On May 4, Disney Plus' new Star Wars series "The Bad Batch" premiered. It is a direct sequel to the events of the Clone Wars TV series, the events of Clone Force 99 immediately following the Clone Wars itself, and the Revenge of the Sith.

And, unsurprisingly, the episode felt like a new version of The Clone Wars. But that's not a bad thing, and the premiere of "The Bad Batch" shows ample potential for how it can grow and improve upon its predecessor.

The Clone Wars began in 2008, but was quickly axed after its fifth season. That was in March 2013, just months after Disney decided to acquire Lucasfilm.

Then the following year, 13 unfinished episodes (still just barely watchable) appeared on Netflix. The series then lay dormant until Disney revived the series for Disney Plus.

"The Clone Wars" was popular, but far from perfect. There were many filler episodes that only padded the episode count and did not actually add much, and the story was inconsistent, even if the quality of the story was good. In addition, many episodes were not aired in order, and at best the timeline was out of order. If "The Bad Batch" can solidify its landing spot better than "Clone Wars," it will find its way. [But when "Clone Wars" was good, it was great, and the seventh season started strong and was able to keep that momentum going for the 12 episodes leading up to the finale. That momentum continued in the premiere episode of "The Bad Batch," which began with the execution of Order 66 and continued into the aftermath of the clone squad's exploits.

Tone-wise, this episode feels like another episode of The Clone Wars. Bad Batch may be a spin-off, but it is also a direct sequel to the last season of the previous film. The conflict left in "The Clone Wars" itself does not end for the full seven minutes of the episode, so the premiere is entirely focused on what happens to the clone army in the aftermath.

The Bad Batch creative team is led by Dave Filoni, who directed the development of "The Clone Wars" and subsequent Star Wars animated shows. Additionally, unlike "Star Wars: Rebels," the same character designs and animation style were used.

The show itself also leans toward similarity on a meta-level, with the opening seconds of the premiere showing the Clone Wars logo burning out to become the Bad Batch logo. Bad Batch also opens with the same narrator as The Clone Wars, providing insight into the events of the episode. and provides insight into the events of the episode. Lucasfilm's animation says, "This is basically a Clone Wars episode, but it's also the beginning of something new."

Clone Wars was an anthology series, telling a stand-alone story as part of the broader narrative of the Clone Wars conflict. The episodes spanned stories that followed a wide range of characters in Star Wars, including previously ignored Jedi, the political machinations of Republic senators, droids, and even entirely new characters who did not appear elsewhere, including Bad Batch himself.

But "Bad Batch" would change things by focusing on one character group (like "Rebels" before it). Instead of focusing three episodes on Pon Creel's war crimes and moving on to the next, it would follow the same characters throughout the 13-episode season.

"Star Wars" has shown that while the clones may be genetically similar, they are all unique. No clone is more unique than Bad Batch, and they are distinguished by special abilities given to them by genetic mutation. In contrast to the clone wars themselves, which were limited by their nature, this would rapidly create a very interesting dynamic.

Moreover, we are visiting the Star Wars galaxy in a largely unexplored era: beyond the 2017-2018 Darth Vader comic, the current Star Wars canon largely ignores the period immediately following Episode III. This despite its major impact.

And it begins in a devastated galaxy where the Democratic Republic has been dismantled, leaving room for Palpatine to form his own empire.

Given how totalitarian the Empire had become by the time Luke Skywalker blew up the Death Star 19 years later, it will be very interesting to see how things play out in its formative years. This is especially true when viewed from the perspective of a group of clones who are rebels and possibly (depending on one's point of view) defective.

There are plenty of opportunities. So far, The Bad Batch seems to be taking a lot of cues from The Clone Wars, and for good reason. But what will the show look like by the end of the first 13 episodes? Who knows, because it could go in many different directions, and since "The Bad Batch" got off to a similar start to "The Clone Wars," it's not hard to see it becoming a more stable and focused show, and carrying on the legacy's strengths.