'The Book of Boba Fett' Goes Full Western With a Badass Villain
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The following story contains spoilers for Episode 6 of The Book of Boba Fett, "From the Desert Comes a Stranger."
The Book of Boba Fett got off to a slow start—seriously, remember when the most interesting thing to talk about was Jabba the Hutt's weird cousins?—but has really come on in the second half of its run. After Episode 5 focused solely on catching viewers up with what The Mandalorian has been up to since he parted ways with Grogu, Episode 6 widened the scope a bit, bringing a handful of Star Wars characters that people care a whole lot about back into the fray.
From the beginning of the episode, we catch up with a now armorless Cobb Vanth (played again by Timothy Olyphant), and as we continue in the episode with Mando, we once again see both Ahsoka Tano (a returning Rosario Dawson, ahead of her own spin-off series) and Luke Skywalker (of course played by a de-aged Mark Hamill). That would be enough for anyone, but deep cut Star Wars fans got a peak at one more familiar character in a sequence that feels the most out of a classic western film than any other in Star Wars history: a mysterious armed blue figure in a hat, who walks into frame from the distance.
It's not long after Mando tries to recruit Cobb to join his cause—in helping Boba Fett take on the Pyke Syndicate—that this blue bounty hunter walks into Mos Pelgo (now called Freetown) and offers Cobb some money to remain inactive and impartial. When Cobb doesn't seem too receptive, this became a classic, old school, Clint Eastwood-esque gunfight. And it's an awesome scene.
Unfortunately, our guy Cobb gets got by this blue figure's quick trigger—but he got shot in the shoulder, so he might be OK. It doesn't look quite as good for his sidekick, who got shot way more times in a way more vulnerable spot. The bounty hunter makes his point clear: he's working for the syndicate, he's making sure the spice—which Cobb made a point to stop moving through Mos Pelgo in the episode's first act—keeps running, and anyone who wants to stop it can go through him.
But viewers will likely have a common question: who the hell is this blue bounty hunter?
The blue bounty hunter in The Book of Boba Fett is named Cad Bane.
Star Wars fans who are not only into the live-action films and shows but also the animation should know Cad Bane well. The character—who has appeared previously in both The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch—is considered one of the greatest bounty hunters in the Star Wars universe, and since his appearance in these shows, one of the most popular as well (right alongside Boba and Jango Fett).
Fans should note that Dave Filoni—who was the main creative force behind The Clone Wars—was the director and co-writer (with Jon Favreau) of The Book of Boba Fett's Episode 6; he created this character and knows him well.
Filoni has also shared before that he once had a plan for a duel—similar to what we saw between Cobb Vanth and Cad Bane—that would instead be between Bane and a much younger Boba Fett. The duel between the two bounty hunters (planned for a final season of The Clone Wars that never properly came to be) was supposed to find a young Boba and Cad in a quick-draw duel when both men go down; Cad's fate was meant to be up to interpretation, but Boba was supposed to absorb the blast shot from Cad within his helmet, leading to the dent that was visible in both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Filoni has said that George Lucas himself pitched this idea.
Maybe The Book of Boba Fett could be headed toward a similar duel between Cad and our present version of Boba? Or perhaps the quick-draw between Cad and Cobb is meant to scratch Filoni's itch.
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He's been featured in Star Wars before, in the animated Series The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch.
Cad appeared throughout The Clone Wars, hailing from the planet Duru and working for numerous bad guys including Count Dooku (who was the villain in Attack of the Clones) and the Hutts (could he perhaps be in league with those cousins?). He also came in contact with heroes like Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, Mace Windu, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
But it may be even more notable to mention his appearance in The Bad Batch; in that series, he gets into a fight with a younger Fennec Shand, who eventually sabotages his ship so that the bounty hunter can't pursue her any further. Notable to know that these paths have crossed before.
Bane was voiced by Corey Burton, who also voiced him in his previous Star Wars appearances.
In something of a break with how the live-action Star Wars world has been doing things, Cad Bane is played here in voice-over only; the character appears to be mostly CGI. That voice is provided by Corey Burton, who provided his voice in the previous animated appearances.
It's in contrast with how Ahoska Tano is now played by Rosario Dawson (she's voiced by Ashley Eckstein in the animation). Bo-Katan Kryze is played in live-action by Katee Sackhoff, who also provided the character's voice in the animation. Cobb Vanth, now played by Timothy Olyphant, was never depicted in live-action before the Mandalorian series, but was featured in the Aftermath Star Wars novels.
Burton was a busy man in the Star Wars animation universe, not only voicing Cad Bane but also Count Dooku and various others as well.
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