The Book of Boba Fett – SPOILER Discussion

Topic

No reviews or such, but the first episode airs December 29th.

I’m not too enthusiastic, but my D+ subscription goes another two weeks, so I’ll probably try it.

Replies

It tickles me that Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen are 61 and 58, respectively.

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Rocket, Ben, Sean Robinson

I didn’t expect much going in, and very little in the episode made me excited about the series going forward.

Matt Berry as a droid is fun, but a waste of Matt Berry.

I have no nostalgic connection to Boba Fett, and nothing in the episode made me interested in him as a character. I guess it’s nice to see a series based around a guy in his 60s? (Though I guess the character is supposed to be a very rough 40.)

The “present day” stuff was better than the extended flashbacks, if only because Ming-Na Wen is there. The “how Boba Fett survived” stuff feels unnecessary. Fine, he returned somehow, get on with it.

The action scenes were fine, but nothing yet came close to the best set pieces from The Mandalorian.

My D+ subscription expires in two weeks, and nothing here made me feel like I should renew it for another month to watch.

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Rocket, Ben

All these years, I always wanted a story where Boba gets out of that digestion thing he got knocked into accidentally by Han in ROTJ.
Such a supposedly dangerous villain taken out way too quick. Always been a cop out to me.

Now my wish came true and the story is here:

I think I am going to enjoy this.

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Ben

I thought episode one was ok but a bit slower than I expected.

Filling in some of the gaps of Fett’s post-RotJ history was nicely done and I liked the virtually dialogue-free opening five minutes. The Mandalorian has always been good at telling its stories visually and this was the same.

I was also impressed how they managed to keep it completely separate from the story seen in the Mando series but also make it work if you have seen that show.

It was an interesting enough start but it felt very much like an opening chapter rather than a self-contained adventure like Mando usually is.

My only real complaint is that visually it felt quite flat at times – I wonder if the virtual environment tech they use is less convincing for the low-light night shots as some of those looked quite wobbly to me.

Having said that I thought all the creature effects were really good.

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Sean Robinson

Eh… I thought it was pretty bad. I was suprised to see Robert Rodriguez directed this, because for the most part it looked like a fan-made thing. The costumes were pretty bleh, the “story” was… I dunno, something? The action was at parts decent, but mostly bad, and the VFX was pretty fuckin’ terrible which is quite jarring after 4 MCU live shows with much, much, MUCH better production quaility.

I’ll give it another episode, maybe a few since there’s not much else on right now, but yeah, the quaility is just not there, and since I’m not a fan, there’s nothing for me in there.

Oh also, was that the new Mortal Kombat boss? Goro meets Reptile?

I’m willing to accept that Fett has been humbled/scared/enlightened by his sudden life-change: from being a feared and respected bounty hunter to getting swallowed and almost digested by a Sarlacc, getting stripped and robbed by Jawas, and being enslaved by Sand People. Such an emotional and physical upheaval could explain why he saved he has become more diplomatic and not so ruthless.

On the other hand, I’m hoping Disney/Favreau does the right thing and uses this series to show Boba gradually returning to his former persona after more and more misfortunes pile on him. If he slaughters two dozen Jawas while he’s at it, I’ll be very satisfied.

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Uncle Retrospective, Todd, Dave

I get the feeling there’s definitely a longer-term arc in mind for this series.

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Todd

This was just okay at best.

It really felt disjointed. Present scenes and flashbacks didn’t feel like they connected well. Ending on a flashback felt weird.

I don’t know if flashbacks will run through the entire season but in this episode could have been shorter and more time given to the present.

And just how old if BF supposed to be? I know Morrison is 61 but he’s what, 10 years old in Ep. II? Even assuming Ep. III takes place 5 years later and Ep. IV is about 20 years after that, that puts him around 40 years old. Even fudging a few extra years on, he seems older than he should be. Or do we just chalk it up to being a clone?

Todd wrote:

And just how old if BF supposed to be? I know Morrison is 61 but he’s what, 10 years old in Ep. II? Even assuming Ep. III takes place 5 years later and Ep. IV is about 20 years after that, that puts him around 40 years old. Even fudging a few extra years on, he seems older than he should be. Or do we just chalk it up to being a clone?

Yeah, he’s definitely supposed to be about 40 in the present day scenes, and about 35 in the flashbacks.

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Todd

He’s had a hard life.

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Rocket, Uncle Retrospective, JRCarter, Todd

Also, where did the Stormtrooper corpse in the sarlacc come from?

It’s been some time since I watched Return of the Jedi but I don’t recall Stormtroopers on Jaba’s party barge when everything went to shit. The ST looked relatively fresh, at least outwardly. I guess Jaba recently had to dispose of him prior to the incident with Luke and company.

It was a weird detail that just stuck out to me.

I found this series slightly better than stale bread.

Todd wrote:

The ST looked relatively fresh, at least outwardly.

It takes a sarlacc a thousand years to digest something, he could’ve been in there for quite a while. No-prize please.

 

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Uncle Retrospective

Temuera Morrison on ‘Boba Fett’ & Fennec Shand’s Chemistry (VIDEO)

Episode two was kind of a weird one. I liked the pieces individually but I’m not sure they belonged together. It felt like two or three different stories smooshed into one.

I’m not convinced that mixing up the present-day stuff with the flashbacks is as effective as they seem to think – I wonder whether presenting it as a more linear story might have been more interesting.

Having said that, I did like the politics of the first part with the mayor and the hutts, and I liked the train heist (even if I couldn’t help but think of that Firefly episode). And overall I like the whole sci-fi western vibe which (like Mando) is a little stronger here than it generally is in Star Wars.

(Plus Morrison’s hilariously perfect bright-white teeth threatened to steal the show at times. They deserve an acting credit of their own.)

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njerry

paul f wrote:

Fine, he returned somehow, get on with it.

I agree with this point. I also am not thrilled with the recovery tank. I am mostly watching this for Ming Na Wen .

Dave wrote:

I’m not convinced that mixing up the present-day stuff with the flashbacks is as effective as they seem to think – I wonder whether presenting it as a more linear story might have been more interesting.

Same here.

Yeah, I thought the second ep was better overall, but it’s still nothing to write home about, exactly. Also, Temuera Morrison… it’s cool that they had him come back for this and everything, but he’s really not good enough an actor to add anything to the series. And the present-day plot is more than a bit silly, too. I mean, he’s supposed to be a crime lord and it’s just him and Fennec (and then two pig guys)? What exactly is stopping the Hutts from just having him blasted away by a gang of a hundred assassins and be done with this shit?

There are enough nice bits and it’s entertaining enough to watch, so I guess I’ll keep at it for the time being. Also, the kid would force me to, anyway.

Rocket wrote:

I am mostly watching this for Ming Na Wen .

Yeah, she’s spectacular, as always, and doing all the good acting that Morrison isn’t. It’s also crazy that she’s almost sixty now.

Christian wrote:

What exactly is stopping the Hutts from just having him blasted away by a gang of a hundred assassins and be done with this shit?

The excuse here (bloodshed is bad for business, or whatever) did seem like a bit of a handwave. Hopefully they’ll explore further why they don’t just kill Fett (as Fett did with Bib Fortuna), otherwise it does seem like a rather big hole in the story.

It feels like they want to keep him being the lone gunman while doing the crime boss story at the same time. But not having any goons and enforcers at all is just nonsensical for a crime lord, and there’ve already been like four situations in the first two episodes in which that became very clear indeed.

It’s also a shame because I think they’re wasting a lot of potential there. Boba having to deal with eager underlings and whatnot is possible comedy gold. If I was them, I’d probably do a whole recruitment episode as one of the next ones. That could be a whole lot of fun.

It took two episodes but I finally realized that the woman who runs the bar/gambling den is Jennifer Beals (FLASHDANCE). She and Ming Na Wen are both 58 years old, and both putting younger actors to shame.

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Sean Robinson, Todd, Rocket

Yeah, I saw the name in the credits and assumed she must be that character. It’s pretty crazy that this her. I mean, I was like ten when I first saw this:

Left quite an impression, too.

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Todd, njerry

I saw someone post online asking how Max Rebo was still alive. Robot Chicken answered that question years ago:

Patton Oswalt called that shot in his Parks and Rec filibuster back in the day:

(I do wonder whether that was a deliberate call-out on Rodriguez’ part. Not that it’s not just an obvious shot to do in showing Boba escaping the Sarlacc Pit, of course.)

Episode 2 for me was one of those where I start asking for my time back. Almost an entire episode full of flashbacks and Tusken Raiders- UGH. Something’s wrong if Boba Fett is the most talkative person in the episode. Also and this is the most important point- Flashbacks mean no Ming Na   If this was an network show with like 20 episodes, I wouldn’t be as upset but 6-8 episodes should mean NO FILLERS.

I thought episode three was as uneven as ever. There’s some good ideas here, but also some terrible ones (the Captain Planet kids on their Power Rangers scooters were a low point) and it all feels quite disconnected and thrown together. I couldn’t honestly tell you what the story of this show is. Like Homer says in that Simpsons episode, it’s just a bunch of stuff that happened.

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Uncle Retrospective, Rocket

Did Boba try to take out a loan for his sister’s boat again? oh, wait…

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Ben, Uncle Retrospective, Dave

So many rubbish ideas in one show. I’ll forgive it if the last two episodes are just Boba and what’s her face flipping out and killing everyone.

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Dave, njerry, Sean Robinson

Boba’s biker gang are Mods.

Literally.

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Ben, Uncle Retrospective, Dave

Yeah I did wonder if the mod thing was a deliberate joke. It must be.

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Todd

That chase scene was one of the worst chase scenes I’ve ever seen. It was painfully obvious how slow they went in actuality and how badly they managed to “speed it up” for us. The music didn’t help at all, and the teenage cyborg biker mods don’t feel at all like characters, but like gimmicks. I’m not a big fan of The Mandalorian, but it’s leagues better than this mess.

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Uncle Retrospective

I’ve had a bit of a turnaround on this series today after talking to a friend’s two kids (age 8 and 10), both Star Wars fans, and hearing them enthuse about the show. The monsters, the characters, the action, the dramatic moments – they love it all and they can’t wait for more.

If they’re getting it right for that audience, and giving them the same kind of enjoyment that Star Wars gave us as kids, then that’s far more important than satisfying the fortysomething fans. I need to start seeing it more through kids’ eyes (and my own kids don’t watch it).

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Todd

Except I’m not sure a lot of kids give a shit about SW today… and honestly, watching it, it doesn’t seem kids are the target here, considering the flurry of memberberries per episode.

Also, considering how cheap this looks, it doesn’t seem like Disney has a lot of faith in SW at the moment. Say what you want about the MCU shows, but at least they’ve got some real budget behind.

Anyways, this is pretty lame… I thought Boba Fett was supposed to be a badass bounty hunter, not some fat old dude who just walks around being nice to everyone and taking A LOT of baths for some reason and reminiscing about his equally boring near past. What a wasted opportunity to actually show him being the badass everyone imagines… but hey, remember that actor? he was in those old movies… ugh 

Jon wrote:

Except I’m not sure a lot of kids give a shit about SW today… and honestly, watching it, it doesn’t seem kids are the target here, considering the flurry of memberberries per episode.

That’s all just garnish for the adult viewers though. The kids don’t care about that stuff either way – they just see a cool new Wookie character or an interesting new monster, or if they do recognise something then it’s just a link to another story rather than a nostalgia callback.

And there are definitely a lot of kids watching the various Star Wars stuff on Disney+. A lot of the kids get into SW now through the cartoons as well as other stuff like the videogames.

Krrstan was a character created by Kieron Gillen in his Vader run, quite neat seeing the character turn up here.

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Uncle Retrospective

This is ticking all the boxes for me. Interesting set/character/creature design. Shooting, punching, jumping onto moving trains. Sometimes it looks a bit ropey but it’s had a decent amount if cash thrown at it so it generally looks ok. Given I’m spending 40-50 minutes a week on something about space cowboys I’m ok if some bits of it don’t hang together. For every irritation (poorly CGIed Hutts, space mods) there are a couple of things that make up for it (train heists, Danny Trejo).

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Todd, Dave, Ben

Star Wars Fans Will See Book of Boba Fett in a New Light Post-Finale, Says Ming-Na Wen

This makes me think there’s a significant big twist coming later in the series. Maybe clone-related? Is it plausible that this isn’t ‘our’ Boba but a clone, and that’s why he’s acting so out of character? There do seem to be a lot of flashbacks to Kamino that aren’t obviously important yet.

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Todd, njerry

Today’s episode might be my favourite so far. The extended flashback stuff with the recovery of Slave I felt quite videogamey but also felt very Star Wars, Boba felt a bit more like his old self again and I liked the Sarlacc scene. And Ming-Na Wen is still great. All good stuff.

The shift in Boba’s characterisation and move to take over Jabba’s empire still feels a bit forced, but at least they’re trying to explain it.

And while the present-day stuff was a bit thin, it again worked a bit better than previous episodes, with an attempt to reason why Boba wouldn’t just be taken out by the other crime bosses.

All that plus the promise of Mando coming in too. Pretty good.

When hovering over the Sarlacc pit in pursuit over his armor Boba says “That’s where I was trapped all those years ago“.

Has it been several years since that? How long was he with the Tuskens? Am I missing something?

Anonymous wrote:

Has it been several years since that? How long was he with the Tuskens? Am I missing something?

Yeah, Mando is set some time after the end of RotJ (around five years I think), so there would be around that length of time between him falling into the Sarlacc and then going back to it in Slave I here (which seems to be just before he meets up with the Mandalorian in that show).

I agree though that the timeline feels a bit vague – the flashbacks with the sand people could take place over days, weeks, months or years, it’s not very clear.

It seems like he maybe spends quite a long time moping around the desert on his own after the sand people are killed.

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Todd

Today I learnt that propulsors somehow pull shit up, because fuck gravity I guess…

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Uncle Retrospective

Jon wrote:

Today I learnt that propulsors somehow pull shit up, because fuck gravity I guess…

Well obviously they do if you’re in reverse gear.

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Uncle Retrospective

Episode 4 and still no disintegrations.

This is a bag o wank lads.

Well, Disney have really fucked up this week by accidentally uploading the first episode of Mando season three instead of the next Book Of Boba Fett episode.

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Ben, Todd

Mando is way cooler than Boba Fett.

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Todd

It was a lot more enjoyable overall I thought. And really well directed – I loved that long, showy unbroken shot, but also moments like the flashback to the Empire bombing raid and the opening fight scene were all done really well.

I do think though that it shows up how relatively inferior the rest of the Boba Fett series has been. They’ve made Mando the cool one now and Boba is in his shadow.

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Todd

Dave wrote:

They’ve made Mando the cool one now and Boba is in his shadow.

He hasn’t been seen in almost 40 years, Mando’s actor is ten times the actor Boba’s is, and the prequels diminished him by making clones of him the worst shots in the galaxy. Why would be he seem cool to any but a bunch of old men reliving past glories? Fwiw, i never liked him. his main action action scene was him tripping and falling into a sarlacc pit. unimpressive.

That was so bad I think I’m more stupider for having watched it.

Mando building his hot rod and getting caught by the cops.

FFS.

 

I was so excited by the cold open. A ring world in Star Wars, cool. But no. It was just boring. I don’t know what I want from Star Wars any more but it’s not this.

Also ep5 and there have been 0 disintegrations.

Bah!

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Todd

I have practical question about Mando’s new ride:

What is its storage capacity?

As a bounty hunter, there will be times he is expected to bring them back “warm”. Where will he put them? It doesn’t look like it has much storage space.

Another upside to the Razor Crest Winnebego: You had a toilet. Now, he’s going to have to hold it till he can get to a habitable planet so he can “offload the cargo”.

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Uncle Retrospective

Daaaamn they really just went ahead and used a Mandalorian episode because of how bad the Boba Fett show is??? Cooold!!!

But yeah, it only serves to severely reinforce how much shit the Boba Fett show is… mind you, I don’t think the Mandalorian is amazing, but it sure as hell is MUCH better than this one…

Anyways, this episode was good until we got to the obligatory SW crap with “fun droids and quippy background characters”, so yeah, the first chunk was cool and interesting with a lot of lore, and then it was just a comedy skit… but that first half really shows the untapped potential of these SW shows, so it’s a bit bittersweet, ’cause I could probably get into that, but odds are the Boba Fett is gonna continue sucking and the Mandalorian won’t rise to that promise either because despite the fact that they just got rid of kid Yoda, it looks like the first thing they’re gonna do is bring him back, so

Oh lastly, I noticed this episode was directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, and I’m pretty sure the best of the Mandalorian episodes were directed by her as well, so they might want to have her do it more often, since she obviously know what she’s doing more than the other directors.

Todd wrote:

I have practical question about Mando’s new ride:

“There’s a minimum crew requirement.”

“What’s the minimum crew requirement?”

“Oh, uh… One, I suppose.”

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Todd

It’s kind of funny for me seeing responses to this and Mando, I’ve enjoyed both a fair bit, don’t find them that objectionable and really enjoyed this latest episode.

If you’re going to nick stuff from Terminator then at least do it well – this did.  The Mandalore sequence was excellent.  I do wonder if in response to that mass death event Din’s Mando sect became more extreme in their outlook in the belief they had lost due to impurity when the reality is Mandalore simply encountered a bigger, nastier bastard in the Empire.

It also neatly feeds into the new material’s take of the Empire being a purely coercive power – with the Emperor, Vader and Death Star 2 all gone, there was no one running the machine.  And why would there be? If you’re going to be immortal in the way Sidious intended you don’t need to do succession planning.

At the same time the Empire always opted for max brutality – Kamino, Ryloth, Mandalore, Alderaan – the list goes on.  Never do a level 1 response when you can do 1100.

The ring world was neat and I don’t think these have previously featured in SW, it’s a cool addition.

Not sure how it’ll conclude in two eps, but it’ll be fun finding out.

I liked that those two X-Wing turned up again, as it subtlety makes the point that the wildness of worlds of Tattooine may not be staying that way, so bringing an end to the western worlds that SW started with.  Plus, I like the idea that not even a Mandolorian is going to pick a fight with two X-Wings.

Finally, this shows up how to do stuff that spans the fandom spectrum.  It may be thought that few would pick up on Beggar’s Canyon and womp rats but far more viewers of Rogue One picked up on Red and Gold leaders being in it than was expected.  Suspect it’s so here.

The deepfake stuff on Luke is pretty incredible this week. (Aside from when he speaks, anyway – they still haven’t quite perfected that.)

Otherwise though this feels increasingly less like a Boba Fett series and more of a Mando 2.5 ensemble series at best.

Still, it was nice to see some of these faces again.

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Ben

That was a really good episode.  Also used continuity smartly.

And then fucked up the ending.

So, after this ends next week, do D+ not have any “big” series until Moon Knight starts at the end of March? The international version have been going all in on Pam & Tommy, but obviously that’s a Hulu show in the US.

I am not regretting cancelling my subscription after Hawkeye.

Ben wrote:

And then fucked up the ending.

Luke does seem a bit needlessly shitty at that point.

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Ben

This weeks episode really was great. Up until the ending. I agree with both Ben and Dave here, on all points.

Dave wrote:

Ben wrote:

And then fucked up the ending.

Luke does seem a bit needlessly shitty at that point.

He’s taking out his anger for all the hell Yoda put on him on Grogu.

I know everyone will love this episode because of Luke and Jroda, but I can’t get too excited about CGI Luke teaching a prop creature how to fake jump. I did like the western part… I’m assuming that red-eyed gunslinger is an existing character right?

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Todd

Jon wrote:

I’m assuming that red-eyed gunslinger is an existing character right?

Cad Bane from The Clone Wars, apparently.

(Me neither.)

I do have concerns that this show is going too far down the fanwank route and has lost sight of its own story. The Book of Boba Fett doesn’t really seem to care about Boba Fett any more.

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Sean Robinson, Todd

Cad Bane and the Pykes are both from Clone Wars.

Ben wrote:

Cad Bane and the Pykes

I think I have their first album.

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Todd, Ben, njerry

They’re a death metal band, with an emphasis on death and do a lot of drugs (supply).

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Todd, Dave

Dave wrote:

Jon wrote:

I’m assuming that red-eyed gunslinger is an existing character right?

Cad Bane from The Clone Wars, apparently.

(Me neither.)

I do have concerns that this show is going too far down the fanwank route and has lost sight of its own story. The Book of Boba Fett doesn’t really seem to care about Boba Fett any more.

I agree.

For me, they were already struggling to make Boba work as a “crime boss”. While the flashbacks established how he became the person he is now, we really know very little of who he was before. We were told he was the most dangerous/greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy but we never truly saw it in the movies. So much of his badassery is the head canon of fans. We never really saw him at his peak, so the fall and rise lost a lot of its impact on his story. Reading some stuff online, it appears a bit of his backstory was covered in the various Clone Wars and other animated series but I’m not sure if that is well known outside of the core fandom.

Then they have two episodes where he is barely part of the story. While entertaining, they really felt out of place. Those episodes could have been combined into a one-hour The Madalorian special to tide fans over until the next season starts. Those two episodes would have been better spent developing Boba. Hell, they could have done a episode delving into the background of Fennec Shand! More Ming-Na Wen is always good!

The Book of Boba Fett has so far felt like a missed opportunity and a let down to me. I hope the last episode pulls it all together and sticks the landing but I am not feeling optimistic.

I enjoyed the fan wank of the last two episodes for what it was but it really brought an already slow moving show to a grinding halt.

Also, I’m all for them using young Luke at his peak, because obviously it’s something everyone wants to see… but I feel they should’ve just cast a proper actor who looks close enough to Mark Hamill for all of it, because now they’re kinda stuck with a (probably) very expensive and restrictive option… I mean, I keep saying Sebastian Stan would’ve fit to a T, but I’m sure there are plenty of actors out there who would fit the bill and are dying to get such a part (plus Sebastian Stan ain’t exactly super young at this point either). With this it feels like they just can’t decide wether to commit to it or not…

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Todd

Yeah, I mean they already recast Han and Lando in Solo so it’s not like it hasn’t happened already.

Having said that, a guest appearance like this attaches more weight to the actor. You’d struggle to have a new Luke turn up and make an impact in a small role in the same way that Hamill does.

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Ben, Todd

[Tobias Radesäter]

I have only seen one episode, and can’t really see the selling point for this show. Boba Fett did very little in Empire and Return. The people who liked him did it (I assume) because they were told he was a tough guy and he had a cool looking armor. And in the first episode, he is not that tough and the first thing that happens is that he loses his armor.

It’s a bit like… making movies about Darth Vader where he isn’t a badass villain with a scary mask, but an annoying kid!

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by Tobias Radesäter.

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Rocket, Todd

Don’t worry, it turns out the show isn’t really about Boba Fett at all.

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njerry

It’s called The Book of Boba Fett, but we’re yet to see any books.

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Uncle Retrospective, Dave, Sean Robinson, Todd

Be great if the book of Boba Fett turns out to be The Da Vinci Code.

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Todd

Dave wrote:

Yeah, I mean they already recast Han and Lando in Solo so it’s not like it hasn’t happened already.

Having said that, a guest appearance like this attaches more weight to the actor. You’d struggle to have a new Luke turn up and make an impact in a small role in the same way that Hamill does.

Talking of recasts, it’s just occurred to me that they’re lining up the Obi-Wan series next, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the finale to this series plugs that one somehow (despite the different time periods). Ewan McGregor force ghost in the finale maybe? It’d be weird though to see his Obi-Wan interact with Hamill’s Luke.

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Todd

I don’t know what this series is trying to be, but with one episode left then I genuinely hope Grogu goes to Tatooine and kills Boba Fett and becomes the crime boss.

Season two has Grogu hunting down Luke with both a lightsaber and the armor and murders that son of a bitch (officially announcing movies 7-9 are not in canon).
I mean, why did he have to slap down that ultimatum? Bastard.

Season 3 and on is all about Grogu’s ascension to becoming the Emperor.

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Todd

Nah, next episode opens with Grogu taking the lightsaber out of Luke’s hand and then immediately throwing it backwards over his shoulder.

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Rocket, Uncle Retrospective, Ben, Todd

Wait, there’s just one espide left?? Oh-oh… =/

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Todd

Dave wrote:

Having said that, a guest appearance like this attaches more weight to the actor. You’d struggle to have a new Luke turn up and make an impact in a small role in the same way that Hamill does.

But Hamill didn’t do anything! He just allowed them to use his face on a body double!

Not only is Hamill not doing the voice for Luke, it isn’t even a real voice, it’s an AI program:

The reason why Fake Young Luke's voice performance is so emotionless is so much worse than I thought https://t.co/hEhhjQZDpw pic.twitter.com/g3swvqP8h6

— Andrew Todd (@mistertodd) February 4, 2022

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Todd, Ben

Paul beat me to it.

On its own, its messed up.  But combined with Disney’s activity, like refusing to honour royalty contracts of bought companies, it looks even worse.

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paul f

paul f wrote:

But Hamill didn’t do anything! He just allowed them to use his face on a body double!

Yeah but regardless of the tech, it’s still the Hamill version of the character, rather than a recast.

It’s still recognisably Hamill’s Luke rather than a new actor taking on the role, which would land differently.

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But that means that the voice software has done such a good job that what does Disney need Hamill for?

Logically, I supposr a response to the software is actors copyrighting their voices, but even then such a law would require enforcement ability.  Who’s up for suing Disney?

Ben wrote:

Who’s up for suing Disney?

I imagine that if Mark Hamill brought a lawsuit against Disney, his popularity and image as a really nice guy would bring him a lot of support inside and outside the entertainment industry to the point that Disney would likely be forced to settle with him and/or set up an agreement to pay actors (or their estates) for the digital use of their voice and image. As big as they are, and perhaps because they are so big, Disney knows they can’t afford to be seen as a greedy and unfair company. And really, why WOULDN’T they pay?

Hamill is probably being paid a lot for them to use his face/voice/name. The issue is more with when they do it with actors who can no longer say no, like the horrid Harold Ramis scenes in Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

Something I could see happening going forward is that they’ll start adding it as a contractual thing, where an actor’s face and/or voice can be emulated without them having any say in what future projects it gets used in.

They (or their estates) would still have to be paid, but that’s not the point.

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Uncle Retrospective, lorcan_nagle, Ben

Why wouldn’t Disney pay? Whenever they can get away with it.

Do a quick Google search for “Disney must pay” and you’ll get the full picture of what they’re trying to get out on royalties.

I agree Hamill is probably too high profile for them to try it on, but if they did? Would people stop buying Disney over it? Probably not.  It’s also very difficult to not give any cash to Disney due to how many companies they own.

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Todd, lorcan_nagle

paul f wrote:

Something I could see happening going forward is that they’ll start adding it as a contractual thing, where an actor’s face and/or voice can be emulated without them having any say in what future projects it gets used in.

I don’t think this is as new an issue as it might seem. Image rights have always been carefully negotiated and controlled, and they had these kinds of arguments over use in future projects all the way back when Back to the Future II emulated Crispin Glover (albeit through less high-tech methods than deepfakes) and reused footage – and it led to changes in contracts and the law in this area.

So I imagine the lawyers are well ahead of us and all of this stuff is already well covered by the contracts.

Performers can also go the Robin Williams route:

Robin Williams’ will prevents use of outtakes for ‘Aladdin’ sequel

There’s potentially a whole new world for “Aladdin” fans — but Robin Williams will make sure it never becomes reality.

A former Disney executive revealed that enough of the actor’s lines from the original 1991 recording sessions wound up on the cutting-room floor for the company to use them and make a fourth installment of the “Aladdin” franchise, according to the Times of London.

Unfortunately, Disney had to ditch the plans when they discovered Williams’ will prevents them from using his name, taped performances or voice recordings for 25 years after his death.

“When he was on form, the hyperactive motormouth we love from ‘Good Morning Vietnam’ and ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ was making 30 jokes a minute,” the unnamed executive adds.

“Now, because he insisted on a final say on such material, [the jokes] will remain in the vaults.”

Such a move protects the actor’s widow, Susan, and three children, Zak, Zelda and Cody, from incurring estate penalties due to his posthumous earnings.

Three movies that were filmed before the Oscar-wining actor’s death — “A Merry Friggin’ Christmas,” “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” and “Absolutely Anything” — have been posthumously released.

“Absolutely Anything,” in which Williams voices a dog owned by Simon Pegg’s character, was the actor’s final film role.

His widow, who wed the late comedian in 2011, revealed last week that Williams was suffering from a rare brain disorder, Lewy body dementia, at the time of his suicide in August 2014. It had been misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s prior to his death.

“This disease is like a sea monster with 50 tentacles of symptoms that show when they want,” Susan told ABC News. “It’s chemical warfare in the brain. And we can’t find it until someone dies, definitively. There is no cure.”

Well, someone made the correct choice.

Suck it, Skywalker.

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Sean Robinson, Todd, Ben

Kind of weird that there was no direct follow-up with Luke on that final scene from last week though. But I guess he will probably be back in Mandalorian s.3.

For me this final episode of Boba Fett wasn’t a great finale, despite a couple of fun moments. It all felt a bit videogamey and I didn’t really care about most of the conflict. Using giant battle droids as the big threat for such a long stretch meant there was no personality to any of the fighting.

And I still don’t think the overall story of the series really hangs together.

But I still enjoyed parts of it, and I’ll look forward to more Mando.

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Todd, Ben

Dave wrote:

But I guess he will probably be back in Mandalorian s.3.

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Uncle Retrospective, Todd, Dave

That was a fun but weirdly neutered finale.  I mean, you’ve got a Wookiee on your side but no Pyke arms get ripped off? At least the rancor got to eat.

Part of me was thinking thst what they needed to deal with a Scorponek droid was a Fortress Maximus, but this ain’t a Transformers crossover.

I do like that the Pykes confused Fett’s reluctance to drop bodies with weakness, as they lost a lot here.

Bit of a weird series but OK.  Can anyone tell me what the post credits sequence was all about?

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Todd

Ben wrote:

Bit of a weird series but OK. Can anyone tell me what the post credits sequence was all about?

Just confirming that Olyphant is still alive.

Dave wrote:

But I guess he will probably be back in Mandalorian s.3.

I’d be surprised. Now they’ve dealt with the “shouldn’t Grogu be with the Jedis?” thread, I don’t see any reason to go back to it. He’ll probably be in the Ahsoka show whenever that happens.

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Todd

I really couldn’t make it out and had entirely forgotten about Mod Guy.

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Todd

paul f wrote:

Just confirming that Olyphant is still alive.

Also seems to be suggesting that his body is going to be getting some tech-based upgrades.

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Todd

More like the book of mediocrity and missed opportunites and everything but Boba Fett.

uhh… well the VFX on the droids and the big monster was okay… fuck everything else though. They should’ve just released a Mandalorian special and skip the rest.

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Uncle Retrospective, Todd

For all its faults, The Book of Boba Fett was more entertaining than the three prequel and three sequel movies combined. And you all know that’s the truth, so stop complaining about minor shit and be grateful that the TV franchise is in the capable hands of Jon Favreau and his handpicked team of creators. He’s the Kevin Fiege of the Star Wars Universe.

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Ben

njerry wrote:

The Book of Boba Fett was more entertaining than the three prequel and three sequel movies combined.

Strongly disagree. Not because of minor nitpicks with this show, but because Revenge of The Sith, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi are all in my top 5 Star Wars movies. Easy.

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Dave

Overall this series just felt off. A few ideas squashed together and a big fight scene to end it.

Grogu was nice, and I kind of did enjoy when I turned off my brain, but the desire to pick it apart never really went away.

And what did Boba say to Ming-Na at the end? Something like ‘we’re not cut out for this’ and the camera was on the wookie and the kids. Felt like a passing of the torch.

If Olyphant’s character lives, maybe Season 2 is ‘The Book of Cobb Vanth’
With the armor or not?

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Todd, Dave

Anonymous wrote:

njerry wrote:

The Book of Boba Fett was more entertaining than the three prequel and three sequel movies combined.

Strongly disagree. Not because of minor nitpicks with this show, but because Revenge of The Sith, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi are all in my top 5 Star Wars movies. Easy.

And one good thing did come out of the prequels:

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Dave

Sean Robinson wrote:

And what did Boba say to Ming-Na at the end? Something like ‘we’re not cut out for this’

“I wish we’d had a better script for this.”

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Todd, Sean Robinson, Uncle Retrospective

Anonymous wrote:

njerry wrote:

The Book of Boba Fett was more entertaining than the three prequel and three sequel movies combined.

Strongly disagree. Not because of minor nitpicks with this show, but because Revenge of The Sith, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi are all in my top 5 Star Wars movies. Easy.

For all the shit that the prequels get, I appreciate them a little more in retrospect for trying to do something new and different with Star Wars. A lot of the Disney era stuff has been built around straight rehashes of the original trilogy, with only The Last Jedi and Mandalorian standing out for trying to do something a bit different.

The Boba Fett series, though, just didn’t have any real sense of what it wanted to be. Partly a cash-in on a cool but shallow fan-favourite character, partly a Mando season 2.5, and partly an excuse for more fanwank stuff like deepfake Luke, tail-head jedi and blueface cowboy – but through all of that there’s no real core story or essential characterisation of Boba at the heart of it all, and no real internal logic to anything that’s happening. Like that Simpsons episode says, it’s just a bunch of stuff that happened.

It’s telling that the only episodes that people really loved were the ones that abandoned Boba and focused on Mando and Grogu, and served up a literal recreation of the hero of the OT. It showed up that Boba himself just doesn’t have much to offer beyond a few cool action scenes in the desert.

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Todd, Uncle Retrospective

Well the best episode was obviously the one focused on the mandalorian, but it was also the most irrelevant to the show… completely… we didn’t need to see any of that. Same goes for the puppet & cgi-man half of the following episode… shit the puppet was absolutely irrelevant to the plot, I don’t even think it interacted with Boba Fett at any point, so yeah it was obviously just added so they can back-pedal the decision to send the puppet to the CGI lord at the end of season 2 and start season 3 with everyone’s favorite toy right away… ugh… vomit.

And then there’s the “plot” of the show, which was a mess, and honestly pretty bland. Since they were gonna spend so much time with the discount fremen folks, they should’ve wrote the plot as a revenge story on the Pikes, giving a lot more screen time to the blue cowboy, who was actually a cool antagonist, and forget about that dumbshit politics and “lord of the underworld” plot which was stupid and boring. Just have Fett & co. take down the cartel that killed his fremen buddies. At least that would’ve tied the whole thing better, because as it is, it’s a narrative mess.

As I’ve never watched the various SW animated series, is Cad Bane a real badass or does he regularly go down like a little bitch like he did in TBOBF?

Todd wrote:

is Cad Bane a real badass or does he regularly go down like a little bitch like he did in TBOBF?

One of the biggest badass’s in the universe. And he got punked out. Also, he was trying to kidnap Boba’s sister at one point.

Uncle Retrospective wrote:

Todd wrote:

is Cad Bane a real badass or does he regularly go down like a little bitch like he did in TBOBF?

One of the biggest badass’s in the universe. And he got punked out. Also, he was trying to kidnap Boba’s sister at one point.

So basically, they Boba Fetted him? 😜

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Uncle Retrospective

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njerry, Todd