Tag: star-wars-the-bad-batch

Lest ‘Star Wars’ fans suffer from withdrawal in the wake of Disney+’s critically acclaimed first season of ‘Andor,’ the streamer recently premiered the second season of ‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch.’ Continuing the adventures of the clone troopers introduced in ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ as they travel the galaxy after the fall of the Republic.

Moviefone recently joined a group of journalists in chatting with the show’s executive producers Brad Rau and Jennifer Corbett, as well as the voices of Bad Batch himself, Dee Bradley Baker, and new fan-favorite character Omega, Michelle Ang. Here’s what they had to say about the 16-episode second season, each episode of which arrives Wednesdays on Disney+.

On featuring younger characters like Omega in ‘The Bad Batch’:

Brad Rau: We’ve seen these super soldiers in ‘The Clone Wars.’ We’ve seen them tackle all kinds of obstacles, and they’re the best at what they do. So, what are we going to give these guys that they haven’t dealt with before? A kid that they’re going to have to take care of. Now they’ve got to be dads. When we’re telling the story in this show, we try to balance that a lot. They’re not just this crack military team, but they’re a family. That’s a really big key. That’s very intentional for the narrative flow. Then, to have Michelle as Omega, it’s so great. Our amazing cast, it brings them all to life. We’re just so lucky.

Dee Bradley Baker: It’s really beautiful to have that personal story as a counterweight to the giant political mythology that’s playing out. You have both polarities of human concern playing out at the same time.

Michelle Ang: It’s a joy playing the naivete of Omega, because of the whys. When she asks why, there isn’t an agenda. Like, it’s genuinely a pause for these seasoned military characters to take a moment to take on that question. Like, “Why do we do this? Why do we choose this stance? Why do we take this mission? Why do we take this side?” Yeah, it’s a real joy to play that innocence but also be the one to question.

On helping younger viewers keep track of where ‘The Bad Batch’ falls on the ‘Star Wars’ timeline:

Jennifer Corbett: That’s where the character of Omega really serves us well. Because even if you’ve never seen ‘Clone Wars,’ neither has the character of Omega. So telling stories through her lens allows us to show an audience, “Okay, here’s the Cliff Notes version of what you need to know in terms of what has happened in the ‘Star Wars’ timeline.”

MA: Which is the same myself. I’m new into the ‘Star Wars’ world. I didn’t grow up with it. So, I feel like I am Omega in the sense that I’m learning about the wider universe, the wider legacy in real time.

DBB: Part of what’s exciting and fun for me is that everything from our show to ‘The Mandalorian,’ to the movies, to ‘Andor,’ they all fit together. When you watch them all, as an old ‘Star Wars’ fan myself, this all fits together in the same storyline. That’s part of the fun with it.

BR: If we’re doing our job right, you don’t have to know anything about ‘Star Wars’ and you’ll enjoy the episode. But if you do watch all the shows, like we do, then you’ll get something out of it too.

On upcoming episodes breaking from the show’s format like last week’s third episode focusing on the villainous Crosshair:

JC: Crosshair is a member of the Bad Batch. So even when we do focus on him, he’s on a very different path than the rest of Clone Force 99 is on right now. So we do have a lot of episodes in Season 2 that take a turn. We don’t want to give too much away, but we do continue with Crosshair’s journey as well as the rest of Omega and her space dads.

BR: Right. Space dads. The fans seem to be liking this latest episode, which is really incredible. If you like this episode, there are a couple more that I think you’re going to like as well.

JC: We have a political thriller, a two-parter, which is very exciting and a bit intense.

DBB: It’s like a Hitchcock thriller. It’s something else… Every episode is like a different kind of movie. You can see an episode [and] “Oh, this is like an ‘Alien‘ episode,” or “This is like an ‘Indiana Jones,’” or “This is a spaghetti western,” or “This is a Hitchcock political thriller.” Everyone is its own kind of reference to the evolution of entertainment and movies. It’s just part of the wonderful artistry of this show that if you’re a fan of entertainment, it’s quite fun to enjoy. I really love it.

JC: And there’s a ‘Goonies’ in there. I’ve been trying to get Brad to do a ‘Goonies’ episode for so long, and finally!

BR: That’s following the legacy of what was done in ‘The Clone Wars,’ where we would do exactly that.

JC: We are in the dark times in the ‘Star Wars’ era. So, while that is going on, we have to be aware that we need to tell other stories, because it’s a wide galaxy. So there are many adventures that our team can go on. Throughout season 2 there are some that are a bit grittier, but we do want to still have fun, because that’s where the team also shines. The next episode, from that bleak episode 3 to episode 4, is very fun. Hopefully fans will enjoy that change of pace.

DBB: There’s a lot of latitude in terms of everything from fun to dire and dramatic that was always contained in ‘Star Wars.’ It’s very accommodating to that sort of freedom of style and tone.