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During Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ final season, which premiered on Disney+ earlier this year, viewers were introduced to The Bad Batch, a group of misfit clone troopers officially known together as Clone Force 99. Back in July, it was announced that The Bad Batch will star in their own series that will air on the Mouse House’s streaming service, and now we finally have our first look at the upcoming show.
Made up of Hunter, Crosshair, Wrecker, Tech and newest member Echo, Star Wars: The Bad Batch will follow these five clones at they embark on dangerous missions throughout the end of the Clone Wars. However, as shown by that looming hologram of Palpatine, this show will then subsequently explore the aftermath of that devastating conflict and the rise of the Empire, which will be particularly interesting to follow along with from the perspective of clones.
As those familiar with Star Wars lore know, once Order 66 was executed, all clone troopers serving under Jedi immediately gunned down their Force-wielding superiors. Thus, the Jedi Order was extinguished, and only a handful of Jedi managed to survive. However, The Clone Wars TV series revealed that all the Jango Fett clones were implanted with a behavior modification biochip that forced them to carry out orders no matter what, which included murdering the Jedi.
We watched in Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ final episodes how Ahsoka Tano was able to remove Rex’s chip, but it’s unclear if any of The Bad Batch will also be relieved of this brainwashing programming. For now, I’m inclined to think, at least initially, that won’t be the case given that brief shot towards the end of the trailer of Grand Moff Tarkin walking by Hunter. So it seems that Star Wars: The Bad Batch will also follow most, if not all of the group’s members carrying out missions for the Empire later in its run, although maybe they'll eventually set out on their own.
Beyond all that, it’s hard to say what Star Wars: The Bad Batch is specifically bringing to the table although there certainly won’t be any lack of action, whether it’s the clone badasses dispatching enemy droids or taking out other kinds of opponents. This will be the third Star Wars animated series released during the Disney era (fourth if you count The Clone Wars Season 7), following Rebels and Resistance. The Bad Batch also joins the ever-growing lineup of Star Wars TV shows on Disney+, including the currently-airing The Mandalorian, Andor and Obi-Wan Kenobi, with today also bringing word that Ahsoka, Rangers of the New Republic, The Acolyte and Lando are on the way.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch doesn’t have a Disney+ release date yet, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for that information and more updates. Those of you curious about what Disney+ is currently offering can learn about the streaming service’s latest offerings with our December lineup. If you’re not subscribed to Disney+, feel free to use the following link to sign up.
