Fennec Shand returning for Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Ming-Na Wen confirms
Fennec Shand isn’t done with the Star Wars universe just yet.
One of the highlights of Disney Plus‘ The Mandalorian for some fans has been the recurring character of bounty hunter Fennec Shand, who is played by Disney veteran Ming-Na Wen, best known as Agent Melinda May (plus other occasional characters) on the 2013-2020 ABC drama Agents of SHIELD, which was the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first venture onto the small screen.
Fennec Shand has appeared in four of the 15 Mandalorian episodes to date, acting as an ally to Mando (Pedro Pascal), Cara Dune (Gina Carano) and Boba Fett (Temura Morrison) this season, and she will likely also be part of the group trying to break the Child/Baby Yoda/Grogu free from Moff Gideon’s clutches in the season 2 finale.
But that won’t be the last time Star Wars viewers see her, at least.
As our FanSided Network sister site Dork Side of the Force reported earlier Wednesday evening, December 16, Ming-Na Wen has revealed that she will continue the role in the upcoming animated series The Bad Batch, which will be a sequel to the seven-season Cartoon Network/Netflix/Disney Plus series The Clone Wars.
According to an interview she did with the official Star Wars website, Wen enjoyed getting to delve into the backstory of her character, who she describes as “a loner” who is still “cutting her teeth as a bounty hunter” at the time, which takes place around 15-20 years prior to events of The Mandalorian.
"“There’s just a sense of more recklessness to her, just bravado. You know, a young punk. She’s more adventurous and willing to take greater risks because she doesn’t know what the consequences are.”"
This isn’t the first time Wen will be voice acting her character’s performance, either – she played the title role in the 1998 movie Mulan and its direct-to-video sequel, as well as a cameo in Ralph Breaks the Internet. She also had recurring roles in Phineas and Ferb as Dr. Hirano, the dentist mother of Candace’s best friend Stacey, and the P&F sister series Milo Murphy’s Law, as secret agent Savannah, who was in some ways a parody of May.
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In non-Disney credits, Wen is known for starring as June in the movie adaptation of Amy Tan’s novel The Joy Luck Club and on ER for many years as Deb,
While Mulan, for example, had a slightly higher pitch than Wen’s natural voice, Fennec Shand has a slightly lower tone befitting the more analytical assassin. “She pauses at strange places in her dialogue because she’s thinking,” Wen told StarWars.com. “She’s always thinking.”
Next. The Mandalorian 2.07 review: The Believer. dark
While an exact premiere date is unknown at the moment, The Bad Batch will debut on Disney Plus at some point in 2021.