The Bad Batch has had to, for obvious reasons, spend a lot of time revolving around the characters of its masculine stars—Omega aside, the series must look beyond the rank and file of the former Clone Army for a feminine perspective. But as the third and final season looms, it’s setting the stage to center three very intriguing female foils.
Omega, of course, remains a vital part of The Bad Batch, but she and the rest of the team will find themselves brushing up against three very important returning characters in season three: Emerie Karr, the cloned accomplice of Dr. Hemlock on Weyland and Omega’s sister; Ming-Na Wen’s returning bounty hunter Fennec Shand; and, of course, the revived Asajj Ventress, having survived her seeming death in the novel Dark Disciple. Ahead of the show’s return, io9 sat down with executive producers Jennifer Corbett and Brad Rau to discuss this fascinating set of characters.
James Whitbrook, io9: Emerie Karr, who we met at the tail end of season two, is one of the show’s most intriguing characters coming into the new season. Why was now the right time to introduce this foil not just for Omega, but for Dr. Hemlock as well?
Jennifer Corbett: I think what’s interesting about Emerie is that even though she’s Omega’s sister, they’re very different, and that is a product of how they were raised. Omega, she lived on Kamino, but her experiences with the Bad Batch have really formed who she is as a person—whereas Emerie’s childhood was very different. Being raised the way she was, being under the tutelage of Dr. Hemlock, she’s now sort of a tool for the Empire.
We wanted to show the interactions between them, because Emerie is very clinical, whereas Omega is the opposite and wants to have this kind of connection [to others]. It’s been great seeing their dynamic throughout this season, and we have Keisha Castle-Hughes [who previously played Naboo’s Queen Apailana in Revenge of the Sith] playing her, and having her back in Star Wars has been fantastic—she really brought a lot to her character.
io9: What was the process for bringing Ventress back like? Was she a character you wanted specifically to bring into this story, or one offered to you as a potential way to tell the story you had this season?
Brad Rau: We love Ventress! I’ll just say, without going into too many details, as a creative team—not just me and Jen—once we knew this was possible, we got really, really excited. A lot of talk went into it, a lot of thought went into it. Even for the design, we looked to unfinished episodes of Clone Wars, the ones that were the inspiration for Dark Disciple—there were already designs that were created and some early story reels.
We wanted to honor that look—her incredible hair, that incredible lightsaber. “What color is that lightsaber!?” Oh my god, there’s so much going on. A lot of that came from [Clone Wars’ unfinished episodes], so we were really, really excited to be able to honor that, and in Bad Batch for a very specific reason [as part of] Omega’s story.
io9: Ventress isn’t the only returning character—aside from the Clones, we’ve got Ming-Na Wen back as Fennec Shand. Given the stories The Bad Batch is focusing on this season, why was it important to get her in the final season too?
Corbett: She’s just an incredible character, and [Ming-Na] is such a fun person to be around. To pair them with the Batch again, because the last time they interacted was a very different story, I think it speaks to what Hunter and Wrecker are willing to do in order to complete the mission, and the deals they’re willing to make.
We wanted to bring someone back who is that sort of character [to make the Batch go] “Oh, are they going to make this deal?” She was the perfect fit, because she’s the boss! Having them in this episode [with her] doing what they do, I mean… it was fun from breaking the story all the way to the end of animation. I was just like… loved to have her, love to have her in many other things!
Rau: Ming-Na is on fire in the episode, she’s so good at giving the soldier boys guff. She’s incredible.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch returns for its third and final season starting with a three-episode premiere February 21 on Disney+.
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