By Josh Bate
Ever since his emergence in The Empire Strikes Back, and even beforehand dating back to the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special, Boba Fett has been a fan favorite and has since developed a significant cult following. Fans were delighted when Temuera Morrison debuted as the character in season 2 of The Mandalorian, setting the stage nicely for his own spin-off series The Book of Boba Fett. Besides a brief post-credits scene accompanying The Mandalorian’s Chapter 16, we know very little about what this upcoming Disney+ show will entail. There’s so much that this series could entail. Here are 5 things that we hope to see in The Book of Boba Fett.
Getting Under the Helmet
This one seems the most likely given that Boba is front and center of his own show. The Book of Boba Fett is, as the name suggests, a Boba Fett-centric series, unlike the vast majority of previous material in canon in which the bounty hunter is often a side character. As such, this marks one of the best opportunities yet to really get under the helmet and into the mind of the infamous bounty hunter. As the films, comics, and most recently The Mandalorian have suggested, Boba is a far more complicated, layered character than the badass we saw grace the screen in The Empire Strikes Back. Boba’s struggles with loyalty and his place in the universe amidst an ever-changing galaxy are really interesting topics to explore. And, Temuera Morrison is the best perfect person to lead this (hopefully) more introspective Boba Fett journey. Morrison, like Boba himself, can pull off all the coolness and grandiosity of his character to perfection, but the New Zealand-born actor is also a seasoned expert in his craft. Nuanced performances in projects like Once Were Warriors, Frontier, and Crooked Earth really highlight Morrison’s range, something we’re sure to see in the Boba Fett series.
How Did Boba Survive the Sarlacc Pit?
It’s difficult to talk about Boba Fett without talking about his unfortunate and pretty comical “demise” in Return of the Jedi. All it took was an accidental slap on the back from Han and the feared bounty hunter soared into the sky and then down straight into the digestive system of a Tatooine sarlac. But the question remains: how in the world did Boba survive this ordeal? Given Boba’s extensive scarring and battle-worn physique, it’s obvious that he definitely went through a rough period in between Return of the Jedi and The Mandalorian. It’s entirely possible that we see some insight into what occurred in this time, via flashbacks or at least in depth conversations.
Adventures on Tatooine
The season finale of The Mandalorian sees Boba assume the throne once held by Jabba the Hutt and Bib Fortuna, presumably taking over as an underworld kingpin on Tatooine. This is a great set up for the Boba Fett series for many reasons, one of which being it lays the foundation for a primarily Tatooine-based series. Tatooine has obviously played an extensive role in canon, in particular the Skywalker saga, but there’s an entire underworld element of the planet that is, relatively speaking, left unexplored. Similar to Maul’s takeover of Mandalore in The Clone Wars, it’ll be really interesting to see another character pursue a leadership position in the criminal underworld and, as expected, run into hurdles along the way.
The Marshal
One of those hurdles will, hopefully be, the Marshal himself Cobb Vanth. Timothy Olyphant’s character, who first appeared in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath series, was a fan favorite in The Mandalorian’s second season and, honestly, one episode simply isn’t enough for this charming, intriguing character. And what better place for Vanth to reappear than a crime series set on Tatooine. Boba and Vanth clearly have a history, given that the latter wore the famous Mandalorian armor for a time, and it’s entirely possible that the two could become enemies. Vanth is a lawman and Fett is now the lead crime lord of the planet, so they could end up clashing over that. However, given the way in which Boba proved his morals by helping to rescue Grogu at the end of The Mandalorian season 2, there’s certainly worse people individuals in the galaxy, so Vanth and Fett could come together against a common enemy.
“Now this is podracing!”
The pod racing sequence in The Phantom Menace was, and still is, a crowning achievement in visual effects that proved to be incredibly entertaining in showing a young Anakin defeat his elders to take home the crown and give the Jedi exactly what they needed, all of which make it a fan favorite. Podracing hasn’t been seen on screen since then, although Cobb Vanth did sport what appeared to be Anakin’s speeder from years before. Given Jabba the Hutt’s presence at the event in The Phantom Menace, it’s possible that Boba Fett appears at a podrace in the upcoming series, especially as he occupies the role that Jabba once did on Tatooine.
The Book of Boba Fett is set for release this December.
Images courtesy of Disney and Lucasfilm