Credit: LucasfilmOne of the Star Wars franchise’s most acclaimed shows just received an extremely exciting update direct from the head writer herself.
The Star Wars franchise’s tenure in the pop culture canon shows no signs of slowing down. What began over 40 years ago with the arrival of the galaxy far, far away in George Lucas’s Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope (1977) has exploded into a multi-media property worth billions.
Alongside Lucas’s original trilogy, which went on to include Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi (1983), the ongoing Star Wars story also includes a complete prequel and sequel trilogy, plus numerous television shows, comics, novels, and video games.
Being one of the most beloved franchises on the planet, Star Wars is not free of criticism. In fact, the series has become one of the most divisive in history. When The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm in a billion-dollar deal in 2012, it was only time before the House of Mouse utilized their lucrative new Intellectual Property (IP).
On the movie side, Disney and Lucasfilm — headed by Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy — released three blockbuster movies over the course of four years. Beginning with Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens (2015), the sequel trilogy went on to include Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi (2017) and Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Thanks to choices made by directors J.J. Abrams (The Force Awakens, The Rise of Skywalker) and Rian Johnson (The Last Jedi), the sequel trilogy became the most polarizing trilogy in Star Wars franchise history.
Now, four years on from J.J. Abrams’ attempt to course correct with the ninth installment in the Skywalker Saga, there has been no new Star Wars movie released. Kathleen Kennedy has assured movies have been in development all along, and at this year’s Star Wars Celebration Europe, the executive revealed three new films are in the works, on top of those already announced, like Taika Waititi’s effort.
Sometime in the future, Star Wars fans will grapple with the origins of the Force in a Dawn of the Jedi-era movie from James Mangold, a “Mando-Verse” crossover event helmed by newly-appointed Chief Creative Officer of Lucasfilm Dave Filoni, and the return of Rey Skywalker (Daisy Ridley) in Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s New Jedi Order film.
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But before all of that gets underway, fans will soon return to the post-Order 66 era with the fan-favorite group of mercenaries.
Back in 2021, Disney+ debuted its new Star Wars show, the animated follow-up to The Clone Wars — Star Wars: The Bad Batch. Starring Dee Bradley Baker as the titular Bad Batch — or Clone Force 99 — characters, as well as Michelle Ang as Omega, The Bad Batch takes place directly after the events of Palpatine’s (Ian McDiarmid) execution of Order 66 and follows the ragtag group as they navigate this new world run by the Galactic Empire.
Season 2 of the animated series was released last year and further explored the complicated lives of Hunter, Tech, Echo, Wrecker, and Crosshair. The Bad Batch also deepened Star Wars lore previously only found in the separate Star Wars Legends non-canon universe, such as including Mount Tantiss and the notion of Emperor Palpatine’s secret cloning facilities — something that has also been connected to contextualizing the sequel trilogy.
It was announced last year that The Bad Batch would end with a third season, and a new exciting update has been shared by head writer Jennifer Corbett. Posting to X (formerly Twitter), Corbett (@JenniferCorbett) wrote:
Toasting to the final mix session for #thebadbatch. What a pleasure to watch @DavidWCollins & team in action! Can’t wait for you all to see what’s in store for the final season!
Toasting to the final mix session for #thebadbatch. What a pleasure to watch @DavidWCollins & team in action! Can’t wait for you all to see what’s in store for the final season! pic.twitter.com/NSgcXevFai
— Jennifer Corbett (@JenniferCorbett) December 2, 2023
This is a great update for fans of the popular Star Wars animated series and would seemingly suggest that a new teaser or full trailer could be coming down the pipeline very soon.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch also stars Rhea Perlman as the Trandoshan Cid, Gwendoline Yeo as Nala Se, Stephen Stanton as Admiral Tarkin, Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand, Corey Burton as Cad Bane, Vanessa Marshall as Hera Syndulla, Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic, and Freddie Prinze Jr. as Caleb Dume (AKA, the future Kanan Jarrus).
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Dave Filoni’s animated series is part of Disney’s TV streaming catalog, which also includes the Star Wars franchise’s “Mando-Verse” shows, The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and the forthcoming Skeleton Crew, as well as Andor, and other animated offerings like Star Wars Visions, and Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures.
Are you excited to see the Bad Batch squad return to the Star Wars franchise? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!
Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi, and Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker are all now streaming on Disney+.