Who voices Dr. Hemlock in The Bad Batch?

Warning: This article contains spoilers from The Bad Batch season 2, episode 11 “Metamorphosis.” 

A new villain has emerged in The Bad Batch season 2. “Metamorphosis” introduces Doctor Royce Hemlock when he arrives at Mount Tantiss. Dr. Hemlock works for the Empire and has been brought in to oversee the Empire’s various secret cloning projects, which includes the use of a cloned Zillo Beast.

When he goes to see the imprisoned Nala Se, it is clear that he and the Kaminoan scientist have history with each other. Much like the Empire being unable to move forward with the first Death Star’s superlaser until they had Galen Erso’s cooperation, it seems that the Empire is unable to move forward with their cloning projects until they have Nal Se’s cooperation.

Dr. Hemlock tries to motivate Nala Se by talking about how she will be contributing to groundbreaking scientific achievements, but quickly changes his tone by threatening that imprisonment will be the least of her concerns if she refuses to cooperate.

In this scene and the others featuring Dr. Hemlock throughout the episode, he speaks in a quiet, firm, and chilling voice that makes everything he says sound ominous. This voice performance has already helped to cement Dr. Hemlock as a captivating villain.

Jimmi Simpson voices Dr. Hemlock in The Bad Batch

Simpson has provided his talents to many movies and television series, with one of his most famous roles being William in Westworld. He was a series regular in Westworld season 1 and received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for season 2.

In addition to Westworld, Simpson is also known for his roles as Liam McPoyle in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Mary Lightly in Psych, Gavin Orsay in House of Cards, and as James Walton in the critically acclaimed Black Mirror episode “USS Callister.”

With Dr. Hemlock now searching for a military-class shuttle that got away from the Zillo Beast’s rampage and a young clone girl who can be used to control Nala Se, he will definitely return for more Bad Batch episodes. In fact, with Vice Admiral Rampart now arrested and stripped of his power, Dr. Hemlock will likely become The Bad Batch‘s new “big bad.”

In a single episode and a handful of scenes, Simpson’s voice performance has already made Dr. Hemlock feel like a more menacing and more unique villain than Rampart ever was. It will surely be another great Bad Batch episode when Dr. Hemlock returns.