The Clone Wars might be over, but many of its characters lived past the show’s major conflict, as we’ve seen from Star Wars Rebels and more, so it should be no surprise an elite squad of clone troopers like the Bad Batch, aka Clone Force 99, would be among the survivors. A little more surprising is the clones will star in their own animated show, heading to Disney+ in 2021, aptly named The Bad Batch. Beyond the detail the show will take place post-TCW as the clones take on mercenary jobs as they struggle to find purpose, and the announcement of the creative forces behind it, there aren’t a lot of details at the moment. Head below for the creative team and some of my thoughts on the show, which at the moment doesn’t quite capture my interest compared to the many other options and avenues available.
From the press release:
“The Bad Batch is executive produced by Dave Filoni (The Mandalorian, Star Wars: The Clone Wars), Athena Portillo (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels), Brad Rau (Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars Resistance) and Jennifer Corbett (Star Wars Resistance, NCIS) with Carrie Beck (The Mandalorian, Star Wars Rebels) as co-executive producer and Josh Rimes as producer (Star Wars Resistance). Rau is also serving as supervising director with Corbett as head writer.”
One exciting thing, at least for me, is the head writer of the show is Jennifer Corbett, which beyond her credentials like Resistance and NCIS, makes her the first head writer of one of these animated series. This should lead to a nice change of pace over the usual crew of writers or executive producers, while gives me confidence there is a lot more going on here than a show about a bunch of A-Team-lite characters.
While Corbett’s involvement gives me some hope, and as overall fun the Bad Batch can occasionally be, I’m not quite sure a whole show about them will be as entertaining. After their official debut in TCW’s final season, which is a reworking of episodes originally released unproduced, their arc was both classic TCW but paled in comparison of what had come before and what was to come in the rest of the last season. There was another produced story arc with them, where they help Kashyyyk during the war, but that likely won’t see the light of day unless they make it to a comic or book, though that was the one thing I was really looking forward to see with them. Setting The Bad Batch after the war and making them mercenaries for hire could lead to plenty of fun and intriguing possibilities, maybe scraping alongside many of the seedier elements of the galaxy, as well as offering new and unique views of the GFFA. One of the biggest concerns remains the fact it’s another show with a predominately male cast, so I’m hoping there’s a really expansive pitch that brought this series to life; some fans have mentioned Enfys Nest’s mother or even the Martez sisters (or heck, even Qi’ra!), and that’s the content I’d have greatly preferred. Regardless, until we get footage and more details, the potential for those other elements is my biggest hope for the show, though I can understand why many people will be excited for this; I might get there yet.
We’ll bring you the latest details as they arrive and make sure to check the Manor for reviews once it launches in 2021!
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
THE CLONE WARS REVIEWS
Season Seven: Ep. 1 “The Bad Batch” | Ep. 2 “A Distant Echo” | Ep. 3 “On the Wings of Keeradaks” | Ep. 4 “Unfinished Business” | Ep. 5 “Gone With a Trace” | Ep. 6 “Deal No Deal” | Ep. 7 “Dangerous Debt” | Ep. 8 “Together Again” | Ep. 9 “Old Friends Not Forgotten” | Ep. 10 “The Phantom Apprentice” | Ep. 11 “Shattered” | Ep. 12 “Victory and Death
Legacy Impressions: Crystal Crisis | The Bad Batch
Dark Disciple (Novel)