Lucasfilm just recently announced that its Singapore visual effects and animation studio is closing indefinitely, which led to many fans wondering how it would affect Season 3 of The Bad Batch as well as other animated shows.
Season 3 of Star Wars' The Bad Batch is scheduled to be released sometime in 2024, serving as the final installment for the show as a whole and wrapping up this chapter in Clone Force 99's story.
A teaser was already provided to fans who attended Star Wars Celebration back in April, teasing the return of Emperor Palpatine, Omega and Crosshair's relationship as they are imprisoned together, and how Clone Force 99 will rescue them.
Omega voice actress Michelle Ang shared a photo via Instagram back on June 28 of a congratulatory award for being a part of the show, indicating that the voice actors were done recording their lines.
Bad Batch Crew Member Provides Update on Season 3
Joel Aron, who is the director of cinematography for Star Wars: The Bad Batch, recently took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to update fans on how Season 3 of the show is coming along and if Lucasfilm's primary animation studio is affected by the closing of Lucasfilm's Singapore visual effects and animation studio.
Aron told the public in his post that Lucasfilm Animated Ltd. (LAL) "is not affected by this closure," and went on to let fans know that they "are still ferociously busy" working on Season 3 of The Bad Batch and Season 2 of Tales of the Jedi:
"Just to be clear, we’re not affected by this closure. LAL is not in Singapore :) we’ve always been at either the ranch or where we are now in SF (or working from home!). We are still ferociously busy working with Cgcg to bring you all s3 of 'The Bad Batch' and 'Tales of the Jedi.'"
The reason that so many fans were concerned about The Bad Batch and other Star Wars animated projects is that the Singapore studio played such a vital role in developing past shows such as The Clone Wars.
It is entirely possible that Season 3 of The Bad Batch could be affected by the closure slightly, but that Aron and the rest of the crew at LAL are still working to get it out on time. His comments are only saying that LAL as a whole is still operating out of the headquarters.
As Aron noted, it is important to remember that the Singapore location isn't the headquarters of Lucasfilm Animation or Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), which are both based in San Francisco.
Fans should also know that Season 3 of The Bad Batch is also not affected by the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) strikes, so it is still being worked on and will release on schedule barring any major setbacks not concerning the strikes.
Series executive producer and head writer Jennifer Corbett is currently supporting the WGA strike, but animated shows often deal with different guilds than live-action projects so that is why The Bad Batch isn't affected at all.
When Will The Bad Batch Season 3 Be Released?
Season 2 of The Bad Batch came out on Disney+ in the early months of 2023 (January-March).
Season 3 was always advertised to be released sometime in 2024, but there is still no actual specific date or even window for when it could come out.
Seeing as how the voice actors finished recording their lines around the end of June or early July, that would mean that LAL is currently busy trying to get the show ready for release at some point next year.
It is important to remember that animated shows are entirely made through the magic of VFX, so the process of making a 16-episode season with each episode having a runtime of around 25 minutes is a long one.
However, it is encouraging that the show isn't being delayed by the strikes.
Based on the updates that fans have received from the cast and crew, it is entirely possible that Season 3 could come out by the middle of 2024.
If the closure of the Singapore studio does cause a setback, however, it may not come out until later in 2024.
As LAL continues to work on getting everything perfected for the upcoming season, fans can expect to probably see an official trailer at least by the end of 2023, with perhaps even an announcement of when the show will be back on Disney+ for its final 16 episodes.
Season 3 of The Bad Batch is scheduled to be released on Disney+ sometime in 2024.
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