For those that watched the prequels for the first time after the OT, what were your expectations for the Clone army and were your expectations met?

We didn’t even know what “The Clone Wars” was. Was it people fighting their own clones? Fights with clones? Clone armies? We had no idea.

I expected them to attack, and eventually they did

Ok, my honest thoughts when I first heard the title of the 2nd prequel movie was going to be "Attack of the Clones" I assumed it would follow the same naming premise as The Empire Strikes Back, in that the bad guys would be attacking, so naturally the clones would be bad guys. So, who was the big baddie in the Episode One? - Darth Maul! So my brain went to Palpatine, scooping up the Maul leftovers from the bottom of the energy shaft and making a bunch of Maul clones to attack the jedi. Obviously, I was way off...lol

When I was a teenager, I hypothesized that Obi Wan Kenobi may just be a phonetic spelling of an abbreviation: Old Ben 1 Kenobi, which implied a model number. So I thought Obi Wan might just be the first in a series of Ben Kenobi clones.

Well, I never knew as a kid...but I assumed that they would be fighting against clones rather than with them. But there was a time after Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy and Dark Horse comics' Dark Empire returned to the cloning concept (with Joruus C'baoth and the Emperor Reborn) that I thought that I imaged that the Jedi were fighting an army of cloned dark side abominations in the literal "Dark Times" that Obi-Wan talked about.

I fully expected it was going to be Jedi fighting against powerful clones that threatened the Republic, like some kind of en masse Khan Noonien Singh situation, right up until I actually watched Attack of the Clones.

I had zero expectations of the clone army because I never really gave the nature of the clone wars any thought.

Honestly, after watching the OT and reading the Thrawn trilogy, 'The Clone Wars' sounded so much more mysterious and cool, like it was caused by someone cloning major figures, destabilizing the government, and it was all about mistrust and subterfuge.

And then it just turned out it was two giant armies of disposable soldiers.

I had no expectations for it. I had read so very, very little about them, if anything even existed.

My expectations were something far more mysterious and interesting, not a ham-fisted Deus Ex Machina.

I didn’t have any expectations for a clone army because I didn’t know that’s what the clone wars were named after.

No, they weren’t met.

I had no expectations. Expectations lead to disappointment. Disappointment leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. Once you start down the path to the Dark Side, forever will it dominate your destiny.

(I guess someone should have told all the talking heads on YouTube talking smack about people at Lucasfilm and the Disney+ shows.)

I thought the clones would be cloned evil Jedi

I thought Attack of the Clones was going to be about the Clone Wars. But it wasn’t. So I reasonably expected Revenge of the Sith to cover the Clone Wars. Nope! I was so underwhelmed by the prequels overall that I completely ignored all the cartoons. I know people seem to like the clone wars series but I can’t find the motivation anymore. Too many other verifiably great things to watch nowadays.

I had to digest The Clone Wars animated seasons to understand the depth and impact of it all. The prequels on their own lead to much confusion during their runs in movie theaters.

I expected them to be future stormtroopers

Since we had nothing to go on, I remember being slightly confused by the trailer. We knew the droids were bad, but the clones who looked like stormtroopers were fighting the clones. Also, the phrasing of “Attack of the Clones” makes it sound as if the clones of the antagonists. They are the ones attacking the Jedi/Republic.

They blasted everything and it was great!

I grew up with the OT since my older brother was a massive Star Wars fan, and the prequels were released when I was in my early teens. Can't say I really had any expectations at all for the clone army - I hadn't given much thought as a kid to Kenobi vaguely referencing the Clone War, and I was pretty much only interested in the Jedi when the prequels were released, so for me the clones basically just ended up being the background characters who ended up following Palpatine's orders to kill all the Jedi.

My views of and interest in the clones has changed drastically in the past few years as I've finally gotten into the animated shows; but my original expectations for the clones were, well, none.

Unless you were reading the books, most Star Wars fans like me didn’t know what clone troopers were in 2001.

I honestly thought it was just clones of something or someone and they attacked the empire. 

Once AOTC was advertised, I figured the Clones featured were going to eventually become the Stormtroopers and the OT Stormtroopers were all clones the whole time, and we didn’t know it. 

I expected a war that involved clones of important people and all sorts of confusion related to that, with clones giving orders when people thought it was the real person, or something like that.

I mean, we were going on literally one sentence "You fought in the clone wars?"

Edit: Wait, I forgot Leia's line. so... two sentences!

11 year old me was pretty suspicious that they looked a lot like the bad guys from the first 3 movies.

Very underwhelmed

I expected them to not look like videogame cutscene cgi. My expectations were not met. The attack on Geonosis was a let down.

I definitely didn’t think it would be so stupid. “Hey, here’s a free army of guys cloned from a guy who tried to assassinate a Republic senator and murder a Jedi knight last week, and also he’s fighting for the Separatists right up until Mace Windu cuts his head off, no way they’re gonna be bad guys, right?”

I don't know why jango a bounty hunter who probably values secrecy would want his face all over the galaxy.

I always assumed that the Jedi fought against the clones…whatever they might be.

Meh. I was under the impression, due to the Timothy Zahn trilogy and basic fan prediction, that the clone army would be dark Jedi clones of actual Jedi.

Amazing and absolutely met expectations. Remember that we saw them in sequence, meaning TPM in 1999, then AOTC in 2002, then ROTS in 05, meaning we slowly saw the threads of the Empire being sewn. Seeing the Clones was like an “oh snap, they look like Stormtroopers!” moment that felt like a little bread crumb towards Episode 3 and everything coming together.

nobody had any.

I basicly grew up im prequel times and even learned about clones in general, thanks to the prequel-clones, so I can't say anything from my perspective. Bit I think every secondary media that hinted at the clone wars before suggested, that the clones might have been the bad guys. This would make sense since clones as some kind of artificial life like a robot sounds like an uncanny lifeless thing at first glance. Like others said, there wasn't much context before Episode 2.

I thought they looked quite nice.

I was expecting a lot more action, but they gave us a couple of animated series. Woo hoo!

I was way more into Boba Fett than I'd comfortably admit, so I was terribly unhappy at the *concept* of Jango Fett (even though I tend to prefer him over Boba now)

But A New Hope throws around so many nouns you don't need to know about that I'd never even wondered about the clone wars until Heir to the Empire, and I did not enjoy their clones so the Episode 2 title announcement seemed so out of left field that I didn't really have any expectations until leaks/promotion started.

I do remember at the time thinking that the Republic not already having a standing army just did not compute, but I've gotten so used to the idea that I don't really worry about it anymore even though they still haven't justified how that could work in my mind. I just kind of mutter something about local militias and move on.

I’d heard somewhere that Boba Fett was supposed to be a remaining clone trooper from that conflict, or at least wearing the armour of one, so I imagined Jedi fighting against clone armies of Mandalorians (who remain masked because they all share the same face underneath it).

While I love TCW giving the clones personalities and helping to explain the fall of the Jedi in greater detail, I would have preferred it if the CLONE Wars had been against clones, not with them.

The original writing had this be a darker affair using clones only’ and of I recall Lando was originally suppose to be a surviving clone.

Obi Wan (Alec fucking Guinness by the way) showed a considerable distress to the topic immediately. (The guy nailed PTSD of an event not fully written yet) as the event is not mentioned again past Leia’s hologram and Luke’s mention, which you can argue is really just one scene. So outside of that one scene it’s not mentioned again in the OT.

I didn’t know the droids were going to be involved until they were.

To 10 year old me, it meant that all of the storm troopers were clones and it was meant to explain when they are. I thought clones and storm troopers were the same, just repackaged with the empire

Little kid me:"Wow those clones look bad ass"

Watching the movie and the animated shorts:"Wow these clones are bad ass"

I had no expectations outside of someone got cloned and there was a war with them

Beyond that nothing more. Gave it no extra thought. Little did I know once I did get around to the prequels/clone war era that would change my life

Before episode 2 I knew no one who had any clue what that was gonna be let alone got close to thinking clones of a bounty hunter fight armies of droids. No one knew droid armies existed till episode 1.

I expected everyone, literally everyone, to be cloning themselves 100 times over so that there could be a war so bloody that no one would ever repeat it. The prequels didn't deliver.

I was maybe 12 when AotC came out. When Obi-wan first goes to see the clones, and you see them in their white armor was when I had the crashing understanding that this is where the Stormtroopers came from, and that the Republic turned into the Empire. Pretty heavy moment.

I saw it as a way to avoid killing soldiers with faces. I did like the parallel between the clones and the storm troopers in the OT, but that was it.

I was picturing clones assassinating their originals and acting as spies / disruptions. But instead, we got faceless clones vs robots in the war.

A great way to lower the stakes for the war.

I recall reading some industry magazines before it came out so I kind of had the whole thing spoiled for me. Granted the same magazines said there would be a Anakin-Padme-Obi Wan love triangle. Nevertheless, I was mostly bummed that Boba Fett was a clone. Otherwise, I didn’t have much issue with the broad strokes. But I was a kid.

I originally thought they were similar wars. Phantom menace at 1 am with my buddies was fantastic.

I always thought it was a war fought about clones…not by clones. I was disappointed by the film…but the 2003 Micro Series was awesome…

No. My expectation was met after watching The Clone Wars Animation series.

I was like 5. Star Wars prequels were awesome.

I think common belief was that Jedi were cloning themselves to fight. Timothy Zahn even hinted at this during his original Thrawn trilogy, which may have started the belief or furthered it.

After hearing about the clone wars in ANH, I was thinking it would be clones on different sides fighting with and against the republic that would throughout the entire galaxy in multiple different conflicts. So it would be multiple wars going on all at the same time instead of just the one. And that’s how the empire came in and got started. Everyone focused on all the wars going on then an empire comes in when nobody really notices.

Was expecting the feel of the OT more than anything. Interesting characters with chemistry between them. Compelling storylines, impressive and exciting battle scenes, and ground breaking visual and sound effects. Mostly got the effects and nothing else. In hindsight I’d take Lucas’ vision for the prequels with their issues over the haphazard Disney series

Sure

I vividly remember star wars.com had a background image with the good guys Infront of small paintings of tiny jedi and bad guys in front of small paintings of clones. So obviously the clones were bad!

I knew somehow an army had to be created and of course by AOTC the second I watched the trailer I knew these guys were going to obviously turn into stormtroopers... somehow.

I had a bunch of Star Wars toys from different eras, so my idea for clone wars was a few clones of a bunch of different folks. Can send multiple of them on one mission or have them be in different places, ya know?

The prequels were "meh" until I watched The Clone Wars series. That was a fantastic show.

No expectations. “Clone Wars” was a forgotten reference from A New Hope. “Attack of the Clones” was a cringey cheesy movie title even as a teen. I only got hyped because people said Yoda had a duel scene…and that was completely unimaginable at the time.

Clones themselves felt like obvious CGI even then, and simply not that interesting.

The final soundtrack score in the final minutes as you see the [heavily CGI] camera pan around to show the clone army mass up and board their ships was cool, because you actually hear & see the brutally obvious point where the Republic shifts to the Empire, but we’re talking about literally the last minutes of a 2+ hour movie.

For those that watched the prequels for the first time after the OT, what were your expectations for the Clone army and were your expectations met?

I demand compensation for how old this question makes me feel!

Now I’m curious to hear more from people who grew up able to watch Star Wars in timeline order.

Before the prequels, I thought the clones were an army that the Emperor used to take over the galaxy. I never associated them with stormtroopers. I never thought about them much at all, it was just one throw away line. There was never any back story for how the Empire came to be.

After Attack of the Clones, I thought the stormtrooper connection made sense. I felt dumb never making that connection. But I thought the idea that the clone troopers were made from a random bounty hunter was really stupid. I love Jango/Boba Fett, but I still kind of feel it's a goofy fan-service idea... though, I'm used to it now. The Clone Wars show helped me get over it for the most part.

In my experience as an old...We had absolutely no f'ing ideas about the Clone Wars. We knew the name, there's like one book that mentions something going down on Ithor, and I read somewhere that there was a somewhat popular theory that Obi-wan was a clone. Cuz OB-1. That's it.

No.

Although slightly less no than the sequels.

I expected an attack. I expected clones.

But I was hoping it would’ve been just a bit longer than only saving those two titular subjects for the final 20 minutes of the film.

So, expectation was (sorta) met.

I always thought the Clones had been the bad guys. Or more accurately, the army that attacked the Republic. Or a crisis in which many key figures were replaced by clones who sowed chaos in the ranks.

Seeing the actual clones was really cool. I loved the concept, I loved the designs, and I loved their depiction. But even as a kid, I had several questions:

1. Why is Jango so obviously helping both sides, and why don't the Jedi find that deeply suspicious?

2. What do the Kaminoans normally clone, since their armies are so clearly overpowered?

3. A million and a half are really not enough to be anything more than an elite, shock force. Where will the Republic get the rest of their soldiers?

Pre-Episode I, I imagined the "Clone Wars" were just like Replicants from Blade Runner fighting for their independence or even superiority over the galaxy, and that they were beaten back by the Jedi, I don't believe I thought Vader had anything really to do with the Clone Wars, tbh, other than that maybe Anakin had been involved in them. After Episode I, it was pretty obvious these robots we're going to be a part of the PT and that the stormtroopers were going to be clones, figured that out long before anything about AotC was announced. Prior to that, Stormtroopers were known as just regular guys, Davin Felth's Star Wars CCG cards was even one of my favorites, liked that they had identities.

I had not a clue going in. I was too young to really process the nuanced dialog in any. But later as an adult I realized they reference it. I was so young I like ewoks and jar jar. Used to be like let's watch the one with the green lightsaber. Lol that was my favorite back in the day. The front flip reveal fuckin killed it.

I was like 4 I dont know

Back in the day on the back of Boba Fett’s action figure card it said he wore Clone Wars era armor. I expected The Clone Wars to be Jedi vs Mandalorians and since Mandos didnt have the numbers they cloned multiple ppl to swell their ranks.

I had no expectations. As far as I was concerned, it was a throwaway line that only existed for the purpose of worldbuilding.

Well, it wasn't an army of Boba Fetts I can say that.

The clone army became clearer after Kenobi was on kamino but things became even clearer after 2008 we met Rex and Ahsoka and Stinky. Attack of the Clones is my favourite Star Wars film because it’s the source for all Star Wars content going forward.

No idea what to expect but wasn't disappointed

I thought we were going to get an epic war of Jedi versus clones invading the Republic, I never thought it would be stormtroopers versus droids and a plot involving the father of Boba Fett that made little sense.

I also thought the prequels would mostly focus on the Clone Wars instead of just showing the first battle at the end of the second film and the last battles at the beginning of the third film and then saving the rest for cartoon series.

I thought that, prior to the influx of droids, colens were the regular workforce. I expected the clone masters to facilitate a clone rebellion, leading to all-out war. There was so many things that were said in the ot that got poorly retcond. Personally I feel like, with every new entry into the universe, what came before is no longer canon. I love the tech and most of the universe. I just have to put up a mental partition, separating everything, to enjoy it now or I get upset.

Yeah, I had honestly expected a war where everyone was cloned. There would be subterfuge on top of subterfuge. Anikin would have been pushed over the edge by the death of his mentor, Ben Kenobi. Leaving OB-1 clone of Kenobi to stop a now insane Vader. OB1 containing all of the originals memories now assumes the responsibilities of the original kenobi, but ultimately exiles himself, not just to watch over Luke, but also out of guilt and imposter syndrome from outliving the "real" Ben Kenobi. This would have still played into Palpatines plans to turn the people on themselves, ultimately seeking a strong man government to succeed where peaceful Jedi had failed. It would have been a more believable reason for an altruistic Anikin to lose his shit and choose the emporer.

The prequals alone didn't do justice with the clone wars the clone wars show brought alot of well needed backstory drama and fun that the movies alone couldn't do and that show alone carried most of the world building during that time

We thought that the clones were gonna turn into stormtroopers. Not be replaced

Like others have noted, I was surprised at what the Clone Wars were shown to be. I had imagined (based on the OT) that these were wars fought for the technology to make a clone army, and not literally clones attacking one another (also, the context by which this army was created was also too heavily summarized imo. I also expected Maul to be a stronger foe and stick around a bit longer, but in retrospect I think it's good that they didn't make Maul Vader 2.0. Finally, I also expected there to be less technology in terms of vehicles and planet designs. For example, I hate the canon of Coruscant being a major planet/ Jedi home.. It just looks like every other sci-fi city in media. And I still wish that planet had less of a presence in SW.

All I knew about the clones was that they were connected to Boba Fett in some way. My dad had told me about the stories he heard in the 80s or 90s from Lucas interviews.

Other than that, I had expected there to be evil clones. Prior to Attack of the Clones coming out, there were alot of rumors online, mostly coming from Super Shadow. Lol. One rumor was Qui-Gon Jinn coming back as en evil Clone.

“Ah, so these guys will eventually be stormtroopers”

There were also no expectations for the “Clone Wars” because we didn’t know what that was. The Clone Wars was a throwaway line in a New Hope beforehand and nothing more

i am a "founder fan", i stood in the waitinglines in the late 70s and 80s. i bought lots of merchandising. i expected 2 hours of phantastic entertainment and i got 60-70% of what i expected. the other 30% has been ridiculous attack robots that have not been funny nor scaring, jar jar binks and the most ugly collection of spaceships i have seen so far. not a single ship has been as cool as the falcon, the x-wing or the tie. the second prequel had an interesting detectivestory. the third episode of the prequels had two major flaws: anakin changed way too fast from light to dark side and the clone wars where only decoration. i expected to hear about on planet x we are 80% successfull, on planet bla, we need another strategy, but nothing like that happened. it felt like they didnt know how to end the story the star wars way.

all in all, it is a nice space opera, but its never as good as the ot.

No my expectations weren’t met. I thought the clone wars would have a lot more intrigue and questions of loyalty and people being replaced by clones and such. I was not expecting mass produced clone army vs mass produced droid army

We all thought they were clones of Jedi. Not lowly stormtroopers. So highly disappointed.

Just to be the Stormtroopers before they were even called, "Stormtroopers." Until, I started to hear that Emperor Palpatine just disposed of the clone troopers after the rise of the Galactic Empire and Order #66, giving them all dishonorable discharges and he decided to "recruit" human soldiers to be the Stormtroopers.

It was clear they were going to deviate from the EU books, the books had been deliberately vague to give them the narrative room to do so, but the end of AOTC has the clones marching to the imperial March so they had a sinister undercurrent that felt appropriate and paid off in ROTS.

clones suck

and Star Wars sucks outside of the OT, Rogue One, The Mandalorian and the Clone Wars cartoon.

God no. We thought it would be somewhat a good concept. It turned out terrible and best be forgotten about.

Always though the clone wars were going to be Jedi fighting against their own clones. I’m sure George didn’t originally plan for what they went with in the prequels or else it would have been called the droid wars.