Disney’s next Star Wars adventure comes not from a Jedi, but another bounty hunter in The Book of Boba Fett. Taking place after the events of The Mandalorian season two, legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett now rules the former Jabba’s Palace. As the new crime lord he must earn the respect of his underlings while vowing to rule through peace opposite of Jabba the Hutt. 

The Book of Boba Fett is a 2021 space western series, it is produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by Disney Platform Distribution. It currently airs exclusively on Disney+. 

Editor’s Note: Near complete and partial spoilers for The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian respectively may be present within this review. 

One of the beauties of the new Star Wars TV series on Disney Plus is that you don’t need to be a Star Wars fan to understand the story, characters, world, etc. I myself am a minimal fan of the franchise, but I know enough due to having previously dipped my into the infinity pool of lore, characters, etc. through other means mainly the video games. Your average person is likely to know Star Wars lore through internet memes plastered everywhere and even that’s enough to have a respectfully enjoyable time with shows like The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Most people are aware of how popular Boba Fett is regardless of their Star Wars knowledge and he holds a place in the hearts of any level of fan. It’s because of this that The Book of Boba Fett feels like a celebration of a character long thought to be dead (in canon only) and it will provide fans with closure to long-running questions that are about 40 years old.

THE GOOD: In the past, Boba as a child recovers his father’s helmet following his death at the hands of Mace Windu. Shortly following the events of Return of the Jedi, Boba Fett awakens within his would be Sarlacc grave. He uses a built-in flamethrower from his armor to burst out of the creature’s stomach where he finds himself escaping the Great Pit of Carkoon. Sometime later, he’s captured and robbed of his armor & gear by a group of Tusken Raiders. After attempting to escape he fails upon losing a dual to the Tusken leader. The next day Boba, another prisoner, and a youngling go out scavenging in the desert. They’re all attacked by a six-armed lizard like creature and the prisoner is killed in the attack. The creature attempts to kill the youngling, but it is strangled to death by Boba with the chain he and the prisoner were cuffed to. They return to the Raider hideout where the youngling takes credit for the kill as Boba earns the respect of the Tusken leader. 

In the present, Boba is awakened by Fennec Shand to begin his first day of rule as crime lord. He takes tribute from many off his underlings all but the mayor who sends an assistant. Feeling disrespected by the mayor being expected to be paid tribute Boba lets the assistant off with a warning. Fett & Shand go out to familiarize themselves with the area. Following a introductory visit to Mos Espa they’re ambushed by a mysterious group of assailants. Shand successfully captures one alive ln Fett’s orders and he begins to interrogate him. 

If you’ve never seen any of the established canon attached to The Book of Boba Fett then fret not. The series does an excellent job of explaining just enough information that you need to know without feeling like a giant exposition dump. Jon Favreau and his team gave the answers to many questions nearly immediately including how Boba escaped the Sarlacc and we still have plenty more that they could ride out towards season’s end. This is a very action heavy series with limited use of dialogue at least for episode one. This fits the typical mold of the Mandalorian who are historically very calm & quiet in nature & demeanor. It’s a clear understanding of what these characters should be presented as with every scene and OG Fett fans have a lot to look forward to. While we haven’t seen much of Ming-Na Wen’s Fennec Shand from what we do get of Temura Morrison it’s a sound portrayal of the cool more often than not bounty hunter of sci-fi legend. 

THE BAD: Worst case scenario for new fans is that if you skipped out on The Mandalorian you may not quite understand the significance of The Book of Boba Fett and it’s overall presentation. Even so I never felt that it was 100% necessary to get the most out of the enjoyment of episode one. 

OVERALL THOUGHTS: The Book of Boba Fett is off to a fantastic start. With only a single episode under it’s belt the series has managed to show a ton of respect to not only long time Star Wars fans, but the series’ namesake. If you enjoyed the first season of The Mandalorian there’s enough similarities here to keep you satisfied as we away the former’s third season next year. Otaku Dome gives The Book of Boba Fett episode one a 90 out of 100.