The Bad Batch feels even better than Clone Wars — here’s why

The Bad Batch feels even meliorate than Clone Wars — here's why

(Image credit: StarWars.com)

May 4th saw the premiere of The Bad Batch, a brand new Disney Plus Star Wars series. It'south a direct sequel to the events of the Clone Wars TV serial, and follows the events of Clone Strength 99 in the directly aftermath of the Clone Wars themselves, and Revenge of the Sith.

And, unsurprisingly, the episode felt a lot similar a brand new edition of The Clone Wars. Only that isn't a bad affair, and The Bad Batch premiere shows enough promise for how it can abound and ameliorate upon its predecessor.

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Clone Wars' turbulent history

Clone Wars start launched dorsum in 2008, but was unceremoniously cancelled after the conclusion of its 5th season. That was in March 2013, just a few brusk months after Disney finalized its buy of Lucasfilm.

And so, 13 unfinished (but notwithstanding but well-nigh watchable) episodes striking Netflix the following twelvemonth. This was followed by a drought, every bit the series lay dormant until Disney brought the series back for Disney Plus.

Clone Wars was popular, merely it was far from perfect. There are a lot of filler episodes that didn't really add much beyond padding out the episode count, and the quality of the stories was inconsistent at best. Plus, a lot of episodes ended upward being aired out of society, making the timeline wonky, at all-time. If The Bad Batch tin stick the landings better than Clone Wars did, it will be on its way.

The Bad Batch starts off in a very Clone Wars manner

But when Clone Wars was practiced, information technology was groovy, and the 7th season managed to get-go off strong and go on its momentum going for a full 12 episodes before the finale. That continues into the premiere episode of The Bad Batch, which kicks off with the execution of Social club 66 and follows the titular squad of clones in the aftermath.

Tonally, this episode feels like some other instalment of Clone Wars, which makes sense. The Bad Batch may be a spin off, simply it'south also a directly sequel to its predecessor's last flavour. The conflict left over from The Clone Wars itself doesn't end for a full seven minutes of the episode, and so the premiere is completely focussed on what happens to the clone army in the aftermath.

The artistic team behind the Bad Batch is being led by Dave Filoni, the same guy who led development on Clone Wars and every other animated Star Wars show since. Plus, it uses the aforementioned character design and animation way, unlike Star Wars: Rebels, which swaps Clone Wars' more caricatured and cartoonish style for something that leans closer to realism.

The show itself leans into the similarities on a meta-level, with the opening seconds of the premiere showing the states the Clone Wars logo called-for abroad into the Bad Batch logo. The Bad Batch also begins with the aforementioned narrator every bit Clone Wars, offering some insight into the events of the episode. If anything Lucasfilm animation is saying to us, "Expect we all know this is basically some other Clone Wars episode, but it's also the start of something new."

How The Bad Batch tin can button past Clone Wars

Clone Wars was an anthology series that told standalone tales equally part of the wider story of the Clone Wars disharmonize. Episodes ranged from tales that followed a huge range of characters from Star Wars, including previously-ignored Jedi, the political machinations of Republic senators, droids, and fifty-fifty brand new characters that never appeared elsewhere - including the Bad Batch themselves.

The Bad Batch, withal, volition change things upwardly (similar Rebels before information technology), as focusing on a single group of characters changes things. Now, instead of focussing on the state of war crimes of Pong Krell for three episodes and moving on, nosotros're following the same characters over the course of a 13-episode season.

Star Wars has shown us that the clones, despite their genetic similarities, are all individuals. None are more individual than the Bad Batch, who are distinguished by extra abilities afforded past genetic mutations. That's going to create a very interesting dynamic very quickly, whereas Clone Wars itself was express by its very nature.

Plus, we're also visiting the Star Wars galaxy at a time that's been largely unexplored. Beyond the 2017-2018 run of the Darth Vader comic, current Star Wars canon has pretty much ignored the immediate mail service-Episode 3 time period. Despite the fact that there are going to be huge ramifications to deal with.

The Bad Batch has new stories to tell

And that begins with a devastated galaxy, with the autonomous Commonwealth was dissolved and leaving Palpatine open to form his own Empire.

Considering how totalitarian the Empire had get by the time Luke Skywalker blew up the Decease Star 19 years later, it'southward going to be very interesting to see how things play out in those formative years. That'south especially truthful when you're looking at it from the perspective of a group of renegade, and possibly defective (depending on whom you ask) clones.

There are and so many opportunities to be had. For now it seems The Bad Batch is taking a lot of cues from the Clone Wars, and with adept reason. But what volition the show be like by the stop of the initial 13 episode run? Who can say, because information technology could become in so many different directions. Since The Bad Batch started out so like to Clone Wars, it'due south not difficult to see information technology as a possibly a more stable and focused show, carrying on the best of the legacy.

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Tom is the Tom's Guide's Automotive Editor, which means he can usually be establish human knee deep in stats the latest and best electric cars, or checking out some sort of driving gadget. It'southward long manner from his days as editor of Gizmodo U.k., when pretty much everything was on the tabular array. He's ordinarily found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining that Ikea won't permit him buy the stuff he really needs online.