New The Clone Wars Story Reel Will Premiere At Celebration
By Elaine Tveit
If you thought that The Clone Wars animated series was completely over, think again!
According to the official Star Wars website, a new The Clone Wars story reel will premiere at Celebration! The four-episode arc will focus on the namesakes of the show, the clones themselves (including the ever-popular, gun-slinging Captain Rex).
Here’s what StarWars.com had to say:
"“StarWars.com is thrilled to announce that a previously unreleased four-episode story reel, “Bad Batch,” telling the story of how Captain Rex and company rescued Echo, will screen exclusively at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim. The unfinished episodes (similar to the Utapau arc that appeared on StarWars.com) feature complete, final voice performances, specifically by Dee Bradley Baker, who voices the elite clones of “Bad Batch” group.”"
Clone trooper “Echo” appeared in several episodes of The Clone Wars, according to Wookieepedia, including the Citadel arc in which he (supposedly) died. But, back in March 2014, the series’ director Dave Filoni wrote a post on the official Star Wars blog in which he included some tantalizing concept art of episodes that had remained unfinished after the show’s cancellation in 2013. At the end of the post, however, he left a postscript saying, “I have to give you one spoiler because I know it meant a lot to some of you. Yes, Echo is alive.”
He included this bit of concept art:
So how did Echo survive? I guess the lucky Celebration-goers will find out on Friday, April 17th! The screening will take place on the Digital Stage, followed by a Q&A panel with Dave Filoni, Dee Bradley Baker (voice of the clones), and The Clone Wars writers Brent Friedman and Matt Michnovetz.
And if you’re not going to Celebration, don’t give up hope. The first The Clone Wars story reels that Star Wars released premiered on the Star Wars website, which you can watch here. I doubt that the “Bad Batch” arc will be slow to follow.