Star Wars: The Clone Wars has been back for merely two episodes and people are already praising its return. After an eleven-year hiatus, showrunner Dave Filoni brought the fan-favorite show back by literal popular demand. This seventh season will run right up to (and possibly into) the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. One of the best elements of the show thus far has been the introduction of the Bad Batch, and it seems we have none other than George Lucas to thank for them.

Bad Batch; The Clone Wars; Star Wars; George Lucas
Image: Lucasfilm Ltd.

In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, Filoni talked about bringing The Clone Wars back after so long. He began by discussing how much the show had progressed just from a technical perspective. With advances animation technology, he felt they were able to improve on the original: “I really feel looking at this show now, it’s kind of how George [Lucas] and I envisioned it to look in the beginning.” When the Bad Batch came up, Filoni revealed something very interesting.

George Lucas responsible for the Bad Batch in The Clone Wars

Bad Batch; Star Wars The Clone Wars
Wrecker, Hunter, and Captain Rex in The Clone Wars. (Image: Lucasfilm Ltd.)

“Clone Force 99” was named for a defective clone seen in the early episodes of Season 3. These clones are certainly different. They’re mutants, with special abilities, and special looks. When it came to the look of the Bad Batch troopers, Filoni admitted that he wasn’t the one responsible:

[T]he Bad Batch themselves, that was all right from George. He wanted to explore this idea that there were clones that were a little bit more unique from one another that were like a special forces unit that had enhanced skills.”

~ Dave Filoni
Bad Batch; Clone Wars
Rex, Wrecker and Crosshair in Season 7 of The Clone Wars. (Image: Lucasfilm Ltd.)

George Lucas had and continues to have a heavy influence on Dave Filoni and Star Wars in general, it seems. It goes well beyond The Clone Wars and the Bad Batch. Filoni even took Lucas’s teaching to heart when directing live action for The Mandalorian:

There are a lot of things that George had taught me over the years about live-action, and finally here I was in a place where I could apply it.”

Dave Filoni: once but the learner, now the master…. but George Lucas will always be synonymous with Star Wars.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars airs Fridays on Disney+.

Source: Entertainment Weekly