Hasbro recently announced a number of new figures coming in 2021 in celebration of Lucasfilm’s 50th anniversary, including a number of new entries in The Black Series and The Vintage Collection lines.
Which, as a side note, it’s great to see The Vintage Collection getting a bit more attention. It feels like it’s been an afterthought recently, but there are some very cool figures coming. But the point here isn’t The Vintage Collection but actually one of the figures from The Black Series line, coming from the upcoming animated series The Bad Batch: the Elite Squad Trooper.
These are the all-black troopers seen in the first trailer for the new series, and I believe that this is the first time we’ve heard their actual name. It’s not anything super special or exciting, but it’s still nice to know what they’re called. But what is particularly interesting is not just the name but how they are described in the product description:
“ELITE SQUAD TROOPER: After the formation of the Galactic Empire, a small group of highly skilled enlisted recruits is tasked with neutralizing anti-Imperial insurgents throughout the galaxy.”
We probably could have guessed the “highly skilled” part, as their look alone gives them a menacing and formidable look that distinguishes them from the other troopers. But the “enlisted recruits” part is what I find especially interesting. All along I had been assuming that these troopers were clones, but this has me wondering if maybe we could be seeing the first non-clone recruits for the Empire? It would be pretty early, but the wording here makes it seem like that’s a possibility. Of course, it still could be clones and they’re just recruited specifically for this squad, and I actually like the idea. But we’ll have to see.
Anyway, with us getting this product announcement, I have to imagine that more information is coming soon. We don’t even know when The Bad Batch officially releases (besides the general “2021”), but the guess from many has been spring. If that’s true, the marketing will begin to pick up very soon. We have seen very little from the show so far, but I’m very excited for it.
Star Wars Thoughts 