Disney is nothing if not enthusiastic about exploiting its most popular properties. We’ve got about 30,000 new Marvel shows and movies coming our way in 2023, but what of its other big cash cow? Disney will be taking us on several trips that galaxy far, far away this year. We’re here to run down all the Star Wars stuff coming out between now and the end of the year, starting with…
Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2: January 4 on Disney+
The second season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch is already off and running. This is an animated Star Wars in the tradition of The Clone Wars and Rebels, two other series masterminded by Dave Filoni. In fact, The Bad Batch even features a lot of the same characters. The titular Bad Batch, a group of variant clone soldiers, made their first appearance in The Clone Wars.
The Bad Batch picks up with the group after the Empire takes over the galaxy. Most of their clone soldier breathren joined the Empire when the Emperor executed Order 66, but the Bad Batch resisted and went solo (well, except for Crosshair). Their own show follows their adventures as mercenaries, joined by a younger clone named Omega.
The Bad Batch is more focused on the episode of the week than most other Star Wars shows, but still has an overarching narrative. The second second is in full swing right now!
The Mandalorian season 3: March 1 on Disney+
The Mandalorian was the first Star Wars TV show to debut on Disney+, and it’s still the most popular. After Andor, it’s harder to say whether it’s still the best, but it will get a chance to make its case when the third season starts up in March.
When last we left Mando and Grogu (aka Baby Yoda) at the end of The Mandalorian season 2, Grogu was going off with Luke Skywalker to learn to control his Force powers, while Din Djarin inadvertently became the ruler of the planet Mandalore…but the story kept going after that, in The Book of Boba Fett. Grogu left Luke to reunite with his Mando daddy, so they’re back together. No movement on the Mandalore plot, though.
Honestly, it was lame of Disney to force people to watch an entirely different show in order to see what happened next with their favorite Mandalorian characters. Hopefully The Mandalorian season 3 will be so good it’ll make up for everything.