As a little kid I would sit next to my dad with a blindingly bright screen eight times my size in front of me. It introduced me to whole new worlds my little six-year-old mind could never fully comprehend. One of these amazing new narratives I was most attached to was Star Wars. I remember my dad excitedly giving me a brief summary of the plot of the first movie on the way to the theater. He had always been passionate about Star Wars, having grown up with it since it first came out when he was two. He talked so animatedly that I (as a little kid who wanted to be just like her dad) wanted to know why he liked it so much. That day led to many things, one of them being my newfound love for Star Wars. Ever since then, I grew up with the light humming of a projector and the booming dialogue from the speakers as a movie played. The light and funny comments my dad would offer throughout only felt sweeter with the taste of caramel popcorn in my mouth. 

Over the pandemic, unable to go to theaters, we bought a projector screen and watched a marathon of all the Star Wars movies and introduced my sister to the world of Jedi and Space Travel. With so much more time on our hands, we also watched some of the spin-offs and animated series. 

We got especially lucky with timing, because when we finished all those late nights of reruns and rewinding, The Mandalorian came out, which reawakened our passion for Star Wars. So when we heard that The Book of Boba Fett was being produced, we couldn’t wait. 

The Book of Boba Fett is an American space Western television series created by Jon Favreau for the streaming service Disney Plus. It is part of the Star Wars franchise, taking place after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983).

The series bounces off the The Mandilorian series. It features the Mandalorian himself (Din Djarin), as well as long lost Boba Fett. Other characters unseen in decades are brought back to their young lives once again. My dad and I were left speechless. To think the comic books my dad and I both grew up reading were coming to life on the screen was mesmerizing and slightly overwhelming. 

The Book of Boba Fett starts with flashbacks, we see how he escaped from the Sarlacc’s stomach and how he was rescued by the sand people. I was thrilled to realize I remember the scene with the Sarlacc in that one comic book Jawas Of Doom. The integration of the sand people is extremely important because they were usually portrayed as ruthless antagonists who are to be feared and annoyed by. In the first movies, we see them shooting at Luke Skywalker and kidnapping Anakin’s (Luke’s father) mother, followed by Cliegg Lars (Anakin’s step-father) referring to them as vicious and mindless creatures. But as the episodes progress and the more flashbacks we get, we see a gentler side of them. We see them taking care of Boba, accepting him into their clan and considering him one of their own. This goes in complete contrast to what we as viewers were told when the Tuskens were first introduced.

We learn more of their culture, and the injustice they are faced with. Being patronized and attacked by a speeder bike gang, they are picked off one by one. This also is a callback to our own history. The Tuskens are like the Natives of colonized countries. Like our natives, the Tuskens try to fight back but ultimately fail because the bikers have machines they don’t possess. 

The colonizers in our history saw the foreign cultures as barbaric and sought to change their ways. They stripped away their culture, replacing it with Christianity or Islam, they suppresed any and all references to their old ways and their multiple gods. The difference between the Tuskens and Natives was that the Tuskens were able to keep their customs. They were stubborn and no matter how many of them were killed or hurt, they would not let go of their culture. 

Growing up with my dad’s stubbornness and my mom’s sense of justice, I was a very opinionated and hard headed child. Even now I still am and I was pissed off by how the Tuskens were portrayed in earlier movies. It was the same way the colonizers portrayed the Natives in propaganda and to other ‘civilized’ people. My dad shared the same sentiment, grumbling about the stupidity of people and how they always resorted to violence when met with the unknown. 

We were both glad with the way The Book of Boba Fett was introducing more of their culture. The Tuskens were finally getting some positive recognition instead of being seen as killers. The producers didn’t change the Tusken’s rude and slightly violent customs to make it easier for viewers to ‘sympathize’, they didn’t portray them as victims who needed to be rescued and were forced to be violent when they didn’t want to. No, they kept it and instead showed the strength and determination in their ways, how even faced with such unfamiliar and unfair circumstances, they stayed strong. We fell in love with them and their culture, not some water down version for people who don’t have stomachs. It made their massacre even more painful because we had loved them for them and all their ridiculous and funny moments.

As the story progresses with every episode we go between the present and the past as Boba Fett tries to secure his standing as Daimyo. We see a new, urban side of Tatooine that we had not seen before due to Luke Skywalker’s rural background. We are introduced to the deceptive mayor and his nervous and chattery assistant (who grates our nerves every time he speaks).

The great catch about The Book of Boba Fett, is that young Luke, son of Anakin Skywalker, is brought back to life. Luke’s comeback brought many fans (including myself) into septic emotions as the great legend is brought unexpectedly back to life in such a remarkable way. The movie explains many concepts regarding the jedi school Luke created, which was later destroyed by Han Solo’s son, Kylo Ren. Luke Skywalker attempts to train young Grogu and to teach him the ways of the Jedi. Luke gives Grogu an ultimatum, stay and train with him to be a Jedi or go back to the Mandalorian and be a foundling. 

Seeing Grogu choose to go back to the Mandalorian was a sweet moment. Both characters had gone through so many intense emotions as they were to never see each other . Since Grogu was to become a Jedi, he was no longer able to see the Mandalorian as it would distract him immensely from his Jedi training. My face hurt from the wide grin that stretched across my face, my dad had slightly furrowed eyebrows and a pout at having lost the bet we made on what Grogu was going to choose. This also helps set up for season 3 of The Mandalorian. 

The battle between Cad Bane and Boba Fett was such an integral moment in this series, truly seeing this moment made me and my dad, who knew of their history, be left with a bittersweet feeling. Seeing the previously mentor and student now enemies on opposite sides left me without words. All the moments falling after with the rancor’s rage and Grogu using the force to calm it was truly mesmerizing. Seeing both the shock in the surrounding people’s faces followed by the pride my dad and I felt seeing his progress. It was truly an experience.

We see more of the gaps in the timeline filled as we are presented with intriguing information that the movies never gave, which makes this series so important. We experience the return  of  characters we loved growing up and learn more about them. My dad and I want more of the past to be displayed, we want to see more of the things all the comic books we read showed portrayed on that screen. I hope that The Book of Boba Fett gets a second season, and we get to see more of him and Cad’s history as he raises and trains Boba. But for now, it is enough, and we will patiently (that’s a lie, we are impatient) wait for more. The Book of Boba Fett is streaming now on Disney+.