Star Wars: The Bad Batch is an American animated television series created by Dave Filoni for the streaming service Disney+.

The Bad Batch follows a unique squad of clone troopers with genetic mutations who resist Order 66 and go on the run in the early days of the Galactic Empire.

[7][13] Baker replaced New Zealand actor Temuera Morrison, who portrayed the clones—as well as the bounty hunter Jango Fett whose genetic material the clones are created from—in the Star Wars prequel films.

Voice actor Keisha Castle-Hughes was not told that Emerie is a clone at first, but she suspected that the character was related to Omega after the producers asked her to use her natural New Zealand accent for the role.

Castle-Hughes previously had a brief non-speaking role as Queen Apailana in the film Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005).

[13][45] Other actors who reprised roles from The Clone Wars in the first season include Ben Diskin as AZI-3;[30] Matthew Wood as the battle droids;[42] Bob Bergen as Lama Su;[30] Gwendoline Yeo as Nala Se;[30] Nika Futterman, Kath Soucie, and Cara Pifko as the family of clone deserter Cut Lawquane;[47] Brigitte Kali and Elizabeth Rodriguez as the Martez sisters;[52] Corey Burton as Cad Bane and Seth Green as Bane's droid Todo 360;[53] and Tom Kane, who narrated the opening of each The Clone Wars episode, provided similar narration for The Bad Batch's premiere episode.

[46] Reprising roles from the Star Wars films in the first season are Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine,[44] Wood as Bib Fortuna,[43] and Rena Owen as Taun We.

[55] The producers knew early in development that the first episode would begin with a retelling of Order 66 from the perspective of the Bad Batch, and decided to include the Jedi Depa Billaba and Caleb Dume since many viewers would already be familiar with the latter from Rebels, where he is known as Kanan Jarrus.

[39] Reprising roles from The Clone Wars in the second season are Stanton as Mas Amedda,[31] Jennifer Hale as Riyo Chuchi,[32] LaMarr as Bail Organa,[31] and Jameelah McMillan as Halle Burtoni.

[59] The season also features several actors reprising their roles from the film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016): Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Tynnra Pamlo,[58] Andy de la Tour as Hurst Romodi, and Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic.

[93] Walt Disney Records released the first track from the series' score, titled "Enter the Bad Batch", as a digital single on May 13, 2021.

[104] Whip Media, which tracks viewership data for the more than 1 million daily users of its TV Time app, calculated that Star Wars: The Bad Batch was the most anticipated new television series in May 2021.

each appeared on its streaming charts for a combined total of seven weeks from May to October, collectively accumulating approximately 2 billion minutes of viewing time.

[111][112] Luminate, which measures streaming performance by analyzing viewership data, audience engagement metrics, and content reach across various platforms, calculated that Star Wars: The Bad Batch was watched for 923 million minutes in 2024.

The website's critics consensus reads, "The Bad Batch's beautifully animated adventure may be too lore heavy for casual viewers, but fans will enjoy diving deeper into this dastardly cast of characters.

The website's critic consensus reads: "The second bundle of The Bad Batch retains all the same virtues and vices as the first: a slick Star Wars adventure geared toward diehard fans at the expense of more casual viewers.

The website's critic consensus reads: "Mobilizing for one last hurrah with plenty of easter eggs and rousing action still left in its arsenal, The Bad Batch ends on a good note.

"[120] Wenlei Ma of News.com.au gave the show a positive review and stated, "The Bad Batch is catnip for the dedicated Star Wars fans.

It's an animated action-adventure series with thrills, relatable characters on the right side of the war, blaster guns and enough lore and easter eggs to invoke a few excited squeals.

[123] Julian Lytle of idobi.com gave the show 8 out of 10 stars and stated, "The Bad Batch feels familiar but also starts a new journey with new characters in a cool setting.

"[126] Niv M. Sultan of Slant Magazine rated the series 1.5 out of 4 stars and stated, "The show's attempt to individualize its protagonists largely reduces them to predictable, banal archetypes.

[128] In response to these concerns, supervising director Brad Rau said the animation team had gone back through the produced episode and adjusted the skin tones of the clones to be closer to that of film actor Temuera Morrison.

[130] Joshua Patton of CBR complimented the show for portraying a kid-friendly conversation about neurodivergency, highlighting a quote from Tech in season two, episode nine: "I may process moments and thoughts differently, but that does not mean that I feel any less than you".