The Book of Boba Fett was first teased over a year ago during a surprise post-credit scene for The Mandalorian Season 2. Described as the next chapter in the story of the MandoVerse, Boba Fett has been a project shrouded in secrecy throughout its marketing campaign. At long last, the series has made its debut, carrying forward the live-action Star Wars narrative in unexpected ways.
Warning: The remainder of this article contains spoilers for The Book of Boba Fett.
When Boba Fett made his dramatic return to the screen in The Mandalorian Season 2, the natural question fans had was: how? The character's escape from the Sarlaac pit had previously been detailed in Legends novels, leaving plenty of precedent for the move, but the canon interpretation of Fett as a crime lord on Tatooine is completely unique.
For those worried about Fett's escape and survival being glossed over in The Book of Boba Fett, the first episode easily puts those fears to bed. The bulk of the episode is spent dealing in flashbacks to Boba's life immediately following his appearance in Return of the Jedi, showing how he fought his way out of the Sarlaac and planting the seeds for his evolution into a man intending to rule with respect.
After being unconsciously stripped of his armor by Jawas, Fett is captured by a tribe of Tusken Raiders and thrust into involuntary servitude as a slave. By his side is a troublesome Rodian with a thing for casting insults in Huttese, who happens to be voiced by a familiar name to Star Wars fans.
Sam Witwer Makes Surprise Boba Fett Cameo
Sound designer David W. Collins revealed on Twitter that Sam Witwer served as the voice for the Rodian slave in The Book of Boba Fett's debut episode. Beyond the prisoner, fans will recognize Witwer's voice for his work as Maul in The Clone Wars and Rebels and Starkiller in The Force Unleashed. The actor also performed voice work for background voices in The Force Awakens, Rogue One, The Last Jedi, Solo, and The Rise of Skywalker.
Cameos Galore in the MandoVerse
Attentive fans have picked up on several fun cameos in the series spearheaded by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni.
The showrunners themselves are both present in The Mandalorian, with Favreau providing the voice for Paz Vizsla and Filoni playing the role of X-Wing pilot Trapper Wolf. Witwer's Clone Wars co-star Matt Lanter portrayed a New Republic officer in Chapter 6 of the first season, though his time was shortlived as we summarily executed during a prison break.
Robert Rodriguez, one of the Boba Fett showrunners and director of "Chapter 1 - Stranger in a Strange Land," made a cameo of his own, presenting Lord Fett with a Wookie pelt as the Trandoshan Dokk Strassi. And though he hasn't yet appeared in the series, the oft-mentioned Mayor shown briefly in Boba Fett's trailer will also be voiced by the director.
As for Witwer's character, in the words of Temuera Morrison's Jango Fett: "we won't be seeing him again." The Rodian was an unnecessary jackass during his imprisonment with Boba, alerting the Tusken Raiders to the bounty hunter's attempted escape from their camp instead of accepting Fett's aid in retreat. It's only fitting that he was then destroyed by the desert beast boba conquered later in the flashback.
Dave Filoni has been working on Star Wars projects for a long time and now has many close friends through the animation voice casts, so future cameos like Witwer's seem inevitable. Whether or not their roles will be voices only or physical portrayals as will remains to be seen, along with the fate of Tatooine's newest crime lord.
The first episode of The Book of Boba Fett is now streaming on Disney+.
