Could Boba's good intentions lead to all-out war? an analysis of 'the book of boba fett' trailer

Last week Star Wars fans of all stripes were treated to a first look at The Book of Boba Fett with a trailer that held plenty of excitement, but in terms of details was pretty conservative. As was the case with the marketing for The Mandalorian, it seems as though Lucasfilm are playing their cards close to their chest, opting to keep any potential character appearances or major plot details a secret until the series premieres on Disney Plus. It's even possible that the footage shown in the trailer might not even extend past the premiere episode itself.

Yet, despite being given such a small window into what Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Robert Rodriguez etc have cooked up for us in December, there's still plenty to discern from this teaser, most significantly where the story could be headed and how it could affect the wider Star Wars galaxy, particularly as it relates to the other upcoming Disney Plus shows set in 'The New Republic' era, as well as our titular anti-hero himself.

bOBA fETT...CRIME LORD?

After forging a reputation as the galaxy's fiercest bounty hunter for the better part of 20 years, it seems that Boba Fett is looking for a promotion of sorts, as glimpsed in the post-credits scene for the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian, titled The Rescue, in which Boba "disposed" of would-be ruler Bib Fortuna and laid claim to the throne (and palace) of his former employer, Jabba the Hutt. If there were any questions as to what Boba planned to do with this newly gained status, the trailer certainly seems to answer them, showing Boba and his trusted companion Fennec Shand as they hold dinners with former captains of Jabba and propose alliances with what look to be other criminal gangs.

Why speak of conflict, when cooperation can make us all rich. ~ Boba Fett

Indeed, it seems as though his stint for however long in the Sarlacc Pit has been something of a spiritual rebirth for Boba, as he states that he intends to rule through respect, rather than fear as Jabba did. The word "intend" should be paid close attention to however, as while Boba presents a magnanimous front to his would-be business partners, he's not above resorting to more "aggressive" measures if threatened, as we see towards the tail end of the trailer. His closing line "please...speak freely" makes this tenuous balance between his good intentions and darker impulses quite apparent. The question then becomes whether Boba will be able to maintain this balance, or if he will fall into the old ways of his predecessor in order to keep potential rivals in line?

Competing factions:

As we've seen throughout the various permutations of Star Wars, be it the comics, video games or animated shows, there are certainly a lot of criminal factions kicking around in the galaxy's underworld and given how both seasons of The Mandalorian enjoyed bringing back established elements from all of the above, it seems like a fair bet that we'll see a couple of these gangs appear as Boba extends the hand of cooperation. Likely candidates include The Pyke Syndicate - a group which featured in The Clone Wars and Solo - and The Black Sun, a mainstay of the Legends timeline. There are also lesser-known groups such as the Droid Gotra - name-dropped in the Season 2 opener of The Mandalorian - and The Blood Bone Order, whose leader Lassa Rhayme has appeared in the novels Dark Disciple and Inferno Squad.

While some of these groups might accept Boba's calls for an alliance, there could be those that remain sceptical and even outright antagonistic, perhaps because they might recall the last time a charismatic fan-favourite muscled their way in with a bid to unite the major crime syndicates. Speaking of Darth Maul, while he may be long dead when The Book of Boba Fett takes place, the shadowy organisation he once ruled over, Crimson Dawn, recently made a big return in the latest comic book crossover event War of the Bounty Hunters as a major new power player in the galaxy's underworld.

Now led by Maul's associate Qi'ra (as played by Emilia Clarke in Solo) Crimson Dawn is shown to have infiltrated every major organisation in the galaxy, including the Rebel Alliance and the Empire. As of this article the story is currently ongoing in the pages of Charles Soule's upcoming comic Crimson Reign, but assuming that Crimson Dawn is still the dominant force in crime at the start of the New Republic era, it stands to reason that they would consider Boba Fett's accruing of power as a threat worth "dealing with", which could spark further conflicts with any groups that decide to ally themselves with Boba and ultimately lead to all-out war between multiple gangs (which funnily enough, was a potential storyline that writer Jonathan Kasdan had in mind for a sequel to Solo.).

the bigger picture:

All of this is even before we introduce the element of the Imperial Remnant that's been popping up in both seasons of The Mandalorian, seeking to cause chaos for the fledgling New Republic, as well as taking a particular interest in everyone's favourite little Jedi-to-be Grogu. Could these Imperials re-emerge to sabotage Boba's efforts to unite the crime syndicates, or possibly aid him in exchange for something? The Empire was never above cutting deals with criminals after all. Could we even see a tease as to the whereabouts of presumed head honcho Grand Admiral Thrawn and what he has planned for our various rogues, rebels and Jedi?

And what about Boba's Mandalorian status? The trailer gives no indication as to whether that will be a feature of the series, but its fair to assume that Boba's feelings about his warrior heritage will be explored in some fashion, since in his previous appearance he was denounced by Bo-Katan as not being a Mandalorian despite his father Jango being a foundling, even fighting in the Mandalorian Civil Wars. Could his decision to move away from bounty hunting in favour of a higher position be motivated by a desire to prove himself as worthy of the armour and his father's legacy?

Hopefully we'll get some answers to these questions when The Book of Boba Fett debuts exclusively on Disney Plus on December 29th...