The Book of Boba Fett has caused quite an interesting conversation on the internet since its debut. While the show's arrival came with anticipation, the first few episodes brought little excitement, with not much happening in the plot. At one point, the talk got downright negative with some offbeat choices that didn't gel well with a vocal group of fans.
That started to change when the focus shifted away from Boba and onto The Mandalorian himself. The show's fifth installment gave viewers an update on where the famous bounty hunter has been and how he's been faring with the Darksaber. Many thought the focus would shift back onto the titular character with the most recent episode, but that wasn't the case.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Episode 6 of The Book of Boba Fett.
Instead, the unexpected happened—Luke Skywalker, Grogu, R2-D2, Ahsoka, Cad Bane, and Mando all made meaty appearances while Boba Fett played a part in a single scene. Also joining in on the fun was Timothy Olyphant's Cobb Vanth, who was first introduced into the live-action universe with 2020's second season of The Mandalorian.
Now the character's creator has gotten up in arms over the lack of proper credit for the portrayal of his creation.
Cobb Vanth Creator Gets Passively Aggressive
In the most recent episode of The Book of Boba Fett, fan-favorite Star Wars character Cobb Vanth, played by Timothy Olyphant, showed up once again. First seen in live-action in The Mandalorian's second season premiere, the character was actually first conceived in the Aftermath trilogy, a series of canon books written by Chuck Wendig.
However, after the sixth installment of the currently airing Star Wars Disney+ series, despite the character's appearance, there was no mention of Wendig in the credits —something he took note of on Twitter.
The writer sarcastically wrote how he "always dig[s] it when bit media properties have a special thanks for the writers and creators:"
"I always dig it when big media properties have a special thanks for the writers and creators who contributed to their worlds and stories, and it’s a bummer when they don’t do that, and I bring this up for absolutely no reason at all and I will almost certainly delete this tweet."
Wendig concluded his appeal by adding that he'd "even just that one little thing."
Disney's Trend of Treating Artists and Creators Poorly
Wendig's anger over Disney forgetting to adequately thank the original creator of their now-iconic characters is unfortunate, but not surprising. Recently, as Disney has moved into adapting more and more comic characters, many artists have spoken up about their mixed feelings towards their characters being adapted by Disney:
Captain America writer and Winter Soldier co-creator Ed Brubaker has spoken up about his mixed feelings towards Disney adapting his Winter Soldier creator. Brubaker was angry about the lack of adequate recognition for creating the Winter Soldier:
"And of course, today the Falcon and Winter Soldier show debuts on Disney+, which I sadly have very mixed feelings about. I’m really happy for Sebastian Stan, who I think is both a great guy and the perfect Bucky/Winter Soldier, and I’m glad to see him getting more screen time finally. Also, Anthony Mackie is amazing as the Falcon, and everyone at Marvel Studios that I’ve ever met (all the way up to Kevin Feige) have been nothing but kind to me… but at the same time, for the most part all Steve Epting and I have gotten for creating the Winter Soldier and his storyline is a “thanks” here or there, and over the years that’s become harder and harder to live with. I’ve even seen higher-ups on the publishing side try to take credit for my work a few times, which was pretty galling (to be clear, I’m NOT talking about Tom Breevort, who was a great editor and really helpful).
Brubaker was later happy about the outpouring of support for his work and saw a happy ending in the future for creators and artists after Disney settled the Scarlett Johannson lawsuit adequately.
More recently, iconic Hawkeye artist David Aja was angered at Disney for not paying after his work inspired the visual aesthetic of the recent Hawkeye show.
Marvel fans spoke out in support of Aja, many resorting to boycotting the show unless Aja was paid by Disney. This boycott ended up being unsuccessful.
Shade Thrown Over Cobb Vanth
Disney not giving proper credit to the creators that have added to its stories and worlds isn't anything new. Instead, it's been something artists have become increasingly vocal about in recent years, and rightfully so.
With all the money that various studios have at their disposal, sparing notable financial pay for the work which they're using should be a requirement—with proper notation in the project's closing credits being the absolute bare minimum.
When it comes to Timothy Olyphant's Cobb Vanth, many probably don't even know that the character first came from a canon book trilogy, something which probably makes the exclusion all the more frustrating for Chuck Wendig.
It's unclear what may need to happen for change to finally occur when it comes to all of this, but the first step is the continuation of these creators speaking their minds to the public—whether the studios wants it out there or not.
The Book of Boba Fett is currently streaming on Disney+.
