After Luke Skywalker’s mind-blowing cameo appearance,The Mandalorian’s second-season finale still had one more surprise up its sleeve after the end credits. In a post-credits scene, Boba Fett and Fennec Shand arrive at Jabba the Hutt’s old palace on Tatooine, whose throne has since been claimed by Bib Fortuna. They kill everybody in there, then Boba drags Bib off the throne and takes it for himself. A title card thenteased anotherStar Warsspin-off seriestitledThe Book of Boba Fettfor release on Disney Plus in December 2021.
No details have been revealed about the series beyond Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen starring as Boba and Fennec, but the fact that Boba is digging into his pre-Sarlacc history and taking the helm of Tatooine’s criminal underworld seems to suggest that it’ll be a revenge story that sees a re-armored Boba settling all his scores across the galaxy. The titular “book” could be a list of names of people who have wronged him in the past,a laKill Bill, that he’ll check off throughout the series as he confronts his enemies.
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Jon Favreau’s creation ofThe Mandalorianhas drawn a lot of influence from the western genre.The Book of Boba Fettshould stay in this vein, because Boba isa similarly ice-cool gunslingerand Lucas has always been influenced by westerns, but it can take inspiration from a different subgenre of the vast catalogue of movies set in the Old West. WhereasThe Mandalorianis a deconstruction ofStar Wars’myth-making inspired by revisionist westerns likeThe Wild Bunch,The Book of Boba Fettcan offer a bleaker, more violent look at those myths in the style of spaghetti westerns.
Pioneered by Italian directors like Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci, spaghetti westernsoften revolved around a revenge story. InDjango, the title character wants to avenge his murdered lover Mercedes Zaro. InDeath Rides a Horse, Bill Meceita spends his entire life training to avenge his murdered family. InNavajo Joe, Joe sets out to avenge his entire massacred tribe. In this spirit,The Book of Boba Fettcan see its badass eponymous bounty hunter scouring the galaxy for his various nemeses.
Boba’s quest for revenge would be a great way tobring back some fan-favorite Star Wars characters, because the people who have wronged him happen to include a few icons that fans are dying to see return. For starters, the first person Boba might want to track down to dole out some vigilante justice is Han Solo. On Jabba’s barge, a semi-blinded Han accidentally set off Boba’s jetpack and sent him careening into the Sarlacc Pit. It was just a clumsy mistake, but Boba doesn’t know that, he and Han already had a long-standing rivalry, and the pain of being devoured by the Sarlacc was still very real, regardless of the exact circumstances of how he ended up there.
An appearance by a post-Return of the JediHan inThe Book of Boba Fettcould rival post-Return of the JediLuke’s appearance inThe Mandalorian. It would interesting to explore Han’s role in the foundation of the New Republic, even if it’s just briefly in the context of Boba seeking revenge against him. The two iconic gunslingers could engage in a climactic shootout, like the ending of countless classic westerns, fromShanetoHigh NoontoThe Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. It’s unlikely that Harrison Ford would return to the role of Han and be de-aged to his ‘80s-era self, but Lucasfilm already has a great young Han in Alden Ehrenreich. Ehrenreich’s pitch-perfect performance wasundermined by a flimsy, muddled scriptinSolo: A Star Wars Story. He could get a second shot at doing the character justice with a supporting role inThe Book of Boba Fett.
Mace Windu decapitated Jango Fett during the Battle of Geonosis – right in front of a young Boba. From the Jedi’s perspective, it’s a glorious moment of heroism, but from Boba’s perspective, it’s essentially the opening scene ofDeath Rides a Horse. Windu killedBoba’s only family in the worldwhen he was still just a kid. InThe Clone Wars, this evolved into a general resentment toward the Jedi, but inThe Book of Boba Fett, it could lead to a full-on vengeful crusade against Windu himself.
Samuel L. Jackson has beeneager to return to the role of Windusince Disney acquired Lucasfilm, but aside from Grogu reaching out to all the Jedi in the galaxy via the Force, there’s never been a clear way to bring him back. Canonically, Windu survived the fall on Coruscant. Both Jackson and George Lucas consider it that way, and Windu was seen to survive much bigger falls inThe Clone Wars. InThe Book of Boba Fett, Boba could track down a weary, aging Windu – withered by Palpatine’s Force lightning attack and grizzled from years of living helplessly under the Empire – like Captain Willard tracking down Colonel Kurtz inApocalypse Now, culminating in a breathtaking final showdown.
It’s a promising sign that Robert Rodriguez, who directed Boba’s triumphant return to action inThe Mandalorian’s “Chapter 14: The Tragedy,” is signed on as an executive producer forThe Book of Boba Fett. FromMacheteto the Mexico trilogy,Rodriguez’s filmographyis filled with action-packed revenge thrillers whose themes he could easily transfer to a galaxy far, far away.
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