The voice of a Star Wars clone trooper, Dee Bradley Baker, recently spoke about Captain Rex’s function in Season 2 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. The well-known Disney+ animated series centres on Clone Force 99, also known as the Bad Batch, a group of specialised clone troopers made with specific genetic improvements. It is set soon after the creation of the Galactic Empire. As they make an effort to avoid the Empire and their former comrade, Crosshair, Hunter is joined by Wrecker, Tech, Echo, and unaltered clone, Omega.
Rex was first seen fighting with Anakin Skywalker and Jedi pupil Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, commanding the 501st Legion of the Republic’s Grand Army against the Separatists. Rex was driven to betray the Jedi by the Emperor’s Order 66 because of a behavioural bio-control chip put into his brain, just like almost every other clone. He was saved, though, by Ahsoka, who is currently running from the law after having her chip removed. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Baker hinted to Rex’s return in season 2 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. The actor made comments about Rex’s leadership position and gave hints about how he will integrate into the developing story of the Bad Batch without giving away any specific plot points.
Baker said, “Rex is always, he’s a rock, isn’t he? He is ever dependable, ever fair-minded, and even-keeled. He always is part of solving it, and he’s persistent in how he goes about engaging with it. And so it’s wonderful to see this guy who’s seen the worst of it and has been through the worst and has survived it, and finds it within himself to make the heroic choice to dive back into this and to start to push back for the right reasons for the just cause. So this is sort of a bellwether character, I think, one that heralds the moral decisions of how to live life that the Bad Batch, all of them, Crosshair included, are coming up against in season 2.“
Rex previously appeared in an episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 1 where he assisted Clone Force 99 in removing the behavioural bio-control chips that had been implanted in their heads in order to preserve the group’s free will. Rex appears before the crew in the most recent season 2 trailer and asks them to join him on a mission. But it’s still unclear what that task entails.Rex is presumably continuing on a mission to assist other clones in emancipating their brains from the grip of the Empire by removing their control chips.
Although Rex played a crucial role in the Rebellion, including helping to bring down the second Death Star in Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Rex was portrayed in Star Wars: Rebels as living in the desert on a far-off planet, out of the Empire’s reach. Commander Wolfe and Captain Gregor, who had both had their bio-control chips removed, joined him.