The Omega we meet at the start of Season 3 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch is far different from the character’s debut three years ago. The bright-eyed young clone who excitedly discovered the galaxy beyond rainy Kamino has matured over the years, and now finds herself trapped in a secret Imperial medical base being forced to serve the Empire’s excruciating medical testing on other clones.
“Season 3 opens with Omega being separated from the Batch willingly because she recognizes not doing that endangers all the people that she loves,” says Michelle Ang, who voices the character. “That's a pretty big call for a young character.” For Ang, the decision to give herself up at the end of Season 2 showcases how much the character has grown. “It shows that Omega's starting to understand the complexities of the world and is willing to stand in the face of danger for what she knows is the right thing to do.”
Behind the scenes, Ang has also grown as a voice actor over the course of the series, playing opposite Star Wars: The Clone Wars veteran Dee Bradley Baker who rounds out the other members of Clone Force 99, voicing Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair, Echo, and — in previous seasons — Tech. “When I came in, I was naive and I was enthusiastic,” Ang says. “I'm still absolutely enthusiastic, but given the knowledge that Dee was able to share with me and the experiences we've been through, I hope that I've proven myself.”
Omega and Crosshair
Of course, when the season opens, the only member of the Bad Batch Ang is playing off of is Crosshair. The upcoming episodes give the two characters more of a chance to connect on screen, Ang says, which has allowed for some fun in the recording booth. “They really have some great times together in this season. And Dee loves playing all the characters, but Crosshair in particular we have a lot of fun with. He’s just sort of snide,” Ang says. “There's a line that Omega says: ‘You don't like anything.’ I feel like there were some recording sessions where we were just having so much fun with Omega dropping these truth bombs. Crosshair has probably been my favorite in terms of working with one of the characters that Dee plays over Season 3.”
From the beginning, Baker has been a mentor for Ang, whose previous work was focused on live action. “I'm lucky I have all of these wonderful characters to play off. I'm always in awe of Dee, but also I feel like we're so familiar with our characters now and the series that it feels like a more even playing field. We are collaborators and friends and artists. And we really had to lean on that because Season 3 has some really intense emotional stuff. Not to say that the other seasons weren't emotional, but I think [this season] in particular, being able to rely on his voice acting to bring out the truth was really important.”
Kid confidence
On screen, Omega will also be tapping into some newfound confidence. “The stakes are so much higher,” Ang says. But like some children she’s encountered who face uncertainties in the world with an unwavering conviction beyond their years, Omega’s belief never falters. “It's that idea of that [youthful] confidence despite the stakes that is interesting. In terms of getting into the Omega headspace, she's gone through some tough things, but it hasn't ever been bleak. She still has all these really gung-ho ideas. That was really fun, being in high-stakes situations and bringing through the confidence, but perhaps a little bit of a departure from the wonder and the novelty of everything, which would've been Omega in previous series.”
But, perhaps most importantly, The Bad Batch is the story of a kid and her adoring father figures. “If you look at the broader perspective, at the end of the day, The Bad Batch is [about] a young person who has been fortunate enough to have the right kind of guidance to believe in herself and in what she can contribute to the world. That's such a universal story.” For Ang, it’s less about why Omega came into the galaxy and more about who she can become in it. “It's about growing up. It's the path that every young person goes through until they feel like they're ready to step out into the world.”
And Ang hints that the story to come is even darker than previous seasons, as the Empire holds the galaxy fully in its grip. “What struck me when I watched the first couple of episodes of the season was that it felt tense. It's suspenseful. It's very edge-of-your-seat and uncomfortable, which is a little bit of a departure, I would say, from how we mostly have started the other seasons. We sort of drop the audience straight into the tough stuff.”
- Go inside the final season with executive producers Brad Rau and Jennifer Corbett
- Hear from executive producer Athena Portillo
- Meet Dee Bradley Baker
