Of all the people watching any of Star Wars' animated shows, the one who probably has the hardest time picking their favorite clone trooper isDee Bradley Baker. The actor has long been the voice for every single clone trooper, infusing each with their own unique personality that makes them stand out from their otherwise identical brothers inThe Clone Wars,Rebels, and most recently,The Bad Batch. But that still begs the question: does Baker have a favorite?
Well, he may not have a favorite per se, but that doesn’t mean the characters don’t stand out to him,even now asThe Bad Batchprepares to wrap up its three-season run. At theClone Warspanel at Calgary Expo, the moderator, Collider’sPerri Nemiroff, asked Baker which member of the Batch he was most excited to voice when he signed on for the project, andwhich one he found the most creatively fulfilling. While his answer for the first was fairly straightforward — Wrecker was the most fun because “he’s the one I wish I were, and I’m probably the furthest from him” —his answer for which one was most fulfilling took a more thoughtful turn:
“And to my surprise, my favorite and most creatively challenging, and most interesting is Crosshair, who starts out as a surly snake of a guy, who then falls away and makes some bad choices.But his whole redemption arc really touched a lot of people, and that really surprised me. And I must say the other surprise was Tech, and especially when Tech is talking to Omega about how “I process things differently, but that doesn’t mean I feel it any less than you do,” that moment really connected with a lot of people, and really connected with me as well.”
Baker went on to praise the minds behind the series, saying that the story is really what Star Wars is about:
“It’s really a testimony, I think, to the whole creative engine that Disney and [Dave] Filoni and Brad [Rau] and Jen [Corbett] have in creatingThe Bad Batchin particular, that these are stories that are human and really connect with people on a human level, and people thirst for that, and they really long to have a story of hope and redemption, andthat’s what you got in Star Wars and very much so inThe Bad Batch.”
Baker’s love of Tech and Crosshair extends beyond the chance to portray them and into their character arcs as well. When he and fellow panel-mateAshley Ecksteinwere asked about their favorite character arcs in the animated shows, Eckstein kicked things off by shouting outthe much-hyped Siege of Mandalorearc fromThe Clone WarsSeason 7:
“I would say Siege of Mandalore. WithClone Wars,everyone knew what was gonna happen with Anakin and Padmé and Obi-Wan, but nobody knew what was gonna happen with Ahsoka and Captain Rex, and all the other clones. For Dee and I to get to do those episodes together, those are some of my favorite moments in the studio, especially just the two of us getting to do some of those scenes. That was really a gift to get to close out the series with those episodes.”
Baker seconded the idea that it was a gift for them to end the series properly, and noted that it was special for him on a personal level:
“It really was, and I so wanted that to happen for us to be able to finish that story. And I really didn’t think we were gonna get a shot at it. It seemed pretty impossible, no one was happier than me, but I know we were all thrilled to be able to finish the terrible finish of the Clone Wars.”
He then went on to add that the scene that he’s found resonates most with fans is the one he mentioned earlier, from Season 2, Episode 9 “The Crossing,” withTechand Omega’s conversation in the cave. “I think that really touched a lot of hearts, and a lot of different people,” Baker said, before going on to add that his personal standout episode was “The Outpost,” also from Season 2:
“Personally, for me, the Outpost episode with Crosshair and Mayday, that was a really affecting, and really interesting pivotal moment for what for me is the most interesting of the Batchers over the past three seasons.”
The series finale ofThe Bad Batchhits Disney+ on May 1. The rest of the series is streaming now on Disney+.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch
The ‘Bad Batch’ of elite and experimental clones make their way through an ever-changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone Wars.
