Star Wars: The Bad Batch

• Dee Bradley Baker as all members of the Bad Batch:
  A squad of elite clone troopers also known as Clone Force 99, consisting of Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair, and Echo.[2] Star Wars creator George Lucas wanted the Bad Batch to be more unique than other clones, with each having special abilities, but he did not want them to be superheroes.[3] Baker also voices the other clones in the series, including Cut Lawquane, Captains Rex, Howzer and Wilco, Commanders Cody and Mayday,[4][5] and clone commandos Gregor and Scorch. In addition Baker also voices Barton Coburn, a former Admiral, now Imperial officer who once served under Jedi Master Plo Koon.
• Michelle Ang as Omega:
  A young female clone working as a medical assistant on Kamino. She is an unmodified replication of Jango Fett, but is genetically deviant from standard clone templates and therefore feels a kind of kinship with the Bad Batch.[6]

• Ben Diskin as AZI-3: A medical droid on Kamino.
• Stephen Stanton as Admiral Tarkin,[4][5] a high-ranking Imperial officer.
  • Stanton also voices Mas Amedda, the Grand Vizier, second in command to Palpatine.[5]
• Bob Bergen as Lama Su: The prime minister of Kamino.
• Gwendoline Yeo as Nala Se: The Kaminoan scientist in charge of the cloning process.
• Noshir Dalal as Vice Admiral Rampart: An Imperial officer responsible for the new chain code registration system and Imperial army recruitments.
• Dahéli Hall as ES-04: An Imperial Elite Squad Trooper.
• Rhea Perlman as Ciddarin "Cid" Scaleback: A Trandoshan and former Jedi informant who provides mercenary work to the Bad Batch.
• Liam O'Brien as Bolo: An Ithorian regular at Cid's parlor.
• Sam Riegel as Ketch: A Weequay regular at Cid's parlor.
• Tina Huang as ES-02: An Imperial Elite Squad Trooper.
• Ness Bautista as ES-03: An Imperial Elite Squad Trooper.
• Helen Sadler as Doctor Scalder,[7][8] a member of the Imperial Advanced Science Division.

• Wanda Sykes as Phee Genoa,[9] a pirate who has contracts with Cid and who takes a personal interest in Tech.
• Jennifer Hale as Riyo Chuchi,[10] a Pantoran member of the Imperial Senate.
• Jimmi Simpson as Doctor Royce Hemlock,[11] the director of the secret Imperial Advanced Science Division.
• Keisha Castle-Hughes as Emerie Karr,[11] the chief scientist of the ASD facility in Mount Tantiss, and later revealed to be another female clone of Jango Fett.

• Archie Panjabi as Depa Billaba,[12] the Jedi Master of Caleb Dume.
• Matthew Wood as battle droids and Bib Fortuna,[13] Jabba's majordomo and right hand.
• Freddie Prinze Jr. as Caleb Dume,[12] the Padawan of Depa Billaba, who escapes Order 66 on Kaller. Prinze previously voiced an older version of the character in Star Wars Rebels
• Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious,[14] the Emperor of the Galactic Empire, as well as the Dark Lord of the Sith.
• Tom Kane as the narrator[lower-alpha 1][15]
• Andrew Kishino as Saw Gerrera,[16][17] a freedom fighter from Onderon.
• Nika Futterman as Shaeeah Lawquane,[18] the daughter of Cut Lawquane and his wife, Suu.
• Kath Soucie as Jek Lawquane,[19] The son of Cut Lawquane and his wife, Suu.
• Cara Pifko as Suu Lawquane,[20] the wife of Cut Lawquane.
• Emilio Garcia-Sanchez as ES-01,[21] an Imperial Elite Squad Trooper.
• Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand,[22][23] an elite mercenary and sniper hired by the Kaminoans to retrieve Omega from the Bad Batch. Wen reprises her role from The Mandalorian.
• Brigitte Kali as Trace Martez,[24] an ex-smuggler turned freedom fighter and Rafa's younger sister.
• Elizabeth Rodriguez as Rafa Martez,[25] an ex-smuggler turned freedom fighter and Trace's older sister.
• Corey Burton as Cad Bane,[26] an infamous bounty hunter hired to retrieve Omega.
  • Burton also voices Gobi Glie, Hera's uncle and Cham Syndulla's subordinate.
• Seth Green as Todo 360,[27] a service droid owned by Bane.
• Rena Owen as Taun We: Lama Su's aide.
• Alexander Siddig as Avi Singh,[28] a senator from the former Separatist planet of Raxus Secundus.
• Sian Clifford as GS-8,[29] Avi Singh's protocol droid.
• Shelby Young as Captain Bragg,[30] an Imperial officer on Raxus Secundus.
  • Young also voices Yanna, a Wookie elder, and Lenk, a Twi'lek freedom fighter.[31]
• Vanessa Marshall as Hera Syndulla,[32][33] Cham Syndulla's daughter, an aspiring pilot and freedom fighter. Marshall, who also voiced an older version of the character in Rebels, used a French accent for the younger Hera to match the native Rylothian Twi'lek accents heard from other characters.
• Robin Atkin Downes as Cham Syndulla,[34] a famed Twi'lek freedom fighter and Hera's father.
• Ferelith Young as Eleni Syndulla,[35] Cham Syndulla's wife and Hera's mother.
• Phil LaMarr as Orn Free Taa,[36][5] the corrupt Imperial senator of Ryloth.
  • LaMarr also voices Bail Organa, a senator from Alderaan.
• Chopper as "Himself", Hera's irritable astromech droid.
• Tom Taylorson as Roland Durand,[37] a Devaronian crime boss.

• Héctor Elizondo as Romar Adell,[38] a local of Serenno who went into hiding after the Empire bombarded the planet.
• Tasia Valenza as Tawni Ames,[39] the Separatist governor of Desix, who opposes the Empire's occupation.
• Max Mittelman as Governor Grotton,[40] an Imperial governor installed on Desix.
• Ben Schwartz as TAY-0,[41] a droid who participates in races for Cid.
• Ernie Hudson as Grini Millegi,[42] a Dowutin gangster who was an associate of Cid and oversees Riot Racing on the planet Safa Toma.
• Jonathan Lipow as Gungi,[5] a Wookiee Jedi youngling on the run from the Empire.
  • Lipow also voices Mokko,[5] a slaver and boss of a scavenging gang.
• JP Karliak as Babwa Venomor,[43] a Trandoshan mercenary leader, who works for the Empire.
• Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Tynnra Pamlo, a senator from Taris and member of the Imperial Senate. Duncan-Brewster reprises her role from Rogue One.
• Jameelah McMillan as Halle Burtoni, a Kaminoan and former member of the Imperial Senate.
• Yuri Lowenthal as Benni Baro,[44] a teenage scavenger and ipsium miner.
• Aleks Le as Drake,[45] a human scavenger and member of Mokko's inner circle.
• Crispin Freeman as Lieutenant Nolan,[46] an Imperial lieutenant with particular disdain for clones, and the commanding officer of Crosshair.
• Imari Williams[47] as Shep Hazard, mayor of Pabu, father of Lyana, and good friend of Phee Genoa.
• Andy Allo as Lyana Hazard,[47] Shep's daughter who becomes friends with Omega.
• Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic, an Imperial commander who is tasked with the Project Stardust. Mendelsohn reprises his role from Rogue One.
• Andy de la Tour as Hurst Romodi, an Imperial officer who serves under Governor Tarkin. de la Tour reprises his role from Rogue One.
• Alain Uy as Lieutenant Maylur, an Imperial officer who serves under Governor Tarkin. Uy also voices a Stormtrooper.

By September 2016, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels supervising director Dave Filoni had stepped back from that position on the latter series so he could focus more on the series' writing as well as the development of future animated series for Lucasfilm.[48] In July 2018, Filoni announced that a final season of The Clone Wars would be released on the streaming service Disney+ in 2020.[49] The season includes a four episode arc introducing a squad of clone troopers with genetic mutations known as the Bad Batch; the episodes previously existed as story reels for an earlier, unfinished season of the series, and came directly from the plans of Star Wars creator George Lucas.[3]

Disney+ officially ordered a new series from Lucasfilm Animation in July 2020 titled Star Wars: The Bad Batch, a spin-off from the final season of The Clone Wars following the Bad Batch clones in the aftermath of the Clone War. The announcement described the series as Dave Filoni's vision, and he serves as executive producer alongside Lucasfilm's Athena Portillo, supervising director Brad Rau, and head writer Jennifer Corbett, with Lucasfilm's Carrie Beck and Josh Rimes as co-executive producer and producer, respectively.[1] Filoni described the series as "very much in the vein" of The Clone Wars and said it would stay true to Lucas's vision for that series of telling epic, exciting adventure stories.[50] In August 2021, before the release of the two-part first-season finale, the series was officially renewed for a second season.[51] In April 2023, during Star Wars Celebration London, it was announced that The Bad Batch would receive a third and final season in 2024.[52]

Dee Bradley Baker voices the Bad Batch and other clones in the series.

The first trailer for the series, which released in December 2020, confirmed that Dee Bradley Baker would return from The Clone Wars as the voice of all the clone troopers in the series, including the members of the Bad Batch and Captain Rex.[2][4] It also revealed that a younger version of the character Fennec Shand from The Mandalorian would be appearing in the series, and actress Ming-Na Wen soon confirmed that she would reprise her role as Shand.[22] Additionally, Stephen Stanton and Andrew Kishino reprised their roles as Admiral Tarkin and Saw Gerrera, respectively.[4][16]

Kevin Kiner was confirmed to be scoring the series in January 2021, after previously scoring The Clone Wars and Rebels.[53] He wrote the Bad Batch Theme for the final season of The Clone Wars,[54] and described his score for The Bad Batch as an evolution from its predecessor with a mix of electronic and orchestral elements. Kiner was inspired by the soundtracks of The Guns of Navarone (1961) and The Dirty Dozen (1967), which both feature a band of characters similar to The Bad Batch.[55]

Kiner's score for the first season was released digitally by Walt Disney Records in two volumes: music from the first eight episodes was released on June 25, 2021, and music from the last eight episodes was released on August 20. A track from the first season, titled "Enter the Bad Batch", was released digitally as a single on May 13.[56]

A third volume, featuring music from the first eight episodes of the second season of The Bad Batch, was released digitally on February 17, 2023.[57] A fourth volume, featuring selections of music from the second season's final eight episodes, was released on April 7, 2023.[58]

According to Whip Media's viewership tracking app TV Time, Star Wars: The Bad Batch was the most anticipated new television series, during the month of May 2021,[63] and was the 4th most anticipated returning television series, during the month of September 2022.[64] According to Nielsen, Star Wars: The Bad Batch was the 7th most streamed original series across all platforms, during the week of May 3, 2021, to May 9, 2021.[65][66]

According to Whip Media's viewership tracking app TV Time, Star Wars: The Bad Batch was the 3rd most streamed original series across all platforms during the week of January 8, 2023,[67] during the week of January 15, 2023,[68] during the week of January 22, 2023,[69] during the week of January 29, 2023,[70] and during the week of February 5, 2023,[71] the 5th during the week of February 12, 2023,[72] and during the week of February 19, 2023,[73] the 6th during the week of February 26, 2023,[74] the 7th during the week of March 5, 2023,[75] the 6th during the week of March 12, 2023,[76] the 7th during the week of March 19, 2023,[77] the 6th during the week of March 26, 2023,[78] and the 5th during the week of April 2, 2023.[79]

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 86% approval rating with an average rating of 7.3/10, based on 92 reviews for the first season. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Bad Batch's beautifully animated adventure may be too lore heavy for casual viewers, but fans will enjoy diving deeper into this dastardly cast of characters."[80] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 67 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[81] The second season has an approval rating of 90% with an average rating of 7.2/10 based on 21 reviews, the website's critic consensus states: "The second bundle of The Bad Batch retains all the same virtues and vices as the first: a slick Star Wars adventure geared toward diehard fans at the expense of more casual viewers."[82]

Joel Keller of Decider called the series a "worthy" spinoff of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and praised the introduction of Omega as a female main character, writing, "Star Wars: The Bad Batch should satisfy Clone Wars fans and give completist fans of the franchise a chance to see what happened at the very beginning of the Empire."[83] Joshua Rivera of Polygon gave the show a positive review and stated, "The prequels are just as full of rich potential as the original Star Wars trilogy, and The Bad Batch, like The Clone Wars before it, is set to do a lot of slow, careful work to tease out that potential."[84] Wenlei Ma of News.com.au gave the show a positive review and stated, "The Bad Batch is catnip for the dedicated Star Wars fans. It's an animated action-adventure series with thrills, relatable characters on the right side of the war, blaster guns and enough lore and easter eggs to invoke a few excited squeals."[85]

Vincent Schilling of Indian Country Today gave the show 8.5 out of 10 stars and stated, "I'm not a superfan of Star Wars animated series, but I am impressed with this one, a team of certifiable rejects, each with their own skillset, is a winning formula for me - excellent actually."[86] Jesse Schdeen of IGN gave the premiere episode an 8 out of 10 rating, stating that the series is "a worthy successor to The Clone Wars, so much so that it could easily be rebranded as an eighth season" and that "it uses a loose end from that show to build a brand new story about the plight of clones after the war's end, and it's one that immediately resonates". He also added that the show "captures a lot of what made The Clone Wars so great (including the slick animation style and the vocal talents of Baker), but it doesn't entirely escape that show's flaws, either".[87] Julian Lytle of idobi.com gave the show 8 out of 10 stars and stated, "The Bad Batch feels familiar but also starts a new journey with new characters in a cool setting. I can't wait to see what happens with this group in the Empire."[88] Marty Brown of Common Sense Media gave the show 4 out of 5 stars and a '10+' age rating, stating, "This series delivers on precisely what fans would expect from a Star Wars story: world building, unique new characters, and big action sequences with a moral allegory at the center."[89]

Jonathan Roberts of The New Paper gave the show 2.5 out of 5 stars and stated, "The Bad Batch is good to dip into, but it can make for a bad binge."[90] Niv M. Sultan of Slant Magazine rated the series 1.5 out of 4 stars and stated, "The show's attempt to individualize its protagonists largely reduces them to predictable, banal archetypes."[91]

Kimberly Terasaki of The Mary Sue expressed concerns over the series "whitewashing" the clone troopers, writing that "the designs of some characters seemed to make many of them lighter-skinned and/or with more European features... Long story short: clones of a character played by a Māori man had been white-washed." This concern was also noticed by fans, spawning a Twitter page, an Instagram page, and a Change.org petition.[92] In response to these concerns, supervising director Brad Rau said the animation team had gone back through the produced episode and adjusted the skin tones of the clones to be closer to that of film actor Temuera Morrison.[93]

The first season is one of 200 television series that received the ReFrame Stamp for the years 2021 to 2022. The stamp is awarded by the gender equity coalition ReFrame and industry database IMDbPro for film and television projects that are proven to have gender-balanced hiring, with stamps being awarded to projects that hire female-identifying people, especially women of color, in four out of eight key roles for their production.[94]

The series was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Animation Series or Short at the 2022 Motion Picture Sound Editors Awards.[95] It won Best Animated Series at the 47th Saturn Awards.[96]