Star Wars: The Bad Batch


Star Wars: The Bad Batch is an American animated television series created by Dave Filoni for the streaming service Disney+. It is part of the Star Wars franchise and a spin-off from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, continuing from the end of that series to depict the aftermath of Order 66 and the end of the Clone Wars. The Bad Batch follows a unique squad of clone troopers with genetic mutations who resist Order 66 and go on the run in the early days of the Galactic Empire. They are joined by Omega, a young female clone.
Dee Bradley Baker voices the Bad Batch, as well as most of the other clones in the series, as he did in The Clone Wars. Michelle Ang voices Omega. The series was announced in July 2020, after the final season of The Clone Wars introduced the Bad Batch based on an idea from Star Wars creator George Lucas. The Bad Batch was produced by Lucasfilm Animation, with Jennifer Corbett as head writer and Brad Rau as supervising director; Filoni, Corbett, and Rau served as executive producers with Athena Yvette Portillo.
The first season premiered on May 4, 2021, and ran for 16 episodes until August 13. A 16-episode second season was released from January 4 to March 29, 2023, and a 15-episode third and final season was released from February 21 to May 1, 2024. The series has received positive reviews from critics, particularly for its animation and voice acting.

Premise

In the Star Wars universe, the Clone Wars is a series of conflicts between the Galactic Republic and a Separatist movement; the name comes from the Republic's army, which consists of clone troopers created from the genetic material of bounty hunter Jango Fett. Clone Force 99, also known as "The Bad Batch", is a unique squad of clones with genetic mutations that were introduced in the series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. These mutations allow most of the Bad Batch to resist Order 66, which brings the Clone Wars to an end by triggering secret programming in the clones that forces them to execute the Jedi and become obedient to Emperor Palpatine and the new Galactic Empire. Star Wars: The Bad Batch follows the titular team as they become mercenaries on the run in the early days of the Empire. They are joined by Omega, a young female clone of Jango Fett.
The series also tells the stories of other clones following the end of the Clone Wars, including how some begin to question Order 66, how the Empire phases out the clone army in favor of conscripted Stormtroopers, and how Imperial cloning resources are re-directed to "Project Necromancer"—a secret project to clone Palpatine that helps explain his return from death in the film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Episodes

Season 1 (2021)

Season 2 (2023)

Season 3 (2024)

Cast and characters

Starring

Also known as Clone Force 99, the Bad Batch are a unique squad of clone troopers with genetic mutations. Star Wars creator George Lucas wanted them to each have special abilities that made them different from other clones, but he did not want them to be superheroes. The Bad Batch includes: Hunter, the leader of the team who has enhanced senses and is described as a "master tracker"; Wrecker, who has enhanced muscles and a reinforced skeleton making him very strong; Crosshair, a skilled sniper; Tech, a genius who specializes in technology; and Echo, a former regular clone or "reg" who was turned into a cyborg through horrific experimentation and can now interface with computer systems. Despite being clones, Baker made sure the team had noticeable differences in each voice, such as Tech's precision and Crosshair sounding like a "coiled snake".
  • * As he did for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Baker also voices most of the other clones in the series, including: Grey, the captain under Jedi Master Depa Billaba during Order 66; Cut Lawquane, a Clone Wars deserter who goes into hiding with his family; Rex, a former captain who was believed killed at the end of the Clone Wars and now works in secret to help other clones and resist the Empire; Howzer, a captain on Ryloth who supports local freedom fighters over the Empire; Gregor, a commando working with Rex; Wilco, a captain stationed on Serenno who is murdered by Vice Admiral Rampart for refusing to falsify a report; Cody, a commander who deserts after starting to question the Empire during a mission with Crosshair; Cade and Slip, clones who are killed by Rampart as part of a conspiracy to cover-up the destruction of Tipoca City; Scorch, a commando who leads the Advanced Science Division's forces; Mayday, the commander of a desolate outpost on Barton IV whose death is a catalyst for Crosshair turning on the Empire; Fireball and Nemec, members of Rex's group of rogue clones; the Clone X assassins; and Wolffe, a commander sent to capture Omega who is talked down by Rex. Baker added subtle differences to the voice of each clone.
  • * Baker reprised the role of Barton Coburn, an Imperial admiral who attends Tarkin's summit, from The Clone Wars. He also provided the sounds for Batcher, a lurca hound that Omega befriends.
  • Michelle Ang as Omega:
A young female clone who joins the Bad Batch. She is an unmodified replication of Jango Fett, so she ages normally unlike the Bad Batch and other clones who age at twice the normal speed. This means Omega is technically older than most of the other clones, despite appearing to be much younger. Her name is a reference to the first unmodified clone of Jango Fett, "Alpha", who is better known as Jango's son Boba. To create Omega's voice, Ang used her own New Zealand accent but altered her pitch and state of mind to give the character a "youthfulness". Ang also took inspiration from watching her young son have new experiences.

Recurring

Introduced in other ''Star Wars'' media

  • Ben Diskin as AZI-3: A medical droid from Kamino who helps the Bad Batch
  • Bob Bergen as Lama Su: The prime minister of Kamino
  • Gwendoline Yeo as Nala Se: The Kaminoan scientist in charge of the cloning process
  • Stephen Stanton as
  • * Wilhuff Tarkin: A high-ranking Imperial officer
  • * Mas Amedda: The Grand Vizier of the Empire
  • Jennifer Hale as Riyo Chuchi: A Pantoran senator who advocates for the clones

    Introduced in season one

  • Noshir Dalal as Rampart: An Imperial vice admiral who is responsible for the new conscripted Stormtrooper program
  • Liam O'Brien as Bolo: An Ithorian regular at Cid's parlor
  • Sam Riegel as Ketch: A Weequay regular at Cid's parlor
  • Rhea Perlman as Cid Scaleback: A Trandoshan and former Jedi informant who provides mercenary work to the Bad Batch
  • Shelby Young as
  • * Bragg: An Imperial captain stationed on Raxus Secundus
  • * Yanna: A Wookiee elder
  • * Bayrn: A Tarlafar who is a young Project Necromancer test subject with a high M-count
  • Helen Sadler as Scalder: A doctor in the Empire's Advanced Science Division

    Introduced in season two

  • Wanda Sykes as Phee Genoa: A pirate contact of Cid's who befriends the Bad Batch
  • Jimmi Simpson as Royce Hemlock: The director of the Empire's Advanced Science Division
  • Keisha Castle-Hughes as Emerie Karr: An adult female clone of Jango Fett who works for the ASD

    Introduced in season three

  • Ivan Sinitsin as Jax: A Mirialan who is a young Project Necromancer test subject with a high M-count, designated SP-32
  • Olwyn M. Whelan as Eva: An Iktotchi who is a young Project Necromancer test subject with a high M-count, designated SP-54
  • Naiya Singh Padilla as Sami: A Pantoran who is a young Project Necromancer test subject with a high M-count, designated SP-39

    Guests

Introduced in other ''Star Wars'' media

  • Archie Panjabi as Depa Billaba: A Jedi Master who is killed during Order 66. Her death is depicted differently from how it was established in the Kanan comic book.
  • Matthew Wood as
  • * The battle droids of the Separatist army
  • * Bib Fortuna: The majordomo and right-hand of crime lord Jabba the Hutt
  • Freddie Prinze Jr. as Caleb Dume: The Padawan learner of Depa Billaba who escapes Order 66. This is depicted differently from how it was established in the Kanan comic book.
  • Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine: The Emperor of the Galactic Empire and a Dark Lord of the Sith
  • Andrew Kishino as Saw Gerrera: A freedom fighter from Onderon
  • Tom Kane as the narrator of a The Clone Wars-style opening sequence. Because the Clone Wars come to an end in the first episode of the series, the narration is not used for subsequent episodes.
  • Nika Futterman as
  • * Shaeeah Lawquane: The stepdaughter of clone deserter Cut Lawquane
  • * Asajj Ventress:
The apprentice of Count Dooku during the Clone Wars who later becomes a bounty hunter. The character's last appearance in the Star Wars timeline was the 2015 novel Dark Disciple, which was adapted from unproduced The Clone Wars scripts and story reels. In the book, Ventress falls in love with rogue Jedi Quinlan Vos and sacrifices herself to save him. When executive producer Dave Filoni suggested the character be brought back for the third season of The Bad Batch, the producers worked out a way for Ventress to survive those events which they planned to reveal in a future Star Wars story. Her appearance in The Bad Batch is based on design work done for the unproduced The Clone Wars episodes, including longer hair and a new yellow lightsaber. Futterman was excited to portray a lighter version of the character.
The daughter of Cham Syndulla who is an aspiring pilot and freedom fighter. Marshall previously starred as an older version of Hera in the series Star Wars Rebels, in which she generally used an American accent for the character. However, that series revealed in a key scene that Hera originally had a French accent—representing the native accent of the planet Ryloth—like Cham and other Twi'lek characters do, but she lost this after going off on her own path. Marshall, who is fluent in French, was able to use Hera's native accent for the younger version of the character in The Bad Batch, and also adjusted her voice performance to portray a teenager.
  • Phil LaMarr as
  • * Orn Free Taa: The corrupt Imperial senator of Ryloth
  • * Bail Organa: The Imperial senator from Alderaan who secretly resists the Empire
  • Dave Filoni as Chopper: Hera's irritable astromech droid. The series continues the tradition from Star Wars Rebels of crediting Chopper as playing "Himself".
  • Jonathan Lipow as Gungi: A Wookiee Jedi youngling on the run from the Empire
  • Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Tynnra Pamlo: An Imperial senator from Taris
  • Jameelah McMillan as Halle Burtoni: A former senator for Kamino
  • Andy de la Tour as Hurst Romodi: An Imperial admiral who attends Tarkin's summit
  • Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic: The Imperial commander overseeing "Project Stardust" who attends Tarkin's summit
  • Daniel Logan as Mox and Julian Dennison as Deke and Stak: Three young clones of Jango Fett who are abandoned by the Empire