UPDATE: It looks Collider was indeed right after all since less than two hours after the initial news came out, LucasFilm confirmed the May 4 release date for the upcoming series.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch, an Original Series, starts streaming May the 4th on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/54drrMFNKK
— Star Wars (@starwars) February 24, 2021
On StarWars.com there was further information regarding the release schedule. It was made clear that the unusual release day (for Disney+), a Tuesday, is due to the fact that May 4 is, as we all know, Star Wars Day. The following episodes will be released on Fridays as The Mandalorian, with the first one being made available on May 7th.
Source: StarWars.com
According to Collider, The Star Wars Clone Wars spin-off The Bad Batch is now set for a May 4th premiere on Disney+. However that same report ended up getting deleted shortly after, and the link is no longer available. Luckily, The Direct was able to quote the article before it got taken down, announcing a May 4 release date. Announced in July 2020, the animated series will follow the Clone Force 99, which is also known as the titular Bad Batch. They were the focus of The Clone Wars‘ last season’s first storyline. It will take place in the post-Clone Wars era, which will see the uniquely skilled clones take on mercenary work as they transition into a new life. It was during Disney’s Investor Day back in December that when we found out that the series will premiere in 2021. They also released the first footage, so we were hotly anticipating the actual release date.
The Bad Batch is yet another Disney+ exclusive that will expand the Star Wars franchise after The Mandalorian‘s success. If this debut date proves true, it looks like the streaming service is experimenting with different release schedules for its shows since both The Mandalorian and WandaVision was released on Fridays. The animated show would then break the mold with a Tuesday premiere as the service starts to expand, showing us that Disney is looking for ways to release multiple episodes every week without them cannibalizing each other. The May 4th release would set The Bad Batch to premiere right before Black Widow hits theaters and a couple of weeks before Loki will have its first episode made available. It will be interesting to see if the release of Collider’s article was just an accident or if it was released early, ahead of a scheduled official announcement.
Source: Collider via The Direct
