The Book of Boba Fett has brought the galaxy's most notorious bounty hunter back to the forefront with a twist: he's a crime lord now. Once left for dead on the sands of Tatooine, Fett and master assassin Fennec Shand have taken over Jabba's Palace and begun a pursuit for credibility in the underworld. *Lord Fett has already faced challengers to his throne*, but the character is defined by his resilience.
As the series has demonstrated through extensive flashback sequences, Fett fought his way out of the Sarlaac pit and earned the respect of a Tusken Raider tribe. That group of sand people turned from captors to allies as Boba conquered a desert beast and taught the group how to operate speeder bikes, and following a victory over Pykes who had been terrorizing the Dune Sea, the Tuskens took him in as one of their own.
While the flashbacks have done a significant amount of work in explaining Fett's mindset towards ruling with respect, why exactly he has an interest in ruling at all has yet to be explored. There have been hints of motivations in the flashbacks to the Battle of Geonosis where his father Jango was killed, but the shots from his youth have been brief and only lightly allude to what could be driving Star Wars' latest crime lord.
For those who have seen The Clone Wars, the concept of Boba Fett chasing revenge is no stranger. As a boy, he was hellbent on terminating Mace Windu to get retribution for his father's death, but his many attempts were thwarted.
Interestingly, this point was raised by Boba Fett actor Temuera Morrison when asked about what's driving his character.
Boba Fett Driven By A Lust For Revenge
Having now played both characters in the Star Wars franchise, actor Temuera Morrison spoke in an interview with ComicBook on the distinction between Jango and Boba Fett, noting that the demise of the former turned the latter into a darker person.
The actor believes that Boba is "more venomous and has a little bit of a simmering kind of violence underneath him" due to his father's death, and that he has "a desire for revenge - especially for people like Mace Windu:"
"I think Boba had lost his dad at a young age, so I think he's more venomous and has a little bit of a simmering kind of violence underneath him, and a desire for revenge - especially for people like Mace Windu, and things like that - so he can take on the respect that his father had."
Is the Windu Open For A Return?
The natural question fans will be asking is whether Morrison's mention of Mace Windu was an accidental reveal that the Jedi Master might be returning in The Book of Boba Fett or just a casual reference to bathe bounty-hunter-turned-crime-lord's history.
As far as Star Wars canon goes, Mace Windu is dead. So the possibility of Samuel L. Jackson reprising his role as the purple-lightsaber-wielding Jedi is slim.
Samuel L. Jackson's character was last seen losing his hand and being blasted out of a window as a display of Palpatine's power. However, the current rule for Star Wars seems to be "if there's no body, a return is fair game," even if a character explodes - twice.
Murmurings of a potential return for Windu began when Jackson expressed his desire to play the character again during Star Wars Celebration 2017's 40th Anniversary panel, where the actor noted that many Jedi have fallen from incredible heights and lived.
Since then, there have been hundreds of umconfirmed "leaks" that Windu will be returning in a season of The Mandalorian far down the line with blond hair and hungry for revenge himself. When it's up to the fans' imaginations, anything is possible.
If Windu shows up in any capacity in The Book of Boba Fett, it's likely to be during another flashback sequence while Boba is undergoing bacta treatment. With some of the shots from Attack of the Clones already having been reused, it's conceivable that the scene in which Mace beheaded Jango could also be featured in the series. Perhaps Favreau and Filoni will take things a step further and recreate moments from The Clone Wars - but likely nothing past that.
Regardless of any potential cameo for Windu, it's interesting to hear that Morrison sees Boba as someone still driven by revenge after so many years. With Mace gone and Fett holding no personal vendetta against the regrowing Jedi Order, perhaps the crime lord has set his sights on others who have since wronged him.
There are two realistic possibilities for what this could be alluding to. Despite being somewhat of a longshot, Han Solo could make a return in The Book of Boba Fett. After all, the space-faring scoundrel is responsible for Fett's fall into the Sarlaac pit which led to the ensuing conundrum with the Tusken Raiders.
One could argue that Boba actually benefitted from the experience and was humbled during his time with the sand people - a view that Lord Fett himself likely shares. But the event did result in him being parted from his father's armor (albeit temporarily), and that may be a sin Han has to pay for.
The more likely option is Qi'ra and Crimson Dawn serving as the lead antagonistic force in the series. All things considered, Fett's problems with Han really started when Lady Qi'ra stole the frozen man from him and put the smuggler up for auction in the War of the Bounty Hunters comic. While Boba was able to recover his prize and deliver to Jabba, he swore that the person responsible for the theft would die for their actions, and Qi'ra is that figure.
While there hasn't been much ground covered in the present day portion of the story, Boba Fett seems to be setting up an intricate rivalry that goes higher up than a beef with The Mayor and the Hutt twins. As Qi'ra once told Han, "everyone serves someone," and in this case those aforementioned entities may be serving her.
Alternatively, maybe both Han and Qi'ra make appearances in the show. Perhaps Mace Windu returns somehow as well. Or, maybe Boba's revenge is intended for someone else entirely. Whoever has it coming for them, they'll be sorry. Boba Fett isn't one to be crossed.
New episodes of The Book of Boba Fett stream Wednesdays on Disney+.
