Star Wars: Your Guide to the Bad Batch in the Clone Wars Lore

Image Source: Everett Collection

As it revealed during Disney's Investor Day, Disney+ is coming at us at a fast and furious rate with new Star Wars content, which includes an upcoming series called Star Wars: The Bad Batch. This title may ring familiar for avid viewers of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The new show follows members of the Bad Batch, a squadron of powerful clones who genetically vary from members of the Clone Army. We'll see them while they "take on daring mercenary missions as they struggle to stay afloat and find new purpose" after the events of the Clone Wars. In case you're not too familiar with the lore surrounding The Clone Wars or need a refresher on who the members of the Bad Batch are, here's a useful primer on the infamous group and their dealings.

Conceived as an animated series, The Clone Wars is set during the three years between Episode II and Episode III during the prequel trilogy. Featuring the Bad Batch, the seventh and final season of The Clone Wars had been known as the notorious unfinished season — that is, until Disney+ picked it up and completed it in May 2020. Here's the rundown on the conflict itself: The Clone Wars are fought to stop thousands of planetary systems (known as Separatists) from leaving the Galactic Republic, which uses an army of clone troopers against the Separatist battle droid army. Eventually, we learn that Palpatine is rigging the war so he can turn the Republic into an empire under his absolute power.

Originally premiering in 2015, the first episode of The Clone Wars' final season is called "The Bad Batch," an informal nickname for the experimental Clone Force 99. The squad consists of clone soldiers with genetic mutations that make its members even more powerful than regular clones. Each gifted with special abilities, the clone troopers include Crosshair, Wrecker, Tech, and Hunter. (Crosshair has enhanced vision, Wrecker superhuman strength, Tech technical aptitude, and Hunter electromagnetic signal sensory capability.) Technically members of the army, they occasionally work with Commander Cody but don't really report to anyone. Since the Bad Batch only has a four-part storyline in The Clone Wars, it'll be interesting to see how the new series expands on these characters.