‘Star Wars’ Celebration: ‘The Bad Batch’ Panel Recap, New Footage Shown
Sadly, Star Wars Celebration is wrapping up. However, they kicked the last day off with a bang with The Bad Batch panel featuring Executive Producer and Supervising Director Brad Rau, Executive Producer and Head Writer Jennifer Corbett, Executive Producer Athena Portillo, as well as actors Dee Bradley Baker and Michelle Ang. The panel was mainly focused on the creative process and highlights from the second season; however, we did get a confirmation for season 3, which will be the show’s final season.
In addition to the announcement of season 3, they also showed a teaser trailer for season 3 exclusively for those in the room. Check out this description from StarWars.com below:
It began with the Emperor (once again voiced by Palpatine actor Ian McDiarmid) visiting Dr. Royce Hemlock, leader of the Empire’s cloning efforts, on Mount Tantiss. “It is imperative that this facility remain secure,” Palpatine says. “Your brilliance is a great asset to this Empire.” All members of the Bad Batch appear, with Hunter addressing Omega’s capture at the hands of the Empire. “Omega’s been waiting for us. I’m not making her wait another day.” We see Omega and a sullen Crosshair, both still in Imperial custody. “I’m not giving up, Crosshair,” Omega tells him. “I won’t leave you, either. You’re my brother.” Throughout, there are glimpses of several worlds and characters, including Republic commandos, clones, Rex, plenty of giant creatures (“Why is there always a huge monster!” Wrecker asks, before dropping a thermal detonator in one’s mouth.), and Ming-Na Wen’s fan-favorite bounty hunter, Fennec Shand.
The panel began with a highlight reel from season 2, eliciting both cheers and shouts when Crosshair shot Lieutenant Nolan and Tech sacrificed himself, respectively.
It’s time for #TheBadBatch panel at #StarWarsCelebration! With Omega and Clone Force 99 themselves… pic.twitter.com/VMwAxx0RxH
— Empire Magazine (@empiremagazine) April 10, 2023
The discussion started with the panelists reviewing how the characters changed from season 1 to season 2, and how best to portray those changes and this evolving journey for the audience. Asked what it was like to play a more grownup Omega, Michelle Ang commented:
“It was so nice to be a more confident and seasoned voice actor, and Omega at the same time is a more confident and seasoned solider. She has developed a thirst for adventure, but there were times when Brad [Rau] would ask ‘how petulant, how teenager-y is Omega in this moment?’ There were definitely some moments where she tested the Batch.”
Similarly, regarding the evolution of the Batch, Dee Bradley Baker discussed:
“Season 1 was really about them disconnecting them from their special operations background… They’re trying to figure out where they stand. Are they just going to survive? Are they guns for hire? But now things have ratcheted up with Echo going off to join Rex, so it’s interesting to watch them realize what the stakes are.”
It was fun to listen to Baker and Ang discuss their characters. It’s clear they both have so much passion for their respective character journeys and the show as a whole. The panel needed little moderating as the cast and crew got rolling and didn’t stop.
Baker mentioned that episode 12 The Outpost is his favorite episode of season 2. He commented:
“For both of these characters [Crosshair and Mayday], it’s very affecting. I got to point out, a lot of the acting that you see, I don’t talk a lot in this one in particular, even though it’s a clone-centric story. It’s the acting that all the rest of the artists involved with the production of this bring, the nuanced expression, from the lighting to the subtle shifts in expression to how it is edited and touched up. This is an ensemble of artistry that creates all of this thing. I’m very privileged and glad to be a part of it.”
Discussing The Outpost further, Jennifer Corbett added:
“I’m very attached to this episode. I was in the military, and I view this episode as a veteran’s story. To compare Crosshair and Mayday to Lt. Nolan, who is just the worst. How the Empire treats the clones as property vs. how the clones treat each other. Crosshair in season 1 and in The Clone Wars viewed the “regs” as less than him, but pulling Mayday out of the snow is such a huge moment for him. He’s willing to carry his brother all the way back to save him.”
Switching over to Pabu, Brad Rau joked about his mission to make the Star Wars food better, with Athena Portillo adding that they spent a lot of time in production making the sushi on Pabu look nice. Rau was apparently hyper-focused on the sushi the Batch eats during episode 13 Pabu. Corbett added:
“It got to the point where I told Brad: If you mention the sushi one more time, I will hop off this Zoom call.”
Moving on to darker subjects, the panelists then went on to discuss Cid’s betrayal, Dr. Hemlock’s cloning experiments, and Tech’s demise. Michelle Ang became emotional talking about Tech. She discussed how they initially found out:
“I knew that something was up, because Jen and Brad were particularly sensitive saying ‘if you guys want to talk about anything after you’ve read the script…’ It never entered my mind that we would lose someone from the Batch. I guess I was like ‘well at least the journey Omega got to have with Tech really made sense…’ And I feel like, out of all the relationships, Tech imparted so much of his technical knowledge, and Omega absorbed so much of that. It was really quite emotional.”
Baker added:
“I console myself with the thought that his sacrifice was heroic and intentional and no less than any clone would want for their final service and as an end to their mission. It was rendered and so beautifully choreographed and written, it really knocked me out.”
Speaking specifically about Tech’s final line, Baker said:
“Although I remember, sometimes there are conversations about different pieces of dialogue, and [laughing] we went around on this one a fair amount, and I think probably arrived close to what we originally had anyway, but we really wanted to get this feeling just right. I think it’s remarkable and very affecting. I know you all were very affected by it. I’ve seen that full force over the last few days. He did his job, and he was satisfied with that. I’ll never forget the guy.”
They capped off the panel with each panelist describing their favorite episode or moment of season 2 before Jennifer Corbett announced that there will be a third and final season. They then showed a small teaser for the attendees, which is covered in written form at the top of this story.
The entire panel was streamed to the LIVE! stage, which you can watch here.
When she isn't watching her friends and family's eyes glaze over at the mention of The Clone Wars, she's at the park with her dog, Melvin, or on the couch with a book in one hand and a drink in the other. Physically, she lives in Ohio; spiritually, she lives in Naboo.
