The second trailer for the animated spin-off seriesStar Wars: The Bad Batchhas been released ahead of the show’s May release date. The series follows the adventures of an elite experimental clone trooper unit after the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Galactic Empire. The full trailer shows off new footage and gives fans more details regarding the plot of the show.
First appearing in the final season of the animated seriesStar Wars: The Clone Wars,Clone Force 99, a.k.a. “The Bad Batch,” is an elite squad of experimental clones with desirable mutations that make them lethal in battle. The series isa spin-off to itsClone Warspredecessorand looks to tell the story of Clone Force 99 in the aftermath of that show.
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The new trailer opens with infamousStar Warsvillain Grand Moff Tarkinoverseeing Clone Fonce 99 during a training exercise. While impressed by their capabilities, Tarkin expresses concern over the squad’s apparent disobedience and disregard for orders. The trailer then goes on to introduce each uniquely skilled member ofThe Bad Batch. This includes Hunter, the leader of the squad who possesses heightened senses, Echo, a cyborg who was initially rescued by the squad in the final season ofTheClone Wars, Tech, the brains of the operation, Wrecker, a super-strong clone who relishes in destruction, and Crosshair, a sharpshooter with extraordinary aim.
Other familiar faces seen in the trailer includemercenary Fennec Shand, who first appeared in the live-action showThe Mandalorian, in which she was portrayed by actress Ming-Na Wen. There is also an appearance by controversial resistance fighter Saw Ferrara, who also made his debut in the originalClone Wars series and went on to appear in the live-action spin-off filmRogue One: A Star Wars Story,where he was played by Forest Whitaker. There’s also a mysterious new character, a young child credited as ‘Omega’ who appears to be very familiar with the members of Clone Force 99. It remains unclear what happens next, but it appears thatThe Bad Batchhas a bit of a falling out with the new imperial administration, as we can see them escaping a cloning facility while Tarkin orders them to be hunted down.
The Bad Batchis just the latest of many upcomingStar WarsTV shows coming to Disney Plus in the future.The live-actionspin-off seriesAndorhas been shooting since November and is eyeing a 2022 release date, and it was recently announced that theObi-Wan Kenobiseries would begin production next month.
While most of the upcomingStar Warsprojects are being done in the traditional live-action format, it’s nice to see that theClone Warsstyle of animation is being kept alive. The original animated show, created by George Lucas and developed by Dave Filoni, was arguably the first successfulStar WarsTV show, premiering years beforeThe Mandalorian made its debut.
Star Wars: The Bad Batchwill debut on May 4th with a 70-minute premiere. Future episodes will be available Fridays.
