New Star Wars Animated Series Rumored To Focus On The Bad Batch

Star Wars: The Clone Wars only wrapped up last month, but we already know that we haven’t seen the last of many of the characters from the prequel series. Ahsoka Tano, for instance, will be back as soon as this fall, making her live-action debut in The Mandalorian, as played by Rosario Dawson. On the animated front, Lucasfilm is known to be working on a few fresh Star Wars projects. But a new rumor points to something being in the works that we didn’t know about before.

Kessel Run Transmissions’ Noah Outlaw is claiming on Twitter that Lucasfilm is developing a new animated series focusing on the Bad Batch, as introduced in the season 7 premiere of The Clone Wars. In fact, the insider says that this episode was deliberately intended to be a backdoor pilot for a whole show dedicated to the group. And while Outlaw says he’s “100%” sure of his information, we’d still classify it as a rumor for now.

The Bad Batch arc in S7 was a back door pilot for this new series as a way to get the audience familiar with these characters. Rex and Ahsoka willl also appear in a limited capacity. Production is far along and you can expect it in 2021.

— Noah Outlaw (@OutlawNoah) June 18, 2020

Officially titled Clone Force 99, the Bad Batch are a squad of clones with “desirable” genetic mutations that make them superior soldiers. Though they only just showed up in canon, the concept dates back years. George Lucas had the idea for them during The Clone Wars‘ original run but the series was cancelled before he and showrunner Dave Filoni got the chance to introduce them. Given that they were dreamt up by Lucas himself, that does lend the Batch an extra weight. And a show based around their missions post-Siege of Mandalore would be a lot of fun, with a unique premise, too.

Like Outlaw says, there would even be room for Rex and Ahsoka to turn up as well, albeit in a limited capacity. Lucasfilm’s apparently already knee-deep in production, too, meaning it could be here next year. If that’s the case, then we should hear more about it in the near future. While we wait for further news, then, let us know what you think of this new Star Wars animated series in the comments.