I have an incredibly boring superpower and that is I can always pick out Ben Schwartz’s voice in an animated project. It’s not going to solve world hunger or anything, but it absolutely made my viewing of The Bad Batch episode “Faster” enjoyable to watch.
Ben Schwartz voiced the droid TAY-0, a racing droid that belongs to Cid. The snarky and full-of-himself character is hubris incarnate as he believes he’s the best racer. This cockiness gets him destroyed not one but two times, prompting Tech to have to race for Cid’s life. I can see this character being a bit polarizing for some fans because he’s very much a Schwartz kind of character. I have no issue with him, because Tay-0 is a ton of fun, and goodness forbid we have fun characters in animated Star Wars.
I’m most familiar with Schwartz’s stint as Dewey Duck from the reboot of Ducktales or as the chili dog loving speedster Sonic from the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movies. Tay-0 is very similar to both of these roles, probably why my boring superpower activated. I immediately went, “Huh, that sounds like Dewey. Tay-0 must be voiced by Ben.”
Though, as HITC points out, this isn’t Ben Schwartz’s first Star Wars performance. He had an important role in developing one of the main characters of the Sequel Trilogy. HITC writes:
"“Not only did Ben play an uncredited Stormtrooper in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens back in 2015, but he was a voice consultant alongside Bill Hader (Barry, It Chapter Two) for the voice of BB-8, the round and robotic companion of Rey (Daisy Ridley)”"
HITC even quote an article from Ben Schwartz about BB-8’s creation where he stated:
"“I’m a huge fan of J.J. I worked with him on Undercovers, and we’ve collaborated before. He got in touch and said, ‘Hey, I’m figuring out what BB-8 sounds like…Why don’t you come in and help me fiddle around and experiment?’ I remember being so excited—and then also right away he was like, ‘And you can’t tell anyone.’ I think [J.J.] thinks I’m funny. He wanted this new droid to have personality and be warm and funny. The coolest thing about J.J. is that he’s working on what could be the biggest movie of all time, and he’s still down to collaborate with a Muppet-man like me—a stupid idiot like me. As a collaborator he’s wonderful. Every step of the way he’s brilliant.”"
I’m a big fan of Ben Schwartz’s voice work. From the two previously mentioned roles to killing it as Leo in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, he’s an incredibly talented voice actor. Tay-0 is a fun addition to The Bad Batch roster and a great reminder that Star Wars doesn’t have to be doom and gloom all the time.
Star Wars can be high-octane fun for 22 minutes, and that’s great too.
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