This Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett article contains spoilers.
Organized crime on Tatooine is a full-time job. Boba Fett fights off a bounty hunter and makes some new allies in “The Streets of Mos Espa,” all while also preparing for the next threat that’s incoming.
Like the rest of the show, this episode of The Book of Boba Fett has many Original Trilogy references and familiar sights. Take a look at all the Star Wars easter eggs and references we spotted in this episode…
Danny Trejo as the Rancor Keeper
Director Robert Rodriguez’s long-time collaborator (and second cousin) Danny Trejo, plays the rancor keeper. He’s known for playing gritty anti-heroes and villains who operate outside of the law.
You can read more about Trejo and the rancor keeper here.
Stephen Root as the Water Monger
Stephen Root plays Lortha Peel, the water monger. He’s a prolific comic actor seen in Office Space, Succession, and Seinfeld, among many other live action and animated appearances. He also can now claim both “Star” franchises, as he played a Klingon captain in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Sophie Thatcher as Drash the Biker
Thatcher plays Drash, the leader of the swoop bike gang. She also stars in Yellowjackets, one of the best shows currently airing on American television.
The Rancor
The beast in Return of the Jedi was in fact an intelligent and emotionally complex creature, the rancor keeper explains.
Witches of Dathomir
Rancor mounts aren’t entirely new: both Star Wars canon and Legends feature Witches of Dathomir forming bonds with and riding rancors. As well as appearing in now non-canon books, the Witches feature prominently in The Clone Wars.
Paar’s Ichthyodont and the Star Wars Holiday Special
When Boba says he’s ridden bigger creatures than the rancor, he could be referring to the Paar’s ichthyodont in the Star Wars Holiday Special. This animated sequence, which marks Boba’s Star Wars debut, is considered the best part of the infamous special.
You can read more about Boba Fett’s origins here.
Ralph McQuarrie Art
The painting the speeder chase destroys is a prop of a Ralph McQuarrie concept painting of Jabba the Hutt. McQuarrie’s art has been the backbone of the look of the franchise.
B’omarr Monk
An establishing shot gives a detailed look at a B’marr Order monk, the brains-in-jars also seen in Return of the Jedi. Members of their order give up their physical bodies to become droids free of sensation and capable of living extended lives as brains alone. They were the original occupants of the temple that became Jabba’s palace.
Klatooinians
8D8 briefly mentions the Klatooinian species as running one of the Mos Espa gangs. Often used as background aliens, the Klatooinians are one of several Original Trilogy alien species named using words from the alien language in the 1951 science fiction movie The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Tatooine
– The fruit stand the mayor’s aid ends up trapped in sells meilooruns, mango-like fruits that also featured in Star Wars Rebels.
– Among the delicacies on Boba and Fennec’s dinner table is a roasted nuna, a frog-like creature that first appeared in The Phantom Menace. They’ve since become the saga version of chickens, with their legs often showing up at the meal table.
– Another town on Tatooine, Mos Eisley, is well-known for being the town closest to Luke Skywalker’s homestead in A New Hope and the location of the famous original cantina scene.
– One of Mos Espa’s gangs is named the Kintan Striders, a reference to a creature seen previously as one of the holographic game pieces on a dejarik table in A New Hope.
– The Pykes arrive on board a star liner, which, while not technically sharing the same name, is essentially the same concept as the floating luxury hotel known as the Galactic Starcruiser, which is coming to Walt Disney World.