Star Wars: The Bad Batch returns to Disney+ this January

At long last, a The Bad Batch Season 2 release date has officially been announced — and it’s not September 28 as many speculated.

Lucasfilm announced during a D23 panel this afternoon that Clone Force 99 will return to Disney+ very early next year.

A trailer for the show’s second season debuted during Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2022 earlier this year, but an official release date was not provided at the time. Panel attendees were also treated to a special look at the first several minutes of the new season.

We do know that some time has passed between the end of the first season and the beginning of the second, and also that a few familiar faces beyond the main cast of characters will appear.

While an official release date for the season wasn’t announced until today, many previously speculated that it would premiere on September 28, 2022. Disney+ briefly listed this date on the show’s main page, but it was removed and never confirmed.

An early January release does mean that the show’s 16-episode season will most likely overlap with Season 3 of The Mandalorian which is expected to hit Disney+ sometime in February 2023. But as we’ve seen recently, a release date change for that series could easily change in the months leading up to the premiere.

Although it hasn’t yet been confirmed whether or not the show will expand beyond two seasons, the next installment of episodes will likely dive much deeper into the lasting impacts of the end of The Clone Wars and the citizens — and clones, and Imperials — affected by it.

What surprises await? There are only a few months left until we find out.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch returns January 4, 2023 exclusively on Disney+.

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