Star Wars: The Clone Wars getting The Bad Batch spinoff for Disney+

I can still remember how excited I was when it was announced in 2018 that Star Wars: The Clone Wars was being revived for a seventh and final season, finally tying up the story that had been left hanging when it was cancelled five years previously. I had not watched everything that had previously been released, but the critically acclaimed animated series was still all on Netflix so I could catch up with plenty of time before the new episodes dropped. And then, like a precursor to 2020, nothing went to plan.

I only watched a few episodes before being distracted by other stuff and just when I was ready to jump back in, Disney pulled all Star Wars content from Netflix. And then Disney+, the home of the new Clone Wars series, launched and it wasn’t available in South Africa. So no, I never caught up with the old episodes of Clone Wars and never watched the new ones either, which is why I can’t really comment too much on the news that brand new spinoff series, titled Star Wars: The Bad Batch, has been announced for Disney+ as well.

Luckily, there’s a handy press release on the official StarWars.com site that’s got my back to give you guys the low-down on just who the titular Bad Batch are:

The series follows the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch (first introduced in The Clone Wars) 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 Clone Wars originally began life as a CG feature film that followed the adventures of a young Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin’s newly revealed padawan apprentice Ahsoka Tano, in the war-torn years between Star Wars: Episodes II and III. The movie, conceived by franchise creator George Lucas “almost an afterthought” by his own admission, was pretty crappy, to be honest. However, the series that followed it, which saw director Dave Filoni take the reins fully in driving this story, just grew from strength to strength until it became a huge critical success and even netted a bunch of awards. It would give us some of the most beloved characters and story arcs in modern Star Wars, including Ahsoka, the return of Darth Maul, the Mandalorians, etc., and has developed a gigantic following.

Filoni is back to executive produce The Bad Batch with Brad Rau (Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars Resistance) serving as co-producer and supervising director, while Jennifer Corbett will also produce and serve as head writer. Agnes Chu, Senior Vice President of Content for Disney+, said in a statement that Disney is “thrilled” to continue this story with this team.

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. 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.”

There’s no official release date given yet for Star Wars: The Bad Batch, but it will debut on Disney+ sometime in 2021. Hopefully, by then I would have made a plan to catch up with everything.

Last Updated: July 14, 2020