Bobba Fett remains something of a divisive character in the Star Wars saga. Largely a throwaway character in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, he seemed little more than a henchman-level bounty-hunter who ended up falling into a Sarlacc Pit and presumably dying. However he was a popular action-figure and an unlikely iconic supporting player there was often speculation that he’d somehow survived to be merchandised another day. For decades it was a moot point – the saga continued on without him and it was left to fan-fiction or at least kept at arms-length from on-screen continuity.
But there’s no doubt that the success of Lucasfilm‘s The Mandalorian series, featuring a different character but in remarkably similar-armour (part of the same race of warriors) began its impressive climb by the obvious iconic links to Fett and hints began that Fett might be lurking in the background. These panned out accurately when Fett (played by Temuera Morrison) formally appeared in the second season. Then Lucasfilm/Disney announced that there would be a show built around the back-to-life character. (There was some initial confusion as to whether The Book of Bobba Fett would replace The Mandalorian‘s third season, but that will continue separately).
The Book of Bobba Fett begins streaming on 29th December (with Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Robert Rodriguez, Kathleen Kennedy, and Colin Wilson as executive producers) and sees Fett returning to Tatooine in an attempt to take over the power-base once run by the notorious Jabba the Hutt. He’s helped by Ming-Na’s mercenary Fennec Shand but faces stiff opposition from other interested parties who are willing to kill to hold on to the influence and seats of power created in the vacuum. The trailer also reveals the appearance of Flashdance/The L Word‘s Jennifer Beal playing the role of Twi’lek.
Beyond that, the newly-released trailer only hints at some of the other elements involved but we’ll likely no more in the coming weeks…
