Wow, Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 1 Is Going To Be Even Longer Than We Thought

Clone Force 99 on Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021)

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After months of anticipation, Star Wars: The Bad Batch has finally arrived! The new animated series continues the adventures of the eccentric Clone Force 99 and further expands upon the mythology established by Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Bad Batch’s premise is pretty much known at this point, but one thing fans have still been pondering is Season 1’s episode count. Now, one of the show’s creatives has provided an answer.

When the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars arrived last year, it ran for a total of 12 episodes. This led many to assume that The Bad Batch would probably have a similar run. However, supervising director Brad Rau has just revealed some news to CNET that is sure to make fans quite happy:

We have 16 episodes in Season 1. We can't confirm any more than that, but we have high hopes. We love these characters. We'd love to keep telling the stories.

So it turns out Star Wars fans can expect 16 episodes of The Bad Batch for its debut season. While it doesn’t quite reach the 22-episode count of past seasons of Clone Wars or Rebels, it still gives the creators plenty of time to tell some exciting stories.

It should be pointed out that Brad Rau’s comments also seem to indicate that he’s received no official word on a Season 2 renewal. Disney and Lucasfilm are likely taking their time and waiting to see how well received the show will be. As of right now, reviews have been mostly positive, so that could bode well for the show’s chances of getting future seasons.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch reintroduces audiences to the titular team that was originally introduced during Clone Wars’ final season. Now, we’ll see the team exploring the galaxy in a post-Revenge of the Sith world, in which the Galactic Empire reigns. The team will also run into a few familiar faces along the way, including The Mandalorian’s Fennec Shand.

Having such a rich and interesting period of time in the Star Wars universe gives the show a number of opportunities to bring in characters from a number of different places. So if viewers do want more, the producers would likely have no trouble coming up with additional stories for Clone Force 99. You can check out Star Wars TV shows by streaming it on Disney+, which you can sign up for using this link.

The future may not be set quite yet for Star Wars: The Bad Batch, but it’s good to know that we can at least look forward to 16 glorious episodes of action, humor and heart. You can stream the show on Disney+ now.

Erik Swann
Senior Content Producer

Erik Swann is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He began working with the publication in 2020 when he was hired as Weekend Editor. Today, he continues to write, edit and handle social media responsibilities over the weekend. On weekdays, he also writes TV and movie-related news and helps out with editing and social media as needed. He graduated from the University of Maryland, where he received a degree in Broadcast Journalism. After shifting into multi-platform journalism, he started working as a freelance writer and editor before joining CB. Covers superheroes, sci-fi, comedy, and almost anything else in film and TV. He eats more pizza than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.