Star Wars: The Bad Batch season two has finally arrived, with the first two episodes now streaming on Disney+, and ahead of its eagerly awaited release, we were able to catch up with the show's leading lady Michelle Ang (Triple 9; Fear the Walking Dead) to talk about what we can expect from Omega this season.
The new season picks up around six months after the events of last year's finale, and will see an aged-up Omega become an even more vital member of the Batch. Ang tells me about what lies ahead for the fan-favorite clone, as well as how she first found the character's voice.
We also briefly chat about the intriguing possibility of Omega potentially crossing paths with a young Boba Fett at some point during the show's run...
Check out the full video interview below and please remember to SUBSCRIBE to my channel!
ROHAN: Omega is slightly older when the new season picks up, where do we find her and what can you tell us about her journey throughout the season?
MICHELLE: Yeah, you're right. There's been about six months since we last saw her and straightaway, you can tell she's so comfortable in the Batch. Her place in the squad is clearly cemented. She's picked up some new skills and improved on others. I think what we see is a more adolescent version of Omega, so she's more ready to challenge her brother's views. I think she's more assertive in certain ways, and has a little bit of a journey to go through in terms of recognizing that she has more frustrations, I guess, like any teenager about when things don't go her way. I think season two is a little bit darker than season one, because of her slightly older outlook. We go to places that are emotionally a little higher in stakes, a little darker, and Omiga is challenged in a way that is emotionally - Omega is challenged in an emotional way more than just sort of like physical danger.
ROHAN: When you first stepped into the role of Omega, did her being an original character help you understand who she was quicker and help prepare you for the journey you were going to take her on?
MICHELLE: My process, in terms of being a voice actor, is very much not being too concerned with the outer world viewing her because like ourselves, you only have that interior view, so my access to Omega was really just taking her as an individual in her own realm, and trying actually very hard to forget that there's this incredibly giant world that's built around her and legacy. I just thought of her literally as like a young girl in that particular circumstance, and I think that's quite important. Otherwise, you can get yourself tied into knots in terms of taking on board too much of the external expectations, and the character won't feel as real as I think we've been able to make her because her lived experience is her current experience.
ROHAN: While the Bad Batch are her brothers, there's also another clone out there that she hasn't met: Boba Fett. Is that someone you'd like to see Omega cross paths with and what do you think her reaction would be?
MICHELLE: I think, for Omega, family, and any extension of family, is incredibly important and something to be nourished, and cherished, but also, I think her idea of family is loyalty. So, meeting any other brothers that might not - I think it would be an interesting journey for her meeting a family member that she felt close to that had a very different worldview. I think that it would cause her to… I don't know - I’m trying to think of how to put it into words. *laughs* - Family means loyalty to her, so meeting someone that she would feel kinship to, but that might be on a different side would be an interesting journey.
When the new season of “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” opens, months have passed since the events on Kamino, and the Bad Batch continue their journey navigating the Empire after the fall of the Republic. They will cross paths with friends and foes, both new and familiar, as they take on a variety of thrilling mercenary missions that will take them to unexpected and dangerous new places.