Small Details You Missed In The New Star Wars: The Bad Batch Trailer
Star Wars' biggest properties might be its movies, but its most critically acclaimed ones (according to Rotten Tomatoes) are generally the shows that let the stories take their time — especially in recent years. While The Mandalorian has won over modern crowds, The Clone Wars did that a long time ago on a TV station far, far away. Moreover, The Clone Wars was so popular that it came back after half a decade in the grave, and it didn't return alone. The studio behind the show is trying to clone its own success now with Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
As the name suggests, The Bad Batch is an upcoming spin-off series that stars the titular Bad Batch, a troop of "defective" clones that, unlike the malformed 99, were engineered with beneficial mutations such as enhanced strength and vision. These clone supersoldiers honored the brave, hunchbacked 99 by adopting the name Clone Force 99, but everyone calls them the Bad Batch because they're good at what they do.
The Bad Batch first appeared in the final season of The Clone Wars. Disney dropped a new trailer for their solo show, which debuts on May the Fourth, that includes a few hidden details that might fly under your radar. We're here to make sure these important tidbits don't go completely undetected.
Fennec Shand, Saw Gerrera, and Captain Rex, oh my
If you caught Star Wars: The Bad Batch's sizzle reel back in December of 2020, you probably already know about some of the show's cameos. For example, The Bad Batch will include a young Fennec Shand, who will once again be voiced by Ming-Na Wen. And, audiences can't ignore Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin (Stephen Stanton) in what is currently his earliest canonical appearance (sorry, but the expanded universe comics, books, and video games are no longer canon). But, the new trailer for The Bad Batch features some more cameos that you need Jedi reflexes to catch.
At the 1:29 mark, Clone Wars fans will hear a familiar voice saying, "The Clone Wars have ended. You can either adapt or survive, or die with the past. The decision is yours." Then at 1:38, the trailer reveals that the voice belongs to a young Saw Gerrera, once again voiced by Andrew Kishino. Fittingly, the start of Saw Gererra's speech also marks another important cameo. The timestamp displays the Bad Batch trekking across the mountains with a familiar set of Clone Trooper armor with an instantly recognizable blue pauldron and visor: It's Captain Rex (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker ... like basically every character in this show).
Given these cameos, who knows what other important Star Wars characters will show up. A young Hera Syndulla, perhaps?
The Bad Batch is bad at following orders
At long last, Star Wars: The Bad Batch's trailer provides the show's basic plot. The Bad Batch will apparently start the series under the command of Admiral Tarkin, who is displeased with their "concerning level of disobedience, and disregard for orders." One thing leads to another, and Clone Force 99 will be on the run from their fellow Clone Troopers, now loyal soldiers of the newly founded Galactic Empire. Of course, the Bad Batch still takes time out of their busy schedules to destroy Separatist droids, but the show will apparently focus on them trying to survive their outlaw status. But why is the Bad Batch being hunted? Admiral Tarkin might have already answered that question.
Tarkin states that the Bad Batch is disobedient and doesn't follow orders very well. While it's never explicitly explained, that could have potentially included the infamous Order 66. Normally, a clone would be incapable of disobeying Order 66 — or any order for that matter — due to biochips implanted in their brains. Once activated, the chip inhibits a Clone Trooper's ability to defy orders, so the mere fact that Clone Force 99 can disregard orders implies that their biochips are either defective or missing.
In Admiral Tarkin's own words, while the Bad Batch is five men strong, it is "more capable than an army." When you are trying to conquer the galaxy, the last thing you need is a group of independent supersoldiers with an intact moral compass throwing a spanner in your plans.
Were those prototype Dark Troopers?
Star Wars: The Bad Batch's trailer begins with a training exercise, specifically the Bad Batch's members showing off their skills against training droids. Since the Clone Wars just ended, it wouldn't make sense for Clone Troopers to use the standard refurbished Separatist droids. Instead, the Bad Batch fights different training droids, some of which cut a familiar silhouette for old school Star Wars fans.
While some of the training droids look like metal kites with arms, others are larger and more humanoid with wide shoulders, thin waists, and Stormtrooper-like faceplates, which look strikingly similar to the now-non-canon Dark Trooper droids. While it's unlikely the show's droids are actually Dark Troopers since, you know, canonicity is in the way, there is another possibility. While this is pure speculation, the droids in the trailer look like and could be early DT-series sentry droids, which first appeared in Star Wars Rebels, and were inspired by the Dark Troopers (via Rebel Recon).
Even though the original concept for the Dark Troopers has fallen out of favor with Disney, the spirit lives on in current canon thanks to the "third-generation design Dark Troopers" from The Mandalorian and now The Bad Batch. You just can't keep a good killer robot down.