Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3 is just one week away from premiering, and website Gizmodo sat down with producers producers Jennifer Corbett and Brad Rau to discuss three key characters – Asajj Ventress, Fennec Shand, and Dr. Emerie Karr.
Of course, we are most interested in the return of Asajj Ventress, because well let’s face it… She is supposed to be dead thanks to the in-canon novel Star Wars: Dark Disciple.
“We love Ventress! I’ll just say, without going into too many details, as a creative team — not just me and Jen — once we knew this was possible, we got really, really excited. A lot of talk went into it, a lot of thought went into it. Even for the design, we looked to unfinished episodes of Clone Wars, the ones that were the inspiration for Dark Disciple — there were already designs that were created and some early story reels.
We wanted to honor that look — her incredible hair, that incredible lightsaber. “What color is that lightsaber!?” Oh my god, there’s so much going on. A lot of that came from [Clone Wars’ unfinished episodes], so we were really, really excited to be able to honor that, and in Bad Batch for a very specific reason [as part of] Omega’s story.
Next, the pair talk about the mysterious character Dr. Emerie Karr. This character looks very similar to Doctor Pershing from Star Wars: The Mandalorian. Karr is voiced by Keisha Castle-Hughes, who is no stranger to voice acting in the Star Wars galaxy.
“Omega, she lived on Kamino, but her experiences with the Bad Batch have really formed who she is as a person — whereas Emerie’s childhood was very different. Being raised the way she was, being under the tutelage of Dr. Hemlock, she’s now sort of a tool for the Empire.
We wanted to show the interactions between them, because Emerie is very clinical, whereas Omega is the opposite and wants to have this kind of connection [to others]. It’s been great seeing their dynamic throughout this season, and we have Keisha Castle-Hughes [who previously played Naboo’s Queen Apailana in Revenge of the Sith] playing her, and having her back in Star Wars has been fantastic — she really brought a lot to her character.”
Finally is the fantastic character Fennec Shand played by Ming-Na Wen. The last we saw of her, was her live-action appearance in Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett. Keep in mind, this takes place many, many years before that story though.
“She’s just an incredible character, and [Ming-Na] is such a fun person to be around. To pair them with the Batch again, because the last time they interacted was a very different story, I think it speaks to what Hunter and Wrecker are willing to do in order to complete the mission, and the deals they’re willing to make.
We wanted to bring someone back who is that sort of character [to make the Batch go] “Oh, are they going to make this deal?” She was the perfect fit, because she’s the boss! Having them in this episode [with her] doing what they do, I mean… it was fun from breaking the story all the way to the end of animation. I was just like… loved to have her, love to have her in many other things!
Are you excited for the final season of the show? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below!
