Star Wars: The Bad Batch is set to premiere on Disney+ on May 4, 2021. This will be the third Star Wars project to release on Disney+, following the seventh season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and The Mandalorian's first two seasons. The Bad Batch is set to continue the story of the elite squad of clones with genetic mutations introduced in Season Seven of The Clone Wars, with their own dedicated series officially announced on July 13, 2020.
One character that will connect these Star Wars Disney+ projects, Fennec Shand as portrayed by Ming-Na Wen, was introduced in The Mandalorian's fifth episode, "The Gunslinger." Wen is now set to reprise her role once again as the assassin in The Bad Batch, though this time only her voice will be used for the animated Star Wars series. After a brief glimpse at Shand in the series' first trailer, it appears a more detailed look at the character has now been revealed.
ANIMATED FENNEC SHAND
Via Star Wars' Instagram story, the first full look at Fennec Shand in Star Wars: The Bad Batch has been shown. The picture features Shand armed and ready with an explosion in the background.
A major note is that she is not wearing her helmet, so fans get their first look at her face in the upcoming Disney+ series.
The full picture can be viewed below:
A YOUNGER TAKE ON MING-NA WEN'S CHARACTER
In a move that is nothing new to Star Wars projects, The Bad Batch will act as a prequel series for Wen's character. Fans got to know Fennec Shand a lot more after she reemerged in the final three episodes of The Mandalorian Season 2. She was also set up to play a major role in the upcoming live-action Star Wars show The Book of Boba Fett.
This is a much younger rendition of the character, as The Bad Batch will start roughly 28 years before she was introduced in The Mandalorian (about 19 BBY-9 ABY). Despite her presumably young age, she looks cool, calm, and collected in this image, just as you'd expect an effective assassin in the heat of battle.
Wen's character has been portrayed as an elite mercenary that works from crime syndicates across the galaxy. Getting an up-close look at her early career will hopefully be a delight for live-action and animated Star Wars fans alike.
The large web of Star Wars canon across films, books, comics, and now TV shows is only expanding and becoming more complicated. While Shand appearing in this series isn't as earth-shattering as Hayden Christensen returning as Darth Vader, it does show Lucasfilm's focus on creating a connected universe.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch is set to begin its first season May 4, 2021, exclusively on Disney+.
