In July 2020, Disney and Lucasfilm announced Star Wars: The Bad Batch, a new executive produced animated series by The Clone Wars supervisor Dave Filoni. The show will take place after The Clone Wars and will follow a successful seventh and final season of that show on the Disney Plus streaming service. The official announcement for The Bad Batch has revealed a bit of what the series is about and viewers will be familiar with the main characters from the previous Star Wars animated series where the titular heroes were first introduced. Disney Plus will be the exclusive home of the show. Below, we've rounded up everything we know about Star Wars: The Bad Batch so far, including its release date and what we know about its story.
What is Star Wars: The Bad Batch?
Star Wars: The Bad Batch is a new CG animated series that will work as a sequel of sorts to The Clone Wars, which wrapped its final season earlier this year. It will center on the Bad Batch, or Clone Force 99, a crew of clone troopers with extraordinary abilities compared to standard clones in the Star Wars universe. Characters from Clone Force 99 include Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair, and Echo, and four group-focused episodes from The Clone Wars season seven. Each team member has their own exceptional set of individual skills, making them an elite group of specialists. However, this series will take place during the Imperial Era after the end of the Clone Wars, and will see the group take on mercenary missions as they try to figure out who they are as a result of the war. The show will debut on Disney Plus, which now seems to be the de facto birthplace of Star Wars animation. This is especially great for international viewers who want to keep up with the American viewers of the series.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch release date
The release date for Star Wars: The Bad Batch is currently scheduled for 2021, and no additional details have been revealed at this time.
Star Wars: the Bad Batch Cast: who will be in the series?
![Clone Force 99]()
Clone Force 99, from StarWars.com. (Image credit: Lucasfilm/StarWars.com) Not much is known about the cast of Star Wars: The Bad Batch at this time, but all of the clones in the series were voiced by The Clone Wars alumnus, Dee Bradley Baker, so you can expect that. He returns in the roles of Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair, Hunter, and Echo.
What else do we know about Star Wars: The Bad Batch?
That's all the official announcement for now, but Kessel Run Transmissions, which managed to report details on the series ahead of its official announcement, offered a few more details that weren't in the reveal. (via r/StarWarsLeaks). Consider these rumors. The highlight here are the limited potential appearances for popular The Clone Wars characters Ahsoka Tano and Rex. The show's hosts also believe that a sequel to Star Wars: Rebels (another CG-hosted series) is in the works alongside The Bad Batch. So, in theory, you could simultaneously get two Star Wars animated series. Star Wars fans have a lot to be excited about with Disney Plus in the coming years, along with the four confirmed live-action series (The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Cassian Andor, and an untitled fourth TV show). However, The Bad Batch promises to dig deeper into the lives of Clone Troopers after Order 66 is called, which is one aspect of the Star Wars universe worth exploring in more detail. Today's best Disney+ deals