Every Star Wars Easter Egg You May Have Missed In The Book Of Boba Fett Episode 1
Robert Rodriguez is a big nerd, so it's only natural that "The Book of Boba Fett" is packed with "Star Wars" Easter eggs and references — from returning characters like Max Rebo to a cameo by Rodriguez himself. The "Alita: Battle Angel" filmmaker is an executive producer on the show and directed the first episode, which landed on Disney+ today.
In "Stranger in a Strange Land," Boba Fett finds that it takes a little more to establish yourself as Tatooine's resident crime boss than simply sitting on Jabba the Hutt's old throne. As Boba and his lieutenant, Fennec Shand, await tributes from the local leaders, the former bounty hunter finds himself faced with a general lack of appropriate respect — not helped by the fact that he walks around on his own two legs like a chump instead of being carried around on a pile of cushions like a Chad.
The home planet of both Luke and Anakin Skywalker, Tatooine is the sort of place where running into Easter eggs is unavoidable. Here's a guide to some that you may have missed.
The Crimson Dawn Theme
Let's start with the opening credits of "The Book of Boba Fett" and its theme song (which sadly is not Darude — "Sandstorm"). Ludwig Göransson's score weaves in John Powell's music from "Solo: A Star Wars Story," specifically, the theme associated with the criminal syndicate known as Crimson Dawn. We've been promised surprises are in store, so perhaps this means "The Book of Boba Fett" will end up connecting to the events and characters of "Solo."
Max Rebo and the Jizz-Wailers
Boba isn't the only person who's back from the dead! Talented Ortolan musician Max Rebo (he's the one who looks like a little blue elephant) returns to serenade the denizens of Mos Espa with a new arrangement of the cantina band theme, along with a group of Bith musicians who appear to be Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes. Max was presumed dead when Jabba the Hutt's sail barge, upon which he and the rest of the Max Rebo Band were serving as the musical entertainment, blew up in "Return of the Jedi." Somehow, Max Rebo survived, and went on to make even more sweet jizz music.
I'll Try Chain-Choking, That's a Good Trick
"The Book of Boba Fett" premiered just a few days after the fifth anniversary of Carrie Fisher's death. The "Star Wars" O.G., who passed away after drowning in moonlight, strangled by her own bra, once recalled an incident in which an upset parent complained to her about Princess Leia's gold bikini in "Return of the Jedi."
"The father who flipped out about it, 'What am I going to tell my kid about why she's in that outfit?' Tell them that a giant slug captured me and forced me to wear that stupid outfit, and then I killed him because I didn't like it. And then I took it off. Backstage."
Leia got her revenge on Jabba the Hutt for enslaving her and putting her in that "stupid outfit" by strangling him to death with her own chains — thereby paving the way for Boba Fett to step in a few years later and seize Jabba's throne. In an homage to Leia, Boba strangles the sand monster attacking him to death with his own slave chains and earns his freedom from the impressed Tusken Raiders.
Moisture Farm
While being dragged around by a Tusken Raider child, Boba is disturbed to see a group of free range criminals robbing a Tatooine moisture farm and attacking its farmers. This kind of rampant, disorganized crime appears to be the result of the leadership vacuum left by Jabba the Hutt and Bib Fortuna's deaths, so Boba's motivations for getting Tatooine under control aren't entirely about personal ambition. Moisture farming was, of course, the occupation of Luke Skywalker's aunt and uncle in the original "Star Wars." Let's hope the moisture farmers that Boba sees fare better than poor Owen and Beru did.
Single File
A neat detail from the original "Star Wars" trilogy makes it into "The Book of Boba Fett" when we see poor Boba being dragged along by the Tusken Raiders who have captured him. The Tuskens ride their banthas in a long line across the desert, rather than side by side. As Obi-Wan Kenobi explained to Luke in "A New Hope," they travel in single file like this in order to prevent people from getting a clear picture of their numbers. After what Anakin Skywalker did to that Tusken village and its people, it's little wonder that the desert nomads are literally covering their tracks.
What a Lovely Voice...
The accents might be mostly American, but the sound stages upon which the original "Star Wars" was filmed were at Elstree Studios, near London. "Star Wars" movies have regularly filmed in Old Blighty since then, so it's only appropriate that they've also starred a number of great British actors. "The Mandalorian" featured the distinctive voice of Richard Ayoade as the droid Q-90, and "The Book of Boba Fett" casts Ayoade's old pal and regular collaborator Matt Berry as the voice of 8D8, the now droid and professional torture enthusiast who once served Jabba and now serves Boba. U.S. audiences may know Berry from his leading role as Laszlo Cravensworth in the horror-comedy TV series "What We Do in the Shadows."
Hey, R-3X!
Max Rebo isn't the only familiar face in the Mos Espa cantina. Also seen among the crowd, dealing cards for a group of gamblers, is R-3X — a droid who appeared in the animated series "Star Wars Rebels" and "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" after making his debut in Star Tours, a ride featured at Disney Parks locations around the world. Since it's just a glimpse, this could be another droid in the same model ... but let's choose to believe it's R-3X.
A Trandoshan With a Very Special Voice ... and a Very Horrible Gift
According to "The Book of Boba Fett," a big part of being a crime lord is just kind of sitting around and waiting for people to bring you stuff (this was Jabba the Hutt's main M.O. as well). Among those who pay tribute to Boba in this first episode is a Trandoshan called Dokk Strassi, who is actually voiced by director Robert Rodriguez. Dokk presents Boba with a rather gruesome gift: a Wookiee pelt. Don't let their weird wailing fool you; Wookiees are not pets, but are fully sentient with a rich culture, so this is kind of like handing someone a rug made from human skin. However, it wouldn't be the first time Boba has worn a Wookiee byproduct; in the original trilogy, he had braided Wookiee fur hanging from the shoulder of his armor. Trandoshans and Wookiees historically have a lot of beef with each other, since they live in the same system and Trandoshans hunt Wookiees for sport. And fashion, apparently.
Aaahh!!! Real Robots
If you're a frequenter of viral videos, you may notice that the droid dogs wandering round Mos Espa look rather familiar. That's because they're a variation on Boston Dynamics' Spot model, known for its incredible dance moves and general air of menace. This isn't the first time that Spot has been featured in a sci-fi property; the "Black Mirror" episode "Metalhead" was set in a post-apocalyptic world where Spot-like robots had gone rogue and were ruthlessly hunting down surviving humans. Boston Dynamics confirmed on Twitter that the droid dogs featured in the episode are in fact theirs ... which means that "Star Wars" has reached the point where it's actually casting real droids. Living in the future is truly wild.
Witwer You Saying?
The voice of Sam Witwer has been heard across the galaxy far, far away in shows like "Star Wars Rebels" and video games like "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed," usually as the sinister Darth Maul. Witwer played a live-action Maul for the first time in "Solo: A Star Wars Story," taking over the role from Ray Park, who played Maul in "The Phantom Menace." Witwer also cameos in "The Book of Boba Fett" as the voice of the Rodian prisoner who snitches on Boba when he tries to escape the Tuskens. Not cool, Sam.
A Horribly Familiar Sight
"The Book of Boba Fett" features a flashback to the events of "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones," in which Boba's father, Jango Fett, was beheaded by Mace Windu. The last time we see young Boba Fett (played by Daniel Logan) in the film, he is retrieving Jango's lost helmet from the aftermath of the battle and holding it up to his own head in grief (and foreshadowing). When that same helmet is knocked out of Boba's hands in "The Book of Boba Fett," scattering the coins inside it, it rolls across the ground in a way that is sickeningly familiar to the way it fell when Jango was beheaded.
New episodes of "The Book of Boba Fett" release Wednesdays on Disney+.