The Book Of Boba Fett's Greatest Cameo Is The Smooth Voice Of Boba's Palace Droid
This post contains spoilers for the first episode of "The Book of Boba Fett."
"The Book of Boba Fett" has officially been opened with the first episode of the "Star Wars" series available today on Disney+. The new series picks up after the return of Boba Fett in the second season of "The Mandalorian," with the bounty hunter taking over the crime syndicate that once belonged to Jabba the Hutt. The first episode catches us up on how Boba Fett survived his unfortunate fall into the Sarlacc in "Return of the Jedi" and the hell he endured afterwards at the hands of the Tusken Raiders. Meanwhile, in present day, Boba Fett is establishing his rule as the new crime lord in the Tatooine city of Mos Espa, and in order to do that, he gets some help from a familiar droid. But this droid now has a rich digital voice, giving us the best cameo that "The Book of Boba Fett" has to offer.
8D8 Returns
As Boba Fett takes the throne that formerly belonged to Jabba the Hutt (albeit a much smaller throne that's actually a chair and not a sliding slab of concrete), some of the local business owners, members of the criminal underground, and an annoyingly polite Twi'lek errand boy sent by the mayor come to consult with the bounty hunter turned crime lord. As Boba Fett makes his way through their ranks, he's assisted by none other than 8D8, a droid who should look familiar to anyone who has seen "Return of the Jedi," even if he's not one of the most useful droids in the "Star Wars" universe.
In Jabba the Hutt's palace, there's a brief moment when C-3PO and R2-D2 are being guided through the palace where they see a GNK power droid (or gonk droid) being turned upside down and seemingly branded by hot irons on his feet. The droid who is pulling the levers to accomplish this painful process is none other than 8D8. However, we never hear him speak in "Return of the Jedi," so to have the droid chatting away in "The Book of Boba Fett" was quite a surprise. It was especially surprising when it became clear that voice was provided by none other than British comedy master Matt Berry. If you don't know who Matt Berry is, then you've got some work to do.
Matt Berry? Matt Berry!
Matt Berry is an accomplished comedian (and musician) in the U.K. Berry is most recognized for his turn on the workplace comedy "The IT Crowd," as well as "The Great British Baking Show" co-host Noel Fielding's sketch comedy series "The Mighty Boosh." The comedian also teamed up with Rich Fulcher to create their own comedy series called "Snuff Box." Plus, you may want to check out Berry's breakthrough turn in the cult favorite series "Garth Marenghi's Darkplace." But there's a more recent must-see series that perfectly uses Matt Berry's comic talent.
FX's series adaptation/continuation of Taika Waititi's vampire mockumentary "What We Do in the Shadows" features Matt Berry as one of the main characters. Berry plays Laszlo Cravensworth, one of the four vampires living on Staten Island in New York. Laszlo is an English nobleman who was turned into a vampire by a Greek Romani bloodsucker named Nadja of Antipaxos (Natasia Demetriou). The two fell in love and have been married for a long time. In addition to supposedly being the man behind the infamous serial killer Jack the Ripper, Laszlo also has an obsession with sex, which was only bolstered by his career as a porn star. Trust me when I say it's worth learning even more about him in the actual show.
FX
Along with playing Laszlo Cravensworth, Berry also plays Jackie Daytona, a completely separate character who is in no way a disguise donned by Laszlo in order to evade Jim the Vampire (Mark Hamill). Daytona is a charming bartender who always has on a nice pair of jeans and a toothpick in his mouth. He's also one of the most passionate supporters of a high school girls volleyball team in a small town in Pennsylvania, because it sounded like Transylvania. But again, this has nothing to do with Laszlo Cravensworth, okay?
Anyway, hearing Matt Berry's voice as 8D8 in "The Book of Boba Fett" was a real treat, and it works nicely with the previous inclusion of fellow British television star Richard Ayoade as the criminal mercenary droid Q9-0, better known as Zero. Ayoade previously worked with Berry as one of the main characters in "The IT Crowd," and now the two have been immortalized as droids in the "Star Wars" universe. When can we get Chris O'Dowd or Katherine Parkinson to make their "Star Wars" debut?