Star Wars Theory: Emilia Clarke Will Show Up In Disney+’s Boba Fett Show

It’s almost time for The Book of Boba Fett’s premiere on Disney+, and fans couldn’t be any more excited. The series announcement was initially made

By Ishita Chatterjee
December 27,2021
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It’s almost time for The Book of Boba Fett’s premiere on Disney+, and fans couldn’t be any more excited. The series announcement was initially made during the post-credits scene of The Mandalorian season 2’s finale.

The show will follow Boba Fett and the hardships and trials he faces while trying to become a crime lord on the desert planet of Tatooine. Joining Temuera Morrison’s Boba is Ming-Na Wen’s Fennec Shand, who works as his right hand.

Even though the show will be released in less than a week, but it looks like promotional activities have indeed slowed down. It seems like Lucasfilm has already carried out the promotional work for the series.

The Promotion And Marketing Of The Book Of Boba Fett

Boba and Fennec

They have released a fantastic poster with Boba Fett, Fennec Shand, and the Slave I. The poster reads, “The Return.” But apart from that and a couple of trailers, there hasn’t been much marketing for the show.

However, this has become quite customary in the Disney Star Wars era. Fans have noticed that this trend has become frustrating for the movies and the announced projects in development or waiting to get the greenlight. Thankfully, it looks like the Book of Boba Fett won’t be affected by that because they have a formula that works. However, it’s still undoubtedly disappointing that promotions for the Disney+ shows have been a last-minute affair.

At most, an idea of the world of the show is given. But nothing regarding the plot is given away. For season 2 of The Mandalorian, this approach helped maintain a lot of surprises as the story went on. Absolutely nothing was given away regarding the second half of the season. No TV spots or trailers were shown to experience Boba Fett, Ahsoka Tano, and Luke Skywalker’s appearances organically.

This may be the plan for The Book of Boba Fett’s first season. Many have speculated that the footage shown till now hasn’t shown anything beyond the events of the first two episodes. Also, the profound lack of story details lends confidence to this theory. From what we have seen, the general setting, tone, and approach from the two leads have been made in the trailers and interviews. But there’s just one thing that hasn’t been shown in the marketing at all. These are the villains.

Who We Think Is The Main Villain Of The Series?

Qi'ra
Qi’ra

The enemies Shand and Fett will initially face will probably be locally-based first. The villains roaming all over Tatooine or maybe the members of the rival gangs who have been ordered to kill the newcomers to the criminal underworld might be the first enemies they face. But every action Fett has carried out till now has been very deliberate, and he undoubtedly has his eyes on a much bigger target. That enemy is significant enough to be withheld from the marketing of the series.

Maybe it’s someone fans know, and that’s why the enemy has been left out of promotions. After all, seeing the villain for the first time would surely draw gasps when they see them for the first time with fresh eyes. As said before, this is the same effect that Lucasfilm went for with season 2 of The Mandalorian. And given the recent developments in Star Wars canon storytelling, the main villain of The Book of Boba Fett may be Qi’ra.

Qi’ra vs Boba Fett

Qi'ra and Han Solo
Qi’ra and Han Solo

We last saw Qi’ra at the end of the Solo movie. There she left Han Solo behind after killing Dryden Vos and went on to join Maul on Dathomir. After that, her future was left in darkness. We don’t know what happened to her after Solo. But she shockingly made her return at the end of Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha comic book. This is a prelude to the comic miniseries of the very same name.

It was revealed that Qi’ra was now the leader of Crimson Dawn, and she has brought the crime gang out of the shadows to do something that would give her a new opportunity to gain power. To do this, she planned the heist of her previous love interest, Han Solo, and called all of the most prominent players of the galaxy to his auction. Since her arc took place shortly after the events of The Empire Strikes Back, it’s clear that there was just one person who she had to face to get the auction’s critical prize- Boba Fett.

Obviously, when the bounty hunter came to know about this, he was displeased. For some time, Boba didn’t know who the thief was. But when he was shown the message that Jabba the Hutt got from Bib Fortuna (who Boba Fett gunned down during the post-credits scene of The Mandalorian season 2), he got to know about Crimson Dawn’s involvement in the theft. Then he said that the group leader would die for her insolence. And when Boba Fett issues a death warrant, it rarely doesn’t come to fruition.

Boba Fett And Qi’Ra In The Star Wars Comics

The War of the Bounty Hunters miniseries
The War of the Bounty Hunters miniseries

It didn’t take long for Fett to infiltrate the auction put up by Crimson Dawn and get to know that Qi’ra was the one who had caused his troubles. Ultimately, he succeeded in getting Han Solo back when everything went haywire during the event. But Qi’ra faced off against Darth Vader and even escaped before any of her enemies could kill her. Right now, the second book in Charles Soule’s planned trilogy of miniseries, Crimson Reign, has only started.

It can be assumed for now that the two won’t be meeting again before Return of the Jedi. The book’s author has said that War of the Bounty Hunters is Boba Fett’s story, whereas Crimson Reign is Qi’ra. As for The Hidden Empire, we don’t know much about that, but for now, it looks like Boba Fett’s time in the comics is over. Now, let us come to the movies. In the original Star Wars trilogy, Boba Fett is the silent, iconic mercenary that we know.

He didn’t have much characterization to him. But obviously, The Mandalorian changed it all. When Boba Fett was shown to be the figure watching the twin suns set on Tatooine in “Chapter 9,” his appearance came with a lot of promise. When he finally arrived in “Chapter 14,” his appearance was driven by the desire to get his armour back, which Jango, his father, previously owned. It then became quite clear that Boba was on a mission, but he put a brake on it when he honoured his promise to bring Grogu back to Din Djarin. After all, Fett isn’t someone who forgets.

As we mentioned previously, he killed Bib Fortuna and took his place on Jabba’s previous throne. That act was the better part of 5 years in the making, and it was driven by anger at those who wronged him. He behaved similarly as a young man in The Clone Wars when he focused on killing Mace Windu for killing Jango on Geonosis. The main point of his character was the lust for revenge.

Sources have mentioned that the show will have that theme of revenge, which along with the storyline told in the comics, makes Qi’ra and Crimson Dawn the leading candidates to serve as villains in the show. This is not to say that the main characters in the series are heroes. Boba Fett held on to his grudge and hate for Fortuna for about half a decade this is even though Fortuna had committed a relatively minor crime compared to Qi’ra. Fett swore that she would lose her life for stealing Han Solo. And he is now in the position to take Crimson Dawn head-on.

Boba Fett Wants An Alliance To Defeat Qi’ra

Boba Fett wants to kill Qi'ra
Boba Fett wants to kill Qi’ra.

Early rumours for the show have suggested that a character under the “Hammerhead” codename would be a temporary enemy for Shand and Fett, but they would eventually join forces. That character’s codename eventually turned out to be quite literal since a currently unnamed Ithorian was witnessed on a throne visited by the lead duo in the very first trailer.

The figures seen running along the rooftops might be part of the Ithorian syndicate in the recent promotional footage. Alternatively, the crime lord might have put a bounty on their heads, and Fett might turn them over as a show of good faith. In the trailer, Boba can be seen speaking of cooperation to the other leaders of the criminal underworld on Tatooine. And that suggestion will indeed extend to the Ithorian as well.

But what is the actual goal of the ex-bounty hunter? He does mention that working together will make all of the parties wealthy without any need for bloodshed. But that doesn’t seem like Fett’s character. However, making ends meet has been crucial to him since he has said that he’s “a simple man making his way through the galaxy.”

The desert planet of Tatooine is known for its expansive underworld of villainy and scum. Boba isn’t trying to ally with the other syndicates because he wants the riches. He is doing this to use their resources. Alone, he has no chance of defeating Qi’ra. Fett will only take on Crimson Dawn if there are others with him.

Many have described The Mandalorian as essentially the Sergio Leone westerns taking place in space. So keeping this in mind, The Book of Boba Fett would be the Star Wars equivalent to The Godfather. If the analogy is accurate, then we don’t think the other crime lords will be alive for long. After all, Boba could very well become the Michael Corleone of the Star Wars franchise. If this ends up happening, then Boba will have all the forces, credits, and supplies needed to carry out an assault on Qi’ra and her Crimson Dawn. Every move made by Boba Fett will definitely be to achieve the greater goal of revenge.

The show might reference Qi’ra from the beginning itself, and Crimson Dawn’s presence might be hinted at during Fett’s early attempts to gain power. So Qi’ra would be Boba Fett’s ultimate enemy. Both the movie Solo and the comic War of the Bounty Hunters have shown Qi’ra’s combat skills and her cunning nature. As such, she can more than hold her own against someone who seeks to oppose her in the underworld. What’s more is that actress Emilia Clarke too wants to reprise her role, and she might as well have filmed her return.

Lucasfilm Is Developing Crimson Dawn To Be A Power House

Crimson Dawn And Darth Maul
Crimson Dawn And Darth Maul

Another essential thing to note is that Crimson Dawn has been developed to be a powerhouse in canon Star Wars. The group was first shown in Solo, but it has recently made several appearances in the new Star Wars comic storylines as well as in the episodes of the final season of The Clone Wars. If these rumours indeed turn out to be accurate, then the syndicate will also show up in the Darth Maul animated series Crimson Dawn. Lucasfilm has been slowly building up Crimson Dawn as an underworld heavyweight similar to Black Sun.

It makes one think that the groundwork has been laid to build something, and a face-off with Boba Fett will surely keep the organization and Qi’ra involved. But, some doubt has been cast on this possibility. This is because the first issue of the Crimson Reign miniseries uses a narration that suggests that the story will be narrating “the fall of Crimson Dawn.”

It should be noted that the story is being told from the perspective of a character who has experienced these events firsthand. However, this person wasn’t necessarily there to witness everything. But this doesn’t take away from the ominous effect of the issue’s final words, accompanied by an optimistic Qi’ra. It’s also possible that the ending of the very first issue of Crimson Reign is a red herring.

It seems unlikely that Crimson Dawn would collapse in the second act of Soule’s comics trilogy. What’s even less probable is that Qi’ra and her crew will be killed shortly after getting reintroduced. Since these words are a narration, the tragedy could have been described as seen by the narrator. But maybe it isn’t meant to be taken quite so literally. As we have seen in The Mandalorian, the galaxy isn’t in a great state at this point in the timeline. Neither is Qi’ra and nor is Boba Fett. Now, two enemies left behind by a galaxy that hates them have all the ingredients of an iconic rivalry.

This story could be finished in the first season of the Boba Fett show, but it looks like it will have a slow buildup that will lead to the stage getting set for the final conflict in the last episode. Many have theorized that the show will have more than one season, but nothing has been made official right now. Now, if The Book of Boba Fett does end up being a one-season series, then Fett’s conflict with Qi’ra could get carried on in some other Mandoverse show. Lucasfilm is planning something big, and all signs are pointing to Qi’ra. Boba Fett might be the most excellent bounty hunter in the galaxy, but he has a long way to go in proving his legitimacy as a crime lord.

Over time, we will get to know about his true intentions. To get to know him, catch The Book of Boba Fett when it debuts on Disney+ on December 29. You might also like: The Book Of Boba Fett: 10 Star Wars Characters Who Could Return In The Show