Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Star Wars TV

  • REVIEW: ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Episode 3 – The Streets of Mos Espa

    REVIEW: ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Episode 3 – The Streets of Mos Espa

    After spending most of the time with the Tusken Raiders in the initial episodes, the third chapter titled “The Streets of Mos Espa” remains mostly focused on the present-day storyline. It feels like the story is starting to pick up the pace, as we find out what other dark secrets the town of Mos Espa has hiding, as well as continue to humanize the man behind the helmet, as Boba Fett remains a much kinder character than one might initially expect. Can the former bounty hunter finally set his foot as ruler of Tatooine?

    The core of this episode continues to highlight Fett’s character. While he is now the Daimyo, he stays true to his beliefs. These are strongly reinforced by the Bacta flashbacks, and this episode feels like the first time it is truly coming together. He’s shown quite a lot of mercy, which you wouldn’t expect from a man who worked as a bounty hunter. If it weren’t for the Raiders, we might have a very different man leading this show and it knows that. That development makes the poignant moment of this week’s episode hit even harder, as reality sadly is much harsher. In a way, it parallels what he’s trying to accomplish with his more kind take on ruling, as when violence was used it only ended in violence in his past.

    Disney+’s latest Star Wars series offers many dramatic moments, but as highlighted in last week’s episode is also not ashamed of having some fun. The fact that he faced off against a literal desert alien biker gang in the last episode and the arrival of Tatooine’s youth with their shiny rides feels somehow bizarre yet fitting for the franchise. It’s that combination of fun world-building based on familiar elements that always made this franchise stand out among its intergalactic peers.

    One of my favorite moments in this episode is when Krrsantan just dragged Fett out of his Bacta tank. Right after a dramatic revelation on Fett’s past before he regained his armor, we are ripped out of the memory by the newly introduced Wookie, who wipes the floor with our favorite bounty hunter. It was a great moment of tension, as it ripped Fett of all his armor and gimmicks to force his hand. The fact that the only effective weapon he had was the gaffi stick at the time was a nice touch even if he went down a little faster than you’d hope. He does end up getting helped out by his allies and it is the badass Ming-Na Wen‘s Fennec Shand that manages to win.

    The action has been great, but its titular character only got a single moment to truly shine and that was part of a flashback. In the modern-day, he seemingly is over-reliant on those around him, which makes me wonder if his continued visit to the Bacta tank is a hint that something is wrong. He might have much deeper scars than we anticipated, which may become a key factor later down the line. Here’s hoping that he gets a moment like in The Mandalorian in the latter half of this series.

    The Hutts also make their return this episode, but it seems they have decided to save some money on their budget due to them already leaving the story. A bigger conspiracy is woven, as they were the obvious ones to pin the assassinations on, but this episode may have finally set the stage for the main antagonists, as the present and past are coming together with the Pykes. There might still be more to this story, but it feels like the slow pacing is coming to a payoff soon.

    Speaking off, my reviews of earlier episodes might’ve been a bit harsher than need-be, as the show isn’t restricted to forcing a fast-paced action set. It’s what one would expect from a show featuring THE Boba Fett, but the more time I spend with Temuera Morrison, the more I understand what they are doing. He’s a true leading man and gets actual time to shine outside of the mask. His interaction with the incredible cameo by Danny Trejo and a very special gift that I cannot wait to see develop in future episodes were stand-out moments. We get this hint at kindness and giddiness that makes the character stand out even more than the myths we’ve weaved around him in the past. It makes me hope we have many more stories to tell with this incarnation of the character.

  • RUMOR: ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3 Production Postponed Indefinitely Due to Omicron Concerns

    RUMOR: ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3 Production Postponed Indefinitely Due to Omicron Concerns

    There have been growing concerns that the COVID Omicrom variant might hit harder than previous versions, as some countries are preparing for lockdowns. As such, it seems a new report by Bespin Bulletin has revealed that The Mandalorian’s third season production may have halted production. They report that there were no issues on set and no one involved was affected by the virus, but they wanted “to be on the safe side.” Cases have been on the rise, and reports that Star Trek: Picard was affected may have added some concerns.

    The production seemed to have started back in September with March being its potential end date. Yet, as it’s now currently halted production, they may focus primarily on post-production work until numbers go down again. There is no word on when they might restart production, as such they’ll have to wait, but it’s a good sign if this is the case that Lucasfilm and everyone involved is prioritizing the production team’s health. We’ll see if this news gets confirmed at some point later down the line.

    Source: Bespin Bulletin

  • ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ May Not Be the Show You Wanted, But It Knows Exactly What It Is

    ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ May Not Be the Show You Wanted, But It Knows Exactly What It Is

    Fans have long looked forward to the latest Star Wars Disney Plus streaming series, The Book of Boba Fett. The first tease for the show, glimpsed at the end of Season 2 of The Mandalorian, and subsequent footage shown in trailers seemed to promise big action as Fett took over the organized crime scene on Tatooine. Fans were excited about seeing what Fett would do next and hype was high. And yet, through two episodes, we’ve seen very little action in the present day and the slow, deliberate pace of the flashbacks have left fans unsure of to think.

    “The Book of Boba Fett doesn’t have an identity yet.” “The Book of Boba Fett is unsure of what kind of show it wants to be.” “The Book of Boba Fett has yet to find its footing.” These types of reactions provided a decent summary of some of the particular criticisms of the series so far. And from the standpoint of the audience, they are fair criticisms; however, what became clear after viewing Chapter 2, “The Tribes of Tatooine”, is that the creatives behind this show (Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and Robert Rodriguez) know exactly what they want the show to be and, per usual, are making no bones about it.

    While fans are understandably eager to see Fett kick all sorts of ass, the creatives have a different angle in mind, at least in these first two episodes. As fans, including myself, have complained about how we could easily put the pieces together of how Fett got back on his feet following his escape from the Sarlacc, what is being overlooked, by some, is that what we are getting is a story that redefines a character that we never really knew much about in the first place. When he swooped in and reclaimed his armor in Season 2 of The Mandalorian, fans of the character took to social media cheering the return of the character. “Boba is back, baby!!” But the reality being presented to us is quite different: Boba is not back. And since we never really knew Boba, we’re getting the opportunity to get to know him now.

    It was a bold choice by the creatives to deconstruct the character the way they did. They literally stripped him bare of what made him iconic and did so in order to be able to tell us a better story down the road. His escape from the Sarlacc, subsequent stripping down by the Jawas and the ongoing story with the Tuskens will, when it’s done, be the defining period of this new Fett. His time with the Tuskens is growing more interesting over time and the experiences he’s having there will shape him into the man we see in the present day.

    We’ve seen him symbolically reborn and deconstructed and what we’re witnessing now is the creation of essentially an entirely new character. He may wear the familiar armor, but this is not the same old Boba. The Book of Boba Fett is not here to continue the story of the iconic bounty hunter, told nicely over the years in the canonical animated series, it’s here to define the character anew.

  • ‘The Book of Boba Fett’: Who is Black Krrsantan?

    ‘The Book of Boba Fett’: Who is Black Krrsantan?

    Continuing with The Mandalorian‘s season 2 tradition of bringing into live-action Star Wars characters first introduced in another medium, The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 2 brought us the Wookie bounty hunter Black Krrsantan. Unlike Bo-Katan, Cobb Vanth, and Ahsoka Tano who either made their first appearances in animated form or in a novel, Black Krrsantan was first introduced in a comic book, 2015’s Darth Vader #1, back when Marvel Comics relaunched its Star Wars line.

    It was there that Vader, doubting the Emperor’s true intentions following the events of A New Hope, requested that Jabba The Hut loaned him his two most reliable bounty hunters so that he could use them to conduct two separate investigations, without the Emperor’s knowledge. The two names brought forward were none other than Black Krrsantan and Boba Fett. While Fett was tasked with tracking down the rebel pilot responsible for the destruction of the Death Star, Black Krrsantan is ordered to find and capture an agent of the Emperor himself.

    Throughout his comic book appearances, he crossed paths with a number of legacy characters besides Fett, including Ben Kenobi on the sands of Tatooine. At one time, tasked with the mission to capture Luke, he even crashed into the Millenium Falcon which lead to him meeting up with Han Solo, C-3PO, R2-D2, and eventually even fighting Chewbacca. But what eventually turned out to be one of his most meaningful connections to another character was his relationship with human female archaeologist Chelli Aphra, a.k.a. Doctor Aphra. 

    Aphra was also recruited by Darth Vader after the Battle of Yavin, unlike Black Krrsantan, perhaps due to her strong(er) moral compass, soon found herself running from the Sith Lord following his attempt to end her life after she was no longer of use. Black Krrsantan played an important role in all of this since it was him that managed to save Aphra only because she owed him money and letting her die was, simply put, a bad investment. He then stayed with her for a while, expecting her to comply with his demands and pay her due.

    All through his chronicled adventures, Black Krrsantan has always presented himself as a ruthless and fierce warrior, and with his live-action debut apparently putting him up against the mighty Boba Fett, his former partner in crime, we are perhaps due a fight for the ages. If his presence in The Book of Boba Fett may open the door to a few other live-action character introductions, that remains to be seen. But even if Doctor Aphra might be seen as a long shot, characters like Triple-Zero and BT-1 who also have a history with the Wookie gladiator would also be extremely welcomed additions to live-action Star Wars.

  • REVIEW: ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Episode 2 – The Tribes of Tatooine

    REVIEW: ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Episode 2 – The Tribes of Tatooine

    The second episode of The Book of Boba Fett continues both storylines that were put into motion last week. Robert Rodriguez and John Favreau unravel the story of how its titular character survived the fall into the Sarlacc Pit and his future ventures like the new Daimyo of Tatooine or at least trying to keep some control over Mos Espa. The series tries to juggle the political underworld and flashbacks to Boba’s time stuck in the desert with Tusken Raiders. Last week, it had a bit of a struggle keeping a fine balance between the two. Does it manage to make up for it this time around?

    This week’s entry had a strong beginning, as we finally meet the Mayor – who was oddly teased as a mystery but turned out to be someone we saw in the trailers – and who will most likely be Boba Fett’s main antagonists. It was never going to be an easy task to take over Hutt’s territory, but his aim of leading without fear might become a much more difficult task. As the name of the episode, “The Tribes of Tatooine” implies, this episode mainly sets up a lot of elements that’ll probably come into play later on. For now, it still leaves you questioning what the future has in store for the series.

    The episode has a very straightforward structure this time around, as it’s split into two halves. We already covered most of the first, but the second continues Fett’s travels into his past. Temuera Morrison continues to carry the show with his reserved but powerful performance, as he has to act alongside the Tusken Raiders that stick to their native tongue. There are bouts of silence that are quite powerful in a media landscape filled with mostly exposition. There’s an interesting concept at play, as we get a closer look at their culture and how they survived in the desert.

    Yet, the drawback is that this storyline fills in blanks that most could’ve put together themselves. There’s a lack of connectivity, for now, to understand why we’re spending so much time with the Raiders and how it may connect into the overarching plot. There’s a strong hint at the end, and I believe the pay-off may be quite an emotional one given his strong connection to the sand inhabitants, but it does come at the cost of the series’ overarching pacing.

    So far, the biggest selling point of the series is Morrison and the further exploration of Tatooine’s culture. The advantage of long-form storytelling gives us these smaller moments that have a stronger impact on this galaxy being more than just its main heroes, which also makes it stand out from the more character-focused story in The Mandalorian. Even with uneasy pacing, the episode offers some strong moments that continue to explore Fett’s role in the galaxy.

    I do believe that we haven’t scratched the surface yet and this episode had a stronger core narrative, even if it was split into two separate storylines. There was a surprising amount of humor thrown in that added some nice levity to the otherwise very reserved approach to storytelling. It’s funny how the series generally focuses on action-packed set pieces with calmer, character, and world-focused elements mixed in-between. Also, who knew that even the desert would have its biker gangs.

    The second chapter is a step up from before, even if it still feels like there could’ve been a stronger balance between its two main storylines. Morrison‘s reserved take on the character continues to carry the show but there’s slowly a need for justification seeping in on why we’re spending this much time. Most could’ve connected the dots on how he survived, which makes the dragged-out nature of these flashbacks questionable, for now. Here’s hoping that the next episode offers a clearer picture. For now, while interesting from a world-building standpoint, it does undermine the more interesting crime lord plot that has yet to really get going.

  • Relive a Classic Mando Moment with the Boba/Fennec Pop!

    Relive a Classic Mando Moment with the Boba/Fennec Pop!

    The Book of Boba Fett is in full swing on Disney Plus. Now fans can relive the moment it became a reality through the Star Wars: The Mandalorian Boba Fett and Fennec Shand Pop! Moment, available for pre-order from Entertainment Earth.

    Star Wars: The Mandalorian Boba Fett and Fennec Shand Pop! Moment

    Packaged in a window box display, the deluxe Pop! flashes back to the moment at the end of Season 2 of The Mandalorian that saw Boba take Jabba’s throne after killing Bib Fortuna, leading to the events of The Book of Boba Fett.

    The Moment Pop can be found here at Entertainment Earth and is expected to ship in March of 2022.

    Murphy’s Multiverse is an Entertainment Earth affiliate.

  • ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Premiere Slightly Ahead of ‘Hawkeye’ In Viewership

    ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Premiere Slightly Ahead of ‘Hawkeye’ In Viewership

    As per usual, we have little insight into how exactly these various shows and projects are doing over at Disney+. Viewership numbers remain tightly locked up for only Disney to see. Luckily, third-party companies do offer some insight through external analysis such s SambaTV. Deadline has shared their latest report on the premiere of The Book of Boba Fett, which shows that it was slightly ahead of the latest Marvel series, Hawkeye by around 13%.

    Does that mean one is better than the other? Not at all, as both shows are showing overall strong viewership numbers of those that watched at least five minutes. They compared the 5-day premiere between the series based on 46M TV devices and a panel of 3M Smart TV households. Hawkeye had a premiere at around 1.5M, while Loki still holds the record of the highest 5-day premiere with 2.5M based on their data. Boba Fett is around 32% behind its premiere, which kicked off the new Wednesday release trend.

    The Book of Boba Fett had quite a bit of momentum behind it, as it was the first solo project focused on one of Star Wars’ most popular characters. His return in The Mandalorian built up quite a bit of excitement and it’s understandable that the series would do well. It’ll be interesting to see how the series grows over time, as more and more happens.

    Source: Deadline

  • RUMOR: ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ May Feature a Familiar Face

    RUMOR: ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ May Feature a Familiar Face

    Here’s an interesting rumor, it looks like The Book of Boba Fett might include a familiar face from past Star Wars franchises. There have been many wondering what the new series exploring a new future for Temuera Morrison’s Boba Fett might explore, as it opens up to the return of many from his past. Well, it seems The Sun has just revealed an important figure from the original trilogy might make his return.

    The following piece will include a major spoiler. So, if you aim to watch the series without anything getting revealed, only continue at your own risk.

    The Sun is reporting that Harrison Ford has taken some time out of his busy schedule to film for three days on The Book of Boba Fett set. If this rumor turns out to be true, he will have a small role in the series and will get digitally de-aged, similar to what they did with Mark Hamill on The Mandalorian. The appearance has been something fans hoped for, as Fett was the one responsible for offering Han Solo to Jaba the Hutt. So, it’ll be interesting to see what role he might have if this becomes true

    Source: The Sun

  • ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Premiere Provides Room for Who Boba Fett is Meant to Become

    ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Premiere Provides Room for Who Boba Fett is Meant to Become

    The amount of praise the Boba Fett character has received ever since his theatrical film debut in The Empire Strikes Back is matched only by the number of doubters who often ask what he has ever actually done (besides looking cool) to deserve such recognition. It’s certainly fair to admit that there just wasn’t much to the character in the original trilogy, but that was something that, fueled by the fan response to the character, would later be addressed in several prequel projects.

    It ended up being through the prequels, where we met a young Boba still with his father Jango by his side, that the character was given enough background to allow audiences to fully grasp his role in the grand scheme of the Star Wars universe. Being the popular character that he was – and still is – he then went on to either being mentioned or even appearing in many other Star Wars properties, from comics to video games, from animated shows to novels, thus expanding his own story. But even if relevant details were added to it throughout, elements that made him play a more active role in the franchise as well as make him a more complex and therefore more interesting character, the bookend that Return of the Jedi represented to his life story would always be looming in the background.

    Having him seemingly die in the final chapter of the original trilogy playing a standard (albeit very good) bounty hunter-type isn’t exactly allowing for much character growth throughout the years after having initially introduced him, as a child, in a very similar role. This meant that the character could never really escape his destiny of how he found himself when swallowed whole by a Sarlacc. That is up until The Mandalorian came along.

    For the first time (?) Boba Fett’s future wasn’t set in stone. But even then we still saw a man trying to get back to his old ways, collecting his armor, his ship, and rebuilding his persona after being forgotten and left for dead on the sands of Tattoine. But now, having him return to the same planet where he was forgotten to take Jabba’s throne seems like the perfect occasion to finally start to deconstruct the character into what it perhaps was always meant to evolve into.

    Being the one in charge will probably not live up to Boba Fett’s expectations. As with many things in life, when the chase is sometimes more gratifying than actually achieving one’s goal, it feels like it’s only a matter of time until Fett becomes disillusioned by the expectations of what a Tattoine crime lord is supposed to do and eventually become. His sense of honor and duty, both of which got a few glimpses of in The Mandalorian, will likely kick in as he moves to distance himself from everybody’s expectations of how he should behave in his newfound role. He already stated that, unlike his predecessor, he doesn’t torture and he does not plan to rule with fear; perhaps it’s also in his future to drop either the ‘crime’ or the ‘lord’ from the title he now holds. Either way, Fett is now free from all narrative shackles and can now break the mold of how everyone expected him to present himself.

    Following Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land we now wait for the next six episodes as The Book of Boba Fett hopefully answers its most pressing question: Who is Boba Fett meant to become?

  • REVIEW: ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Chapter 1 – Stranger in a Strange Land

    REVIEW: ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Chapter 1 – Stranger in a Strange Land

    After a long wait, The Book of Boba Fett has finally premiered on Disney+. After making his grand return as the titular character in The Mandalorian, Temuera Morrison continues the story in the first of many spinoffs that’ll expand the galaxy far, far away. The first episode “Stranger in a Strange Land” takes a very different approach to what you may expect from what was teased as Star Wars‘ take on the Godfather. While we still get those elements that hint at the series’ bigger picture, it takes a few steps back to build up the character we always knew surprisingly little about. Does it falter under the weight of expectation, or shine new light upon the Mandalorian clone?

    Most of the episode is spent with the aftermath of 1983’s Return of the Jedi, as we finally find out how exactly Boba Fett survived the Sarlacc Pit. It was almost expected that they’d fill in the blanks that were left purposefully vague before, as it strengthens the character we’re about to see grow throughout this series. Yet, we already know he survived and it left us questioning what these extensive flashbacks will bring to the series’ overarching narrative. The actual plotline revolves around Boba’s new role as the daimyo after taking over from Bib Fortuna. Yet, we spend very little time with him in that role.

    The biggest mystery set up in this episode is the identity of the “Mayor.” He’s hinted at as Boba’s biggest threat, especially when he’s the only one who refuses to not pay tribute to the new underworld leader. There’s an interesting conflict brewing between these two parties, but the episode doesn’t effectively use its runtime to focus on the world-building of Tatooine’s underbelly. We see a casino, he gets attacked (and his ass handed to him) before we move back to the flashback. While it worked as an opening segment to tease future development, it is trying to build something up that has no clear goal.

    The Book of Boba Fett‘s opening is sadly more lukewarm than exciting due to the first episode not set up many future plotlines to explore. The cliffhanger we are left with is Boba back in his flashback. There’s a lost momentum to what exactly the show is trying to be or even set up. We have no clear indication if these flashbacks and his time with the Tusken Raiders might connect to the current storyline. It’s good they don’t give too much away, but it leaves you wondering what exactly the show is going for after the credits roll.

    It’s strange how often Morrison gets beaten up in this first episode. While it makes sense in the flashbacks, he makes his grand entrance as the new Tatooine Kingpin only for random stragglers to pretty much beat him so badly, he needs to go back to the Bacta tank. I am not sure if him quitting halfway early on was a hint that he’s out of it, but when he and Ming-Na Wen‘s Fennec Shand get surrounded, it seemed odd they couldn’t get out without help. It does fall back on the “jetpack” fallacy, as he could’ve easily flown out of there, but he didn’t even give it a thought.

    The action still has its moments, his fight at the end was well done and gave Boba a moment to finally shine. Shand’s chase sequence was probably a highlight, as she uses clever – even if unclear – tactics to outmaneuver their attackers. Yet, it felt like something was missing throughout the show, especially with how little its titular character is used. He does get a cheap shot in, which is potentially to highlight his conflict on ruling with fear or respect, which is very likely going to be his character arc. We’ll see if future episodes will offer a clearer picture of where the show is heading.