Director Robert Rodriguez has been speaking to Empire Magazine about Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett and how it will reveal the bounty hunter’s “true character.” Showrunner Jon Favreau has also explained that the show is about a ‘power vacuum’ left by Jabba the Hutt, leading to an “opportunity that’s ripe in the gangster genre.”
The next issue of Empire, published on November 25, has a feature, as well as exclusive photos from the set of The Book of Boba Fett. The outlet has published some excerpts of the interviews online, as well as some of the photos. The Book of Boba Fett picks up from The Mandalorian season 2 and is set roughly five years after The Return of the Jedi – and after Leia famously choked Jabba to death with her slave chains. As Jabba was such a huge figurehead in the criminal underworld, his death leads to changing of the guard and all of the worst villains in the galaxy jostling to take his place.
The end of The Mandalorian season 2 showed us that Bib Fortuna had ascended to the throne, but he is swiftly dispatched by Boba Fett (Tamuera Morrison), with the help of Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen). A new era is about to begin…
Favreau told Empire: “Jabba was clearly a very strong and imposing leader, who people were very scared of, and who seemed to rule with an iron fist. You pull somebody like that out of the ecosystem of Tatooine – and Hutt Space in general – and you have the opportunity that’s ripe in the gangster genre.”
He continued: “Although Boba Fett is a very experienced bounty hunter, he’s not experienced at running a criminal syndicate or managing forces,” Favreau says. “He’s not normally a newcomer. He’s an expert as we see him in most areas. But in this case, he’s trying to transition to another position.”
Rodriguez told Empire: “We’ll see a lot more of his true character in this season. And you’ll definitely see him have to turn ‘barbarian mode’.”
The Book of Boba Fett starts on Disney Plus on December 29, 2021.