Star Wars News | Kenobi Leaks | Bad Batch Season 2 | Andor Casting

Star Wars News | Kenobi Leaks | Bad Batch Season 2 | Andor Casting

Star Wars has been on a roll as of late. The franchise is thriving with its venture into Disney+ storytelling and shows no sign of slowing down. And it has not just been on the live-action side of things. In its time on the streaming network, the sci-fi universe has produced some excellent animated content. Among these animated adventures has been The Bad Batch.

The Clone Wars follow-up series follows a band of malfunctioning clones, who were not affected by Order 66. The crew is tasked with protecting a young unaltered clone (à la Boba Fett) named Omega, and from there the adventure unfolds.

At the time of its announcement, Season 2 of The Bad Batch was given a 2022 date with many assuming a spring release for the series. Well, despite this assumption, it looks as though the animated series could be slipping later into the year.

Reddit user BZPJMJ64 uncovered in issue 209 of Star Wars Insider that The Bad Batch Season 2 may not be coming as soon as fans had hoped.

In past issues of the magazine, the project was listed with a Spring 2022 release window. That tag has now been removed and replaced with a "Coming Soon" label, with no new specific release timing stated.

One upcoming Disney+ series that's been relatively under the radar compared to other anticipated Star Wars series on the service, like The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, has been Andor. It was previously revealed that Andor would have 12 episodes, but it appears those will be split into two seasons, as actor Stellan Skarsgard confirmed his return to filming for the series.

Recently, it was said that the first season of Andor would release on Disney+ "in the 4th quarter of 2022," according to Disney CFO Christine McCarthy. So any recent filming activity with Andor is for its second season, especially after composer Nicholas Britell was brought on to score the series.

According to Scottish tabloid The Daily Record (via Star Wars News Net), actor David Hayman was supposedly spotted on set for Andor in Oban, Scotland, the same location that the series is currently filming in.

When the 74-year-old actor was directly asked about his involvement, he had a good laugh about how it was all meant to be "top secret:"

“Everything was supposed to be top secret. About 500 film crew descended on Oban, and nobody was supposed to know what was happening. But folk were coming up to me and asking if I was doing my Wonders of Scotland programme or Star Wars. Everybody knew what was happening. It was hilarious.”

Additionally, while Hayman's role in Andor is unknown, the tabloid claimed he would be playing a "key" character.

Hayman has had an extensive film and television career, mostly appearing in UK-based productions such as the ITV drama Trial and Retribution, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Fisherman's Friends, and the first two seasons of the series Top Boy. Though the actor has been part of larger productions like 2014's Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and 2015's Macbeth, Andor will be Hayman's first major franchise role.

Kenobi:
Something I cannot stress enough is the amount of pressure and stress Obi-Wan Kenobi has had to endure. As I mentioned in part 1 of this series, a young Jedi straggler who survived Order 66 finds his way onto Tatooine in search of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

By the sound of things filmed last Spring/Summer at Manhattan Beach Studios, the train yard, and on location, this new character named Nari is the straggler who brings a world of problems into Kenobi’s life when he finally finds him. More than one source has commented on how fantastic Ewan McGregor is in these sequences with Nari, saying he really shines and brings a lot of depth to Kenobi’s character in them.

The Jedi straggler named Nari brings the Order of the Inquisitors to Tatooine. They seem to hunt him rather casually like he is sport. To the best of my knowledge, they play with Nari a bit just to see what he brings out of the woodwork. These Jedi hunters are constantly pulling threads to see what they might discover.

Meanwhile, Owen observes the Inquisitor’s evil antics and assumes they are on Tatooine for Kenobi himself. It is a logical assumption for Owen to make. Owen’s patience with Kenobi has worn thin. After a heated moment, a defeated Kenobi returns to the wilderness of Tatooine.

As Kenobi makes his way through the canyons on Tatooine, he hears his name echoing off the rocks. The young Jedi straggler is calling to him. At first Obi-Wan refuses to acknowledge the young man. When he keeps calling ‘Obi-Wan’ to Kenobi, Kenobi tells the boy his name is “Ben.”

The boy who grew up in the Jedi temple knows Obi-Wan Kenobi when he sees him though. The boy says he is Nari and he has been looking for Kenobi since Order 66. Kenobi still insists he is Ben and not this Obi-Wan Kenobi.