We’re just three weeks away from the premiere of The Book of Boba Fett, and to mark the occasion Star Wars released a new teaser trailer for the show today!
The minute-long trailer, titled “The Return,” actually gives us a decent amount of new footage, though it’s likely all still from very early in the season and is very light on any plot details. It’s an exciting trailer, and I must say that the sound design on it is absolutely exquisite, especially with the use of the seismic charges as a transition. Take a look at the trailer for yourself, and then below we’ll break it down!
We’re going to only break down the new shots here, so you can also check out my breakdown of the first trailer and of a few of the TV spots released recently.
We see Fett sneaking up toward Jabba’s Palace along a neighboring ridge, and he looks out over a hangar. This is the entrance to the hangar in which we saw Slave I parked in an earlier TV spot, and it’s super cool to see how this is exactly like it looked in the Battlefront game as well. Given the fact that he’s wearing his tusken robes here, just like he is when approaching his ship in the hangar, I’m assuming this is part of a flashback where we see him infiltrate Jabba’s Palace and retrieve his ship. And I think it’ll be awesome.
We’ve already seen this… but hey, his eyes are open this time! And it certainly looks like the bacta is doing wonders. Part of the reason I’ve included this here, though, is because I want you to pay attention to his eyebrows. I think that’ll help us be able to place another shot later in this trailer, in terms of it likely being a flashback. But we shall see.
We’ve certainly seen quite a bit of Boba suiting up in the various spots, as that seems to be one of the go-to shots in the marketing for the series. We get a few new angles and looks at this sequence here.
We see a ship approaching a landing pad at the bustling city seen in previous spots (which I have previously speculated could be Bestine). Here’s the thing, though: to borrow from Luke Skywalker, “there’s something awfully familiar” about this ship. Odds are it’s a new ship that just feels like something we’ve seen before, which is a high compliment to the crew of this show, since it means it feels so authentically Star Wars. I can’t place this ship anywhere else, but if you can think of where we might have seen it, let me know – and assure me that I’m not just going crazy imaging it!
We’ve seen Boba Fett riding a speeder bike in the TV spots, and it was clear that there were bikes following him. Here, for the first time, we get to see who they are, as it’s a gang of Nikto. What is not clear yet is whether these are allies of Fett or are pursuing him. The other shots of the speeder bikes don’t make it look like a fight or a pursuit, but we shall see.
Now this is a brand new sequence, and I find it extremely interesting. First, here’s the basic idea: it looks like some of these men are beating up two people in this room, when the door opens and Boba Fett walks in (you can see his shadow, and the outline of a gaffi stick, on the wall). Second, I’ve seen people wondering if the man on the left is a Jedi because of the robes, but I highly doubt it. After all, in A New Hope we see others on Tatooine wearing robes similar to Ben Kenobi, so I think it’s standard wear on the planet. I’d be shocked if there are Jedi here. But third, I wonder if we actually know who this is – because this sure does look a lot like Fixer! And that would be a crazy connection if this show really did bring in Fixer and Camie in, and I would love it. They were the childhood friends of Luke Skywalker who appeared in deleted scenes in A New Hope but are still canon. I’m certainly not the only one thinking this looks like Fixer, and others have speculated with some decent evidence that this is actually Tosche Station. That would also be awesome, and it wouldn’t be a stretch either, since Fixer was the one operating the station (at least in the Imperial era).
Boba Fett walks into this place – wherever it is – and he’s wearing his old, tattered jump suit. Also, note that it looks like his eyebrows aren’t really grown back in this shot (though it’s hard to tell 100%), which when compared to that previous shot in the trailer could mean that this is a flashback. We know that Fett is healed quite a bit from the bacta because of the change in his appearance from The Mandalorian, but I also think it can help viewers distinguish between which scenes are flashbacks and which aren’t.
A speeder races through a Tatooine street, followed by a few bikes, and a Pit Droid has to duck for cover. Not a whole lot to mention here, but the speeder does remind me of the one Han and Qi’ra drive on Corellia in Solo, which is cool.
A Twi’lek stands before Jabba’s Throne, but his purpose in doing so is a bit unclear. Is he presenting something as a gift, or is he entertaining, or what? He bows slightly as if in reverence, but it also could be interpreted as him humbly offering a present. I’m not really sure.
The final shot is of Boba Fett and Fennec Shand sitting on the throne, which moves forward to give them a look into the Rancor’s lair, as they peer over the edge. They approach the opening in much the same way Jabba did in Return of the Jedi, which is a fun nod, but the real interesting part here is what they’re looking at! In other shots (even one in this very trailer), we have seen that the meal Fett hosts with Jabba’s former captains is conveniently located right over the Rancor lair, though Fett’s chair is also conveniently not over it. So I wouldn’t put it past him to send some of these people into the pit… but the Rancor is dead! Luke killed him, so what could they be looking at? Well here’s a wild guess that seems very plausible: what if it’s a different Rancor? Earlier this year, The Bad Batch showed Jabba acquiring a baby Rancor named Muchi, thanks to the Bad Batch’s help. Of course, Star Wars fans were quick to point out that Jabba’s Rancor was actually named Pateesa – but what if Jabba had multiple Rancors? It would be awesome if this series tied-in with The Bad Batch like that. And it would give Boba Fett a most dangerous pet, just like Jabba.
Star Wars Thoughts 