Will Anakin Skywalker (aka Darth Vader) appear in Star Wars: The Bad Batch?

So far in Star Wars: The Bad Batch, the troop known as Clone Force 99 has come across some dangerous adventures. Of course, they’ve had plenty of that before in the fight against the Separatists. But no bigger threat has faced them before than the Empire.

Lurking in the shadows of this Empire is the former chancellor Sheev Palpatine, who has now declared himself the emperor and goes by the name Darth Sidious. And on top of that, one of the Republic’s best generals, Anakin Skywalker, joins him at his side as the newly-minted Darth Vader.

It’s quite a troubling time in the galaxy and one that’s marked by new problems and hardships that the Bad Batch will have to overcome. Already, they’ve witnessed their “normal” clone brothers becoming loyal to the Empire after Order 66. And even Bad Batcher Crosshair has been lost to the will of the Empire, now serving under the evil Admirals Tarkin and Rampart. We’re sure there is much more danger afoot, but will the Bad Batch find themselves going toe to toe with Vader himself this season?

Is Darth Vader in The Bad Batch?

While we’re only a few episodes in, signs have not quite pointed to Vader being in The Bad Batch yet — but we feel like it’s only a matter of time before they do.

The animated series voice actor for Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) even confirmed that he’s not yet done voicing the character, so it certainly gives us hope that he may be referring to having an appearance in The Bad Batch soon.

In The Clone Wars season 7, the group worked closely with Skywalker as they rescued Echo from the Techno Union on Skako Minor. Anakin was just as instrumental in the rescue of Echo as were the Bad Batch, and we’re sure the clone force admired Anakin for the bravery that he showed on that not-so-easy mission. So, we can only assume that when the Bad Batch find out what’s happened to Anakin, they will be in for a big shock.

There are many ways that Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Echo and Omega could come across Vader in the series, though. Because while Palpatine is usually in the shadows, Vader does carry out more of the heavy lifting when it comes to the Empire’s ill-doings. We may even see Vader and Crosshair together if the two happen to work closely on the formation of the new stormtrooper forces, and that would certainly make for a big challenge if the rest of the clone force had to defeat both Vader and their old-friend Crosshair.

The Bad Batch has given us lots of character cameos so far. And we’re thinking Vader will certainly have to show up in the series — even if we have to wait ’til season 2 (if there’s even going to be a season 2)!

For more, keep up with The Bad Batch category on Dork Side of the Force.