As we’ve learned with each subsequent episode of The Mandalorian season 2, the stories set in stone by Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels are just as important to the mythology as anything that happened in the movies. Yet, based on general reactions to the the first live-action appearance of Ahsoka in the universe, Dave Filoni’s two series are by no means part of mainstream Star Wars fandom. If the first trailer for Star Wars: The Bad Batch is any indication, Filoni’s new series could change that.
Announced this July, The Bad Batch “follows the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone War. Members of Bad Batch — a unique squad of clones who vary genetically from their brothers in the Clone Army — each possess a singular exceptional skill which makes them extraordinarily effective soldiers and a formidable crew. In the post-Clone War era, they will take on daring mercenary missions as they struggle to stay afloat and find new purpose.”
The Bad Batch were the primary new characters introduced in the final season of Clone Wars episodes that premiered this past February. One Clone, Echo — previously thought dead, but rescued from Separatist forces — was granted permission to join the rowdy, weapon-heavy group on their never-ending mission of resistance. What happened to the group after Order 66, the Jedi massacre that wrapped up the first series and the prequel films, is a question the new series will solve.
“Giving new and existing fans the final chapter of Star Wars: The Clone Wars has been our honor at Disney Plus, and we are overjoyed by the global response to this landmark series,” said Agnes Chu, senior vice president of content at Disney Plus, said at the time. “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.”
The Bad Batch does not yet have a release date, but it’ll arrive straight to Disney Plus when it lands.