The Book Of Boba Fett Will Explore 'Power Vacuum' Left By Jabba The Hutt, Jon Favreau Says

The typical "Star Wars" workplace isn't really that different from any of our own. The old boss — in this case, that ol' slime ball Jabba the Hutt — made an abrupt and unexpected exit at the hands of Luke Skywalker and his pals partway through "Return of the Jedi." Though the film continued on to much more pressing matters concerning, you know, the overthrow of an evil imperial regime and all that, that clearly must have left Jabba's entire operation in shambles. One can only imagine how many would-be usurpers suddenly had an open spot to fill in the Tatooine crime lord hierarchy, knocking one after another off in an attempt to prove who's the baddest of the bad. To me, all this just feels like a regular Monday morning.

The post-credits tag at the end of Season 2 of "The Mandalorian" shed some light on what went down in the intervening five years between those events, revealing that Jabba's Twi'lek servant from "Return of the Jedi," Bib Fortuna, had ultimately taken the throne for himself. That reign was relatively short-lived, until Boba Fett appeared on the scene once more with Fennec Shand, after the (oddly abrupt) conclusion of their adventures in "The Mandalorian." With the spin-off titled "The Book of Boba Fett" ramping up for its premiere at the very end of 2021, creator Jon Favreau and director Robert Rodriguez are talking up even more details about the new status quo the famous bounty hunter-turned-kingpin will have to deal with.

After portraying Jango Fett and the legions of clones in the Prequels, Temuera Morrison is back in full Boba Fett gear for his own standalone story in the "Star Wars" universe — what a time to be alive, folks. The bounty hunter, first introduced on-screen in "The Empire Strikes Back" (well, okay, technically it was the "Star Wars Holiday Special" but we don't talk about that) ahead of his rather buffoonish demise in "Return of the Jedi," nonetheless fired up the imaginations of an entire generation thanks to his nifty outfit and vague threats of disintegrations. With "The Book of Boba Fett," the character is set to take an even bigger step from his supporting role in "The Mandalorian" and become his own full-fledged crime boss. Jon Favreau joined Empire to talk a little more about the "power vacuum" on Tatooine that Boba Fett now stands to fill.

"There is a power vacuum, because Jabba is gone. 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."

As you might expect, Boba isn't left with the most organized criminal organization out there. Favreau continues to describe how much the (other) Mandalorian will be completely out of his element with this fancy new job title. Again, who among us can't relate to feeling clueless at work?

"Although Boba Fett is a very experienced bounty hunter, he's not experienced at running a criminal syndicate or managing forces. 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."

"The Mandalorian" didn't really give many insights as to why the former bounty hunter would enter this new line of work, but here's hoping a returning director from the original series, Robert Rodriguez, will be able to add whole new layers to the character, as he's attached to direct "The Book of Boba Fett." As he puts it, "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" arrives on Disney+ on December 29, 2021.