Star Wars' Newest Game Has A Surprising Clone Wars Connection
A familiar voice is returning to a galaxy far, far away.
Despite the complicated feelings people have about the Star Wars prequel trilogy, it was responsible for giving us one of the most fascinating and creatively rich eras of canon: the Clone Wars. The three-year-long conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent States, waged on the ground between mass-produced clone soldiers and equally ubiquitous battle droids, was casually mentioned in 1977’s Star Wars, but its full scope wasn’t realized until Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Since the prequel era, we’ve had a wealth of new material set during the Clone Wars: Genndy Tartakovsky’s beloved non-canon series Clone Wars, the 3D animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the resulting seven-season television show, and the 2005 tactical-shooter Star Wars: Republic Commando.
Despite being a relatively short period of time in canon, the Clone Wars is such a vast period of exploration that it’s still being plumbed for stories to this day. Star Wars Zero Company, a video game developed by Respawn Entertainment (who also developed the Star Wars Jedi action-adventure series) and published by Electronic Arts, is once again returning to the era with a turn-based tactics approach inspired by the famous XCOM franchise. And with the reveal of the voice cast, we now know that the game will have a major connection to another Clone Wars era project.
Star Wars Zero Company had a presence at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, and the official voice cast for the game was announced, which is filled with veteran voice actors and recognizable stars from previous Star Wars projects. The game, set at the height of the Clone Wars and following a former Republic officer named Hawks as he assembles a team of scoundrels and mercenaries to take on a separatist-aligned cult named Infinite Coil, features a large ensemble lead by Hawks as a customizable protagonist. The male version of Hawks is voiced by Jonathan Freeman and the female version is voiced by Erica Luttrell, a veteran of Star Wars: Squadrons – they’ll both be joined by Dee Bradley Baker (who appeared on The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch), D.C. Douglas (who voice acted in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor), and countless more, with one of the most eyebrow raising being Matt Lanter, who is returning from Star Wars: The Clone Wars to once again voice Anakin Skywalker.
Matt Lanter in 2019.
As of right now, it’s not known exactly what Anakin’s role will be in the game, and what we know about the story doesn’t really imply he’ll play a largely significant one. But the nature of Zero Company’s mission might be coming from Anakin himself – we know that the game will feature a third-person hub area with interactable characters to allow for a certain degree of world exploration, which might mean that at some point players will be able to interact with Anakin himself. This marks the first return of Lanter to Star Wars after voicing Anakin in the Tales of the Jedi miniseries in 2022, and appearing in live action as Lant Davan, an ill-fated New Republic soldier in The Mandalorian Season 1.
The Clone Wars is a seismic conflict in the world of Star Wars, and part of the reason it’s still such an interesting period to look at is that it allows new works to view characters and situations from a different perspective. And it appears that Star Wars Zero Company will continue that trend, giving us a look at the tumultuous period and a crucial hero-turned-villain from the perspective of a morally grey crew doing the missions the Republic can’t.
