Jango Fett was just a man trying to make his way in the universe. And five of his cloned offspring are about to do the same in 2021 with a surprising new animated series from the minds behind Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Im going to give an honest mini-review on the Bad Batch arc from Clone Wars season seven. The Ahsoka arc was better as far as I’m concerned. There, I said it. I watched the whole season once so far. Thinking back, the Bad Batch episodes had their moments but I found that ultimately I cared much more about the established characters and how it would all tie in to Revenge of the Sith. The new less clone-y clone troopers who are all really good at one thing in particular didn’t hit me the same way a lot of the awesome clone commanders and ARC troopers did. But now we know their episodes were not only finishing some Clone Wars stories leftover from it’s cancellation, but also a backdoor pilot of sorts for their own series.
So I didn’t love or hate the Bad Batch episodes. They do add good content to the series and provide a fair bit of action and comedy. I thought Wrecker was missing a heavier blaster than his comparatively dinky commando rifle, though he had his funny moments. Tech was slightly annoying just hacking all the time. I can’t wait for them to redesign Echo and get him a proper robot arm – that sonic screwdriver just below the elbow — I hate it honestly. Maul gets two sets of robot legs, get my boy an arm. They could’ve done more with Hunter and his Rambo schtick, have him set improvised traps or something OG Far Cry style. But Crosshair was pretty cool (I’m biased towards snipers) and the fact that they view themselves as a different breed among the clones was genuinely interesting. Luckily, the new show seems to want to capitalize on this part the most, setting them up as a mercenary crew after the war has ended – when there’s no longer a Republic to serve.
Setting their story after Revenge of the Sith is the most intriguing part of this reveal, and also the smartest decision. Instead of narrowing the vastness of the Clone Wars down to just this squad’s perspective for side stories, the focus will be on the Bad Batch as mercenaries in the early days of Imperial rule. This opens up a whole can of worms. Did the Bad Batch execute Order 66? What’s their situation with their control chips, and has Rex tried to track them down? Could loyal clone commanders such as Cody, Thire, or Neyo pop up in antagonist roles?
Personally I’m excited any time new Star Wars content is announced. This one took me by surprise and while I’m not really infatuated with this concept, there’s enough interesting possibilities. I do have a love of weird mercenary characters such as Cable and Deadpool from the Marvel universe, and of course the dozens of bounty hunters in Star Wars, so this show could really grow on me. I’ll give it a chance (but I’m not the best compass because I consume it all sooner or later like a Lovecraftian monstrosity.)
Thanks for reading, let me know your thoughts! And follow me on Instagram @supreme_leader_d for updates, rants, and stuff I think is funny (you might too, but I don’t speak for you.)
-SLD
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