WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE SEASON 2 FINALE OF THE MANDALORIAN
I would advise watching the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian before reading any further.
A while ago it was reported by Deadline that a secret Boba Fett project for Disney+ had started production ahead of the Lucasfilm presentation where they revealed a heap of new films and series set in the Star Wars universe. Missing, however, was this Boba Fett project and know we know why.
Today, it was finally confirmed by Lucasfilm that the Boba Fett project is indeed happening and will be coming to Disney+ on December 2021 under the title of The Book of Boba Fett.
While the announcement itself isn’t considered a spoiler, how they did it might be.
The teaser footage was presented at the end of The Mandalorian Season 2 finale as a stinger with Fennec Shand and Boba Fett returning to Tatooine then taking over Jabba’s Palace by killing Bib Fortuna. Telegraphing that he’s now taking over that crime synicate which might tease what the upcoming project will be about, the gangs of Star Wars.
The assumption is that Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen will star.
It’s still unclear if this is a full-on series with 8-episodes or simply a 4-episode limited series like Obi-Wan Kenobi.
We still don’t know who will be writing and directing the project but announcements will likely coming soon. This makes the third spinoff announced by Lucasfilm alongside series such as Rangers of The New Republic and Ahsoka, all three are assumed to be taking place within the timeline of The Mandalorian. Allowing further crossovers in the future.
The Obi-Wan Kenobi series will be directed by Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) officially takes places 10 years after the events of Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith as announced by Lucasfilm during the Disney Investor Day presentation last week.
Kenobi actor Ewan McGregor made some interesting comments (spotted by The Playlist) on the upcoming Star Wars project which might hint that the limited series may actually leave Tatooine for off-world adventures.
MCGREGOR: “There’s a hunger for this character to come back. The fans have been waiting long enough, you know? We start on Tatooine, and we go on a rollicking adventure.”
What this could mean is pretty vague as some fans believe that we might get to see some gritty flashbacks to battles during the Clone Wars as General Kenobi giving more of a war-like edge to the prequels or possibly Obi-Wan reflecting on past adventures as a Jedi Knight. Also, it’s possible something else could drag Kenobi off-world like fellow Jedi in distress and during the development of the Sequel Trilogy there was chatter that Rey might have ended up part of the Kenobi family, something that could be explored in this project.
It’s worth mentioning that Hayden Christiensen is confirmed to reprise the role of Darth Vader in the series and having him arrive on Tatooine wouldn’t make a lot of sense as he simply arriving on the planet could sense a young Luke Skywalker’s presence. Then again, he had multiple interactions with Princess Leia without discovering she was his daughter. Having whatever interactions off-world with Obi-Wan Kenobi or through the force could be a better explanation of his involvement. Darth Vader is also under the impression his children died in childbirth and the Empire is possibly only seeking out former Jedi to kill them.
Having off-world adventures might be one of the ways to keep Luke Skywalker’s location on Tatooine kept a secret along with the knowledge that the Jed Knight is using the alias Ben Kenobi while hiding out on the planet or even there to begin with.
Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy confirmed that production would begin this March and that Andor is already three weeks into it’s UK production.
There are plenty of fans that are praying that the limited series could be the perfect excuse to bring in Legends characters such as Galen Marek aka Starkiller, a powerful character from the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video games played by actor Sam Witwer (The Mist) that happened to be Darth Vader’s secret apprentice. He was slightly referenced in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story via Mads Mikkelsen’s character Galen Erso and before that with Starkiller Base in J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens. However, since he’s a Legends character he can be retrofitted to become whatever a specific project needs him to be and may simply turn Marek into one of the many force-sensitive Inquisitors that are tasked to hunt-down and kill Jedi for the Empire as seen in Star Wars: Rebels and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
The Mandalorian has established that most characters aren’t off the table for live-action adaptations as Legends character Grand Admiral Thrawn was repurposed for Star Wars: Rebels and a live-action version could show up on the Ahsoka series after being teased in Season 2 of The Mandalorian.
A release date for Obi-Wan Kenobi hasn’t been announced but sometime in 2022 wouldn’t be shocking that Andor is aiming for a release in 2022.
THE RONIN 