By George Bate and Josh Reilly
WARNING: This review contains spoilers for The Book of Boba Fett
The Book of Boba Fett rounded out its first season with an action packed finale and, like its predecessor The Mandalorian, ended with a post-credits scene teasing what’s to come. While post-credits scenes are a staple of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they were entirely absent from the Star Wars universe, but now we have to ask: are post-credits scenes a thing in Star Wars now?
Post-credits scenes are a long-standing fixture in cinema and television. The first one was tagged at the end of The Silencers, a 1966 spy parody film. Since then, we’ve seen playful post-credits scenes in films like Airplane and intriguing post-credits scenes teasing what’s to come in films like Masters of the Universe. With the surge of superhero films over the last 20 years, post-credits scenes have become an expected feature of some of the biggest franchises. Star Wars, however, remained an exception to this trend – that is, until The Mandalorian Season 2.
After the credits rolled and the stunning concept art faded away, The Mandalorian Season 2 teased fans with a look ahead. Boba Fett takes Jabba’s throne from Bib Fortuna and we got an official announcement of The Book of Boba Fett. The Book of Boba Fett’s finale proves this tag at the end of The Mandalorian was not an isolated incident. At the end of Chapter 7, we see Timothy Olyphant’s Cobb Vanth healing in Boba’s bacta tank following his duel with Cad Bane. With the help of the Modifier who helped Fennec Shand, the Marshal seems to be on his way to appear in future Star Wars adventures.
Post-credits scenes are a regular occurrence now, and it makes sense for Star Wars to jump on this trend as well. Fans are always anticipating what’s coming up next, and teases give you that little bit of information to theorize about and hold you over for the time being. This isn’t an MCU-ification of the Star Wars universe. Rather, it shows how Star Wars can continue to evolve over time. Rogue One was notable for the absence of an opening crawl. Solo was notable for a continuation of the “long time ago” text. The Mandalorian was notable for showcasing concept art over the credits. Even The Clone Wars film in 2008 was notable for being an animated theatrically released Star Wars film. Star Wars is defined by its themes, its characters, the emotions it evokes. And post-credits scenes are just another spin and evolution of the brilliant Star Wars franchise.
Images courtesy of Disney+ and Lucasfilm