Luke Skywalker was ceaselessly earnest and packed a heart of gold. Leia Organa was poised, capable, and wore a good head on her shoulders. And for these reasons among many, the siblings rank among Star Wars‘ greatest heroes. But to be honest, there’s nothing gets the blood pumping quite like a band of misfits at the center of an adventure. The misfits at the center of Star Wars‘ new animated series The Bad Batch may not be heroic per se; but they do indeed seem worthy of our rapt attention. The Disney+ animated series, spun-off from The Clone Wars, has dropped its trailer.
From Disney’s press release:
The elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch ( first introduced in “The Clone Wars”)…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 that makes them extraordinarily effective soldiers and a formidable crew.
The trailer for The Bad Batch sees Grand Moff Tarkin introducing the titular quintet. These five genetically (and behaviorally) deviant clones compose a special task force in his nefarious army. We see the troop, a.k.a. Clone Force 99, showing off their trademark abilities in the trailer; special skills range from hand-to-hand combat to fancy piloting to munitions to marksmanship. But the rub of their advanced abilities, at least according to Tarkin: they don’t take orders as well as their typical clone counterparts. However, their exploits have apparently earned them something of a following. (At least in the form of one wide-eyed youngster.)
![The members of the Bad Batch stand in their military suits below a trio of soaring spaceships.](https://legendary-digital-network-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/12233903/78_BadBatch_LA_v3.0_v3_Lg.jpg)
Lucasfilm
All five members of the Bad Batch—Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair, Hunter, and Echo—will be voiced by Dee Bradley Baker; he will also voice all other clone troopers who appear in the series. Also on board to star is Ming-Na Wen. Star Wars: The Bad Batch will make its 70-minute premiere on Disney+ on (appropriately) May 4; episodes will air on Disney+ on a weekly basis, every Friday, going forward from May 7.
Featured Image: Lucasfilm