Star Wars Fans Furious at Lucasfilm for 'Whitewashing' The Bad Batch Characters

Star Wars' latest animated offering The Bad Batch premiered this week to much fanfare but despite the fact that the spinoff show is starting to gain momentum and positive response from the fandom, the series is already plagued with controversy as some fans are convinced that Lucasfilm is actually whitewashing some of its main characters.

Take for example the newest Star Wars character Omega who is an enhanced clone of Jango Fett. The character has a light skin tone and most fans take issue with it due to the fact that Jango has a tan complexion and being a clone of the aforementioned character herself, it's only natural for her to share the same physical characteristics as Jango. Another character in question is Caleb Dume who previously appeared in Star Wars Rebels with a tan skin tone and is now rendered with a lighter complexion in The Bad Batch.

Unsurprisingly, displeased fans took to social media to express their sentiments about The Bad Batch's aesthetic inaccuracies. The hashtag #UnWhitewashTBB even trended on Twitter following the premiere of the debut episode and it's crystal clear that fans are on a mission to set things right in the show. Check out some of the reactions here:

Lucasfilm has yet to officially address the matter but according to a new scoop from io9, the production company had to deal with last-minute changes to lighting tools. The site explains: "A source familiar with production of The Bad Batch told io9 that in in the run-up to its premiere this week, changes to the lighting tools utilized by the animation team were made to moderate their effects in the premiere episode's starkly-lit primary settings."

Of course, an issue like this isn't going to be beneficial to the show, and with Lucasfilm's "history" of alleged racism, the parent company to arguably the biggest science-fiction franchise couldn't afford to lose some of its viewers. Hopefully, they'll fix all of the issues or address them at least in future episodes of the series. For now, all we can do is wait and see what happens next.


The first two episodes of Star Wars: The Bad Batch are now available for streaming on Disney+.



Also Read: Star Wars Fans Declare The Bad Batch's Hunter as the Galaxy's Latest DILF