Misfits with a cause

In The Bad Batch, which premiered May 4 on Disney+, Lucasfilm continues to fill in the space around its blockbuster Star Wars movies.

The animated series takes place at the same time as the 2005 movie Revenge of the Sith. (The first episode, 75 minutes long, tries to get new fans up to speed, but viewers who haven’t seen Episodes I–VI of the Star Wars franchise will probably feel lost.) The newly formed evil Galactic Empire is rising, but a group of clone soldiers who should be loyal, the Bad Batch, go rogue, refusing to submit to the despotic regime.

Early episodes of The Bad Batch feature many “misfits form a team” tropes—celebrating differences, working together, trusting each other—but don’t expect a lighthearted romp from this gritty animated series (rated TV-PG for cartoon violence). The series wrestles with the appropriateness of governmental power and warns against sliding toward totalitarianism. In one episode we see the state coercing citizens into giving up their liberty for supposed security. In another we see ordinary people persuaded to participate in an atrocity—a scene reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

So far, the series offers a compelling defense of conservative principles: People should rely on their families and communities rather than massive bureaucratic government that doesn’t have their best interests at heart. Disney+ will add new episodes every Friday until the middle of August.