort of like a monster movie with K2 on it. 'It was really cool. We could not afford to do it. It was made clear that it was out of the range, so we had to abandon that and consolidate things.' That sounds like it would've been awesome! The concept would've had Rebel forces transporting a massive tanker ship to Yavin only to discover there's a rogue KX-series security droid (like K-2SO) onboard. Think Alien , but swap the Xenomorph out for an emotionless Imperial murder-bot. It's a great pitch, but the cost of bringing it to life meant the episode had to be reworked. Instead, Andor Season 2 takes a more restrained approach, though the horror fingerprints are still there. K-2SO makes his first appearance in Episode 8, 'Who Are You?', not as a friend but as a cold enforcer during the Ghorman massacre. A group of KX droids terrorizes peaceful protestors, brutally gunning them down in one of the darkest moments the franchise has ever shown. As K-2 closes in on Cassian and Wilmon, another protestor named Samm slams into the droid with a transport, killing it. Cassian recovers the damaged droid and brings it back to Yavin, where it will eventually become the sarcastic, loyal companion we know from Rogue One . K-2SO is fully brought back online at the end of Episode 9, 'Welcome to the Rebellion'. The final three episodes drop May 13, and fans are eager to see how the droid's story continues to play out. While Lucasfilm gave the Gilroys a wide creative lane, budget constraints still held him back, which is a shame. But Gilroy and his team clearly pivoted on a smaller in scale, and it worked. It just wasn't as cool at the original pitch. Do you wish we would've gotten the horror version of K-2's return?
