As a rather perfect celebration ofStar WarsDay,Star Wars: The Bad Batchjust beganits high-expectation first season. Dave Filoni’s new entry into his already substantial stable of animatedStar Warsseries seems poised to tell some new stories, and fans all over are excited to experience them. Among those fans are the hosts ofGood Morning America, who brought Filoni on their show to discuss the new series and sneakily probed him for any clues they could get on the mysterious upcoming 3rd season of the insanely popularThe Mandalorian.
The segment began with Filoni promotingThe Bad Batch, which is a spin-off/sequel of his other showThe Clone Wars, giving a brief synopsis and showing off a surprisingly short clip. When asked by the GMA hosts what the new show was about and how it ties intoThe Clone Wars, Filoni said, “A lot of kids grew up withThe Clone Wars.Now they’re a lot older, so we wanted to tell a story that explains what [the clones] do when something they fought for, that they believe in, the Republic changed and became the evil Empire that I grew up watching inStar Wars. So it’s a nice period of transition.“TheBad Batchalso features the first female clone, setting a precedent for some interesting new stories to be told.
RELATED:Looks Like The Mandalorian Season 3 May Feature A Fuzzy Fan Favorite
Filoni then went on to answer some fan questions before the bit ended with the hosts attempting to extract even the tiniest bit of information aboutThe Mandalorianseason 3. “We’re both working on that,we’re working on [The Book of Boba Fett]right now,” he said with a laugh, admitting he didn’t want to say much without showrunner Jon Favreau. “I can’t really say anything specific, but I think the Force will be strong with it, let’s just say that.” The hosts jokingly lamented how it’s impossible to get anything new about Marvel orStar Warsprojects, but perhaps Filoni hinted at something ever so slightly with a deceptively non-committal answer.
Season 2 ofThe Mandalorianheavily featured themes surrounding the Jedi and the Force, with appearances from characters like Ahsoka Tano and even awell-kept secret cameo from Luke Skywalker himself. After everyone’s favorite frog-eating alien Grogu apparently left the show at the end of the season, many assumed the series’s force-centric aspect would be toned down a bit going forward. But maybe Filoni is hinting at even more Jedi showing up as the story moves forward. It’s already likely that the ancient Jedi artifact known as the Darksaber will play a big role in the story going forward,as will Katee Sackhoff’s Bo Katan, so it might not be that farfetched to assume. Sure, the “Force will be strong with it” line could just be a random repetition of a standard in-universe phrase. But isn’t it more fun to speculate?
Other highlights from the interview include Filoni passing on one of his biggest takeaways from George Lucas, which is thatStar Warsis primarily made for kids, and that should always be kept in mind when telling new stories in the series. That’s not to say everything should be only for children, but he believes that the themes of hope and inspiration should always be there for that reason. He also addressedthe newly established High Republic era, admitting that he can’t say anything at the moment about whether it will be explored in any upcoming shows or films, but that “you never know” what might happen in the future.
Filoni might be one of the most respected figures inStar Warsright now, and for good reason. His stories appeal to wide audiences and respect established lore and characters while still doing new things with them. Here’s hoping the wait for new info aboutThe Mandalorianisn’t too much longer, but for now,The Bad Batchcertainly looks to be the beginning of a great time.
The Mandalorianseason 3 is currently in production. New episodes ofStar Wars: The Bad Batchpremiere Fridays on Disney Plus.
