With only two months until “May the 4th”, we are starting see new Star Wars announcements. The first official announcement concerns The Bad Batch air date.
Just Like The Mandalorian
A “sequel” to The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch will air on May 4th on Disney’s channel. It will be set between episodes III and IV and will focus on the special batch of clone commandos who appeared already in TCW season 7.
We can expect The Bad Batch to pull the same stunt The Mandalorian did: We start with a group of main heroes who, on first sight, appeal to the generic “old-school macho action”-demographic. Slowly, other elements will start appearing in the show, likely shifting the main focus to something completely different.
Echo And The Clones’ Individuality
Personally I would hope that even if the show will look like simple military action on the surface, it will have deeper levels underneath. The Mandalorian had one main character whose backstory it could explore. Here there are five characters whose main point is that they are individuals despite being clones. The series could spend a lot of time exploring the personalities, pasts, and hidden weaknesses of each of the five.
Especially clone trooper Echo, who joined the squad in TCW season 7, has already a lot on his plate with everything that has happened to him and to his former squadmates. I would not be surprised if the series spent some time focussing on his trauma.
Moreover, there are overarching themes that come along by default and that simply beg to be explored. The question of shared versus individual. The ethical questions about who is a clone and what happens to them once they have served their purpose. And the question of free will, especially when we get to the topic of Order 66.
Fennec Shand And Other Cameos
We also know that the show will feature Fennec Shand, the character played by Ming-Na Wen in The Mandalorian. This is another way in which the show may resemble, and tie-in to, The Mandalorian.
Fennec Shand in The Bad Batch trailer.
I would be surprised if we did not see a cameo of some more characters. Star Wars Rebels characters seem to be the most obvious. We are also almost certainly going to see clone commander Rex. And if there is Rex, there is the possibility to see Ahsoka as well. The clones may also meet Boba Fett (remember, we are still before Episode IV) as their “younger brother”.
The best stunt ever would be to have a cameo of Grogu. Since we know basically nothing about what happened to him after the sacking of the Jedi Temple, it is not impossible that he may have been briefly in the care of the Bad Batch (say, only as a “package” to be delivered from one unknown place to another).
The Bad Batch may not be the most anticipated show of the year, but it should be good enough for your recommended dose of Star Wars. And if you wish to preview the show for yourself, see the first trailer below:
