Star Wars: The Bad Batch returns to Disney Plus for its second season today. The first two episodes – “Spoils of War” and “Ruins of War” – are now available to stream, and indicate that the show is set to continue the hot streak that saw it scoop the Best Animated Television Stories trophy at the 2022 Saturn Awards.
Dee Bradley Baker, who voices Clone Force 99’s Hunter, Echo, Wrecker, Tech, and Crosshair, has spoken about what’s coming in the second season in an interview with ComicBook, and also revealed he wants a surprisingly neglected Star Wars creature to make a comeback.
When asked what character he wanted the Bad Batch to meet, he gave this surprising response:
“I want them to cross paths with a tauntaun. I want them to ride tauntauns. That is the Star Wars character that I want them to cross paths with because I love tauntauns.”
Introduced in the Hoth sequence of 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, tauntauns are the Rebel ride of choice on the snowy planet, looking like a cross between a mountain goat and a dinosaur. As well as being able to tolerate the freezing temperatures, they also make a fine (if off-puttingly smelly) sleeping bag in a pinch.
Since The Empire Strikes Back, tauntauns have been a rare presence in Star Wars, likely because they only make sense in scenes set on Hoth. Return of the Jedi saw one unfortunate individual appear as a trophy on the wall in Jabba’s Palace, though aside from scattered scenes in comics and novels, that’s it.
We say grant Baker his wish, and let’s see The Bad Batch marching across the snowy drifts of Hoth astride a squad of mighty tauntauns. It’s about time these majestic but stinky creatures made a comeback.
The Bad Batch season two airs Wednesdays on Disney Plus
Published: Jan 4, 2023 05:58 am