Happy Star Wars Day! Disney Plus is celebrating May 4th in style this year with the series premiere of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, the follow-up to The Clone Wars which focuses on the titular Clone Force 99, as introduced in the final season of the aforementioned prequel-era show. As the animated corner of the SW universe is so acclaimed, there was a lot of hype for this one and, sure enough, fans are loving the first episode.
1×01 “Aftermath” opens by showing us the events of Order 66 (again) from the perspective of the Bad Batch, who (mostly) aren’t affected by the order in the same way as regular clones. What’s more, the pilot offers a retelling of the origins of Jedi Padawan Caleb Dume, who viewers know better as Kanan Jarrus from Star Wars Rebels. By the end of the 70 minute opener, the group have adopted young fan Omega and have gone rogue, with Admiral – not yet Grand Moff – Tarkin on their tale.
“Aftermath” pretty much offered everything folks could want from this premiere, with social media full of positive reactions to the outing, as you can see below.
#TheBadBatch was amazing, really great start! It's good to meet our clones again, I missed them (though I didn't miss that order…) Wrecker's probably my fav ngl 😂 Other than that, awesome visuals and storytelling, I can't wait to see where this is going 🥰 #MayThe4thBeWithYou pic.twitter.com/UotQwKwUFw
— Benou (@AoNoBenou) May 4, 2021
There’s a lot of love for Wrecker going around.
Loved the 1st episode of #TheBadBatch so happy to see the baddest batch of clones in action again, can not wait for the next episode this season will be epic. Also Wrecker is MVP pic.twitter.com/9NhCcHKkVD
— Ł•𓂀•F•Ë 🎨 (@LiferGraffiti) May 4, 2021
The fact that the pilot was more than an hour long was an extra nice surprise.
about to watch #TheBadBatch and WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S 1H+ LONG?!?! OMG MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH US INDEED WE ARE TRULY BLESSED TODAY
— mika 🌠 (@thenovalorian) May 4, 2021
It’s even winning over the doubters.
I was a huge #TheCloneWars fan and wasn’t sure if I was going to like #TheBadBatch because it was a spin-off of a show that ended so perfectly. I gotta say, 30 minutes in and I’m loving it. They are taking the show in unexplored areas of the timeline, and the characters are great
— Richard Graf (@CinephileRich) May 4, 2021
Watching Order 66 yet again was emotional, though.
https://twitter.com/eIdianakin/status/1389503377113960448
Having Kanan back – and once more voiced by Rebels‘ Freddie Prinze Jr. – was a big (Disney) plus.
It was so great to see Kanan again #TheBadBatch #SPOILER pic.twitter.com/P53Usjm7Gm
— The Shadow on your Wall (@TheShadow_99) May 4, 2021
People are already feeling protective of Omega.
https://twitter.com/AceFireFox/status/1389553846201069570
All praise the Filoni.
He does it again #TheBadBatch #MayThe4thBeWithYou pic.twitter.com/GnyuqBZnHB
— The Menifesto (@Menifesto) May 4, 2021
But let’s also give some much-deserved props to Dee Bradley Baker for voicing the entire Bad Batch by himself.
Let's give a shoutout to the man who literally voices 90% of the characters in the show#TheBadBatch pic.twitter.com/wXJlYMCtDX
— Guru (@Guruelous) May 4, 2021
You know the best part about premiere? There are only a few more days to wait until episode 2 arrives on Friday.
https://twitter.com/nayandragptr/status/1389555196137668609
Don’t miss Star Wars: The Bad Batch as it unfolds its 16-part first season weekly on Disney Plus.