Star Wars: The Bad Batch brings new take to classic franchise

It’s taken a long time, but Star Wars has finally figured out how to be Star Wars without recycling itself.

With shows like “The Mandalorian” and “The Bad Batch” coming out, and shows like “Andor” being completed, one thing is alarmingly clear, Star Wars is finally figuring out what it needs to be in the modern day. 

For the longest time Star Wars has functioned on essentially the same plot. Both the Originals and the Sequels are a story of someone from a desert planet finding out they are a Jedi, fighting stormtroopers with inconsistent lightsaber physics, and joining the rebellion with a hot pilot. And the fans eat it up. Genuinely I don’t want to watch anything else when Star Wars is on the table. But it gets old. We’ve seen Tatooine. We’ve seen stormtroopers and masked bad guys. We have a story of an inescapable fascist regime that is the result of political and emotional turmoil, the fall of which is one of the most watched movie franchises of all time, and the most some people can see is spaceships and desert planets. We need something more. 

This more has been exemplified amazingly through popular shows like “The Bad Batch” and “Andor”. Both shows follow the effects the Empire had on the galaxy. They are both stories of people, not special people, not Jedi, just people. They are stories of rebellion and normalcy and family and it is everything Star Wars is supposed to be. 

“The Bad Batch” follows a group of rogue clones as they navigate the Empire moments after Order 66. It follows the internal conflict of the clones after the rise of the empire and the implementation of the empire across the galaxy and what it did to people. The idea behind the show is amazing. It is everything a former Clone Wars lover would want. 

The animation is gorgeous, some of the best animation I’ve seen in my life. The small details are just that small, but they add up to create stunning visuals when paid attention to. The show has just enough humor to keep you entertained while still being a serious Star Wars show that I can force my dad to watch (and enjoy) with me. The plot holds the watchers attention, even through the filler episodes, and my only complaint is that the episodes aren’t coming out fast enough. And that season one may have been better, but that can only be determined after the full season comes out. 

The “Bad Batch” effectively showcases characters that fans know and love as they navigate through a world familiar to everyone watching. It is what Star Wars should be. Fans don’t need desert planets and Darth Vader to enjoy Star Wars (though I am not complaining, I love a good villain). Star Wars should continue to explore the amount of stories that can be created as one ineffective government is toppled and replaced by another, like they are doing in shows like “The Bad Batch”. Recycling the same plot over and over again is not what the Star Wars universe deserves, and shows like “The Bad Batch” are perfect examples of what the universe should be.