One of the most intriguing figures in Star Wars: The Bad Batch’s premiere wasn’t just that surprising cameo. In fact, arguably one of the most interesting additions to the Star Wars prequel canon in years comes in the form of the squad’s newest ally, Omega—and Bad Batch’s crew sees the addition as one of the show’s greatest challenges.
Ever since Omega was glimpsed in the show’s trailers, fans have speculated just who they could be. Many were right that Omega is indeed a new clone from the same Jango Fett template that the rest of them, including the Bad Batch, were developed from. But what the premiere reveals is that Omega, despite being brought up to believe otherwise, is part of the “Bad Batch” like our titular heroes; it’s just she’s, well… a she. Voiced in the show by Michelle Ang, Omega quickly becomes a driving force. The decision to introduce a female Jango clone wasn’t really at the forefront of producers Jennifer Corbett and Brad Rau’s minds, however. For the duo, it was what Omega represented to the Batch. “Early on in the development, we kept asking ourselves: how we can challenge the Bad Batch, because they are these efficient, skilled elite troopers—and what would really give them trouble along the way? It seemed if we added a child into the mix it would be a sort of fish-out-of-water experience because it’s something they are completely unfamiliar with and don’t know how to deal with,” Corbett told io9 on a recent video call.
That’s not to say Omega’s status as a clone—and specifically like Crosshair, Hunter, Wrecker, and Tech, a “defect” of the Fett template—isn’t an important part of her story. The Bad Batch wants to explore not just the titular squad’s relationship to the Empire, but their relationship to the standard clones that are now its footsoldiers as well, and Omega will play an important part in that parallel. “In terms of her being a clone, it’s really just us expanding on the Batch—in the eyes of the regs, they’re just really seen as these defects. The defective clones in this oddball squad who aren’t really welcomed, because a lot of people don’t really know about it,” Corbett said. “So when they find out there’s another one of them out there and it’s this child who is also considered ‘defective’ and knows what it’s like to be different and not fit in—especially on Kamino—it felt like a bonding kind of moment.”
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“It was also fun to show her as this fan of the Batch because she’s looked up to them and heard of them and they are like her,” she added. “It was an interesting dynamic that we got to explore.” A welcome dynamic too, for The Bad Batch’s star: returning Clone Wars and Rebels veteran Dee Bradley Baker, the voice of Captain Rex and the rest of the Grand Army of the Republic, and now approximately 90% of The Bad Batch’s primary cast. “Well, it’s nice to have another member of the ensemble!” Baker joked. “It’s also… it’s a really smart and interesting idea, to add the element of Omega into this story. So it’s not just action and war, but also an experienced grown-up with his own child and interesting capacities, as we start to indicate. So, as with Star Wars—as always—it’s not just these frozen characters, but the dynamic that is playing out: the personal, human story is playing out under the canopy of these greater political, military forces that everyone has to contend with, which are quite profound and dramatic and dire, often.”
“It’s nice that it adds a counterbalancing human element to it, of a personal relationship…to have this little character, Omega, and this A-Team of very different, very independent, improvisational, kind of each-is-his own-warrior kind of team—we have to deal with this sweet, innocent, powerful, capable, smart child,” Baker concluded. “It’s an interesting story choice that I think plays out really beautifully in Bad Batch.”
Star Wars: The Bad Batch is now streaming on Disney+.
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