A brand new Star Wars animated series was announced yesterday!
Premiering in 2021 on Disney+ is Star Wars: The Bad Batch, which will follow the exploits of Clone Force 99 “as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone War.” The release adds that, following the Clone Wars, the Bad Batch “will take on daring mercenary missions as they struggle to stay afloat and find new purpose.”
The show will be developed by familiar faces to Lucasfilm animation, as Dave Filoni (The Clone Wars, Rebels, The Mandalorian), Athena Portillo (The Clone Wars, Rebels, Resistance), Brad Rau (Rebels, Resistance), Jennifer Corbett (Resistance) are serving as executive producers, Carrie Beck (The Clone Wars, Rebels, The Mandalorian) as co-executive producer, while Josh Rimes (Resistance) is serving as producer. Additionally, Rau will be the supervising director on the series, while Corbett will be the head writer.
That’s a powerhouse team, and it suggests that the show is in incredibly good hands. Obviously with Dave Filoni serving as the head of all Lucasfilm animation he’ll have a role in it, but the rest of the team on the show is very familiar to Star Wars as well. Brad Rau is the supervising director of the series, and he has previously directed several episodes of Rebels (including “The Siege of Lothal” and “The Honorable Ones”), Resistance (including “Breakout,” “No Place Safe,” and co-directing the series finale, “The Escape”), and Forces of Destiny. He’s paired with Jennifer Corbett, the head writer, who wrote some episodes of Resistance (“Rendezvous Point,” “The New World,” and “Rebuilding the Resistance”).
“Giving new and existing fans the final chapter of Star Wars: The Clone Wars has been our honor at Disney+, and we are overjoyed by the global response to this landmark series,” Agnes Chu, the senior V.P. of Content for Disney+, said in a statement. “While The Clone Wars may have come to its conclusion, our partnership with the groundbreaking storytellers and artists at Lucasfilm Animation is only beginning. We are thrilled to bring Dave Filoni’s vision to life through the next adventures of the Bad Batch.”
This announcement was an unexpected one, as I doubt many were expecting the next animated series announcement to be about the Bad Batch, but I’m excited about it – especially since it’s set immediately following the events of The Clone Wars. I’m guessing that will allow us to get a look at how the clones responded in the immediate aftermath of Order 66 and the Jedi Purge, which could pave the way for some really interesting stories (with familiar clones like Cody too!). It doesn’t sound like the Bad Batch is working for the Empire but rather serving as mercenaries, so there are plenty of possibilities and directions the story can go.
I expect more Star Wars animated series announcements to be coming soon (like a Rebels sequel), especially since Dave Filoni is only an executive producer on this one, but it’ll be really cool to see the return of the Bad Batch next year!
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