The Mandalorian won’t be back for a while, but there will be a character crossing over into the Bad Batch, the next big Star Wars show coming to Disney+.
The other day, Disney released the trailer for The Bad Batch, one of the many Star Wars spin-off series coming to Disney+. Picking up after the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch will follow the titular five clones as they find their footing following the rise of the Empire. We’re talking after Revenge of the Sith but before A New Hope here.
That’s why it’s a little surprising to see a certain character from The Mandalorian — which is set after the original trilogy — show up. Fennec Shand (played by Ming-Na Wen on The Mandalorian and voiced by her here) turns up around 1:12, pointing a gun at someone and passing on some good advice. “The galaxy’s a dangerous place to be.” Well, it’s not like leaving it is really an option, is it?
In The Mandalorian, Fennec Shand is a mercenary who’s had a couple of run-ins with our favorite title character. She’ll have a starring role in the upcoming series The Book of Boba Fett, which will air in December of this year. Apparently she’s pretty long-lived if she was also deadly and capable back in the days of the Empire.
Both The Bad Batch and The Mandalorian are produced by Dave Filoni, so it makes sense he’d want his characters to cross over. It’s even possible we could see the Bad Batch turn up in live-action form at some point. In fact, with all the Star Wars on the way — Obi-Wan Kenobi, Rangers of the New Republic, Ahsoka Tano, etc. — I’d be surprised if we didn’t. Disney’s Star Wars Cinematic Universe isn’t quite as densely connected as its Marvel Cinematic Universe, but that seems to be the goal.
The Bat Batch will be out on Disney+ on May 4, Star Wars Day, with a 70-minute episode. And as long as we’re talking trailers, Hulu put out a new one for the upcoming fourth season of The Handmaid’s Tale, which premieres on April 28:
That’s rather a sight more bleak than The Bad Batch, but hey, May will be full of contrasts.
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