‘Book of Boba Fett’ proves Jon Favreau is the new George Lucas

Filmmaker Jon Favreau was given the keys to the Star Wars live-action kingdom, and he’s yet to disappoint. That’s even clearer with the brilliance on display in the recently-debuted ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ on Disney+.

By Abdulkareem Baba Aminu

Boba Fett’s story in the original Star Wars movies has always held fans captive, myself included. It was intriguing, to be honest, with his morally ambiguous positions, tough bounty hunter image, striking armor, and super-cool tech. He was also tied into the stories of many fan-favorite characters and locations, like Jabba the Hutt and his crime empire, Tattooine, and many others. In fact, it is indirectly due to Fett’s popularity and mass appeal that we got the other Star Wars live-action TV masterpiece, ‘The Mandalorian’.

‘The Book of Boba Fett’, currently on its third episode, features glorious sweeping vistas – and new characters, creatures, droids, vehicles, and weapons – all seamlessly blended with classic, existing ones. The sheer genius of planning and execution, one might say and be very right. But who’s responsible for all this glorious fan service (‘fan service’ can never be a bad thing here)? That would be Jon Favreau, of course, aided by an incredible team.

‘‘The Book of Boba Fett’ continues to dish out fan-pleasing moment after moment, and it doesn’t look like that’s about to stop.’

‘The Book of Boba Fett’ continues to dish out fan-pleasing moment after moment, and it doesn’t look like that’s about to stop. While it features a roster of old, classic characters, it also introduces many that add to the original characters, some in their first live-action appearances from other media, or even brand-new ones. My favorites? The Hutt twins. But that’s all I can say now, because spoilers. If there was any doubt that the search for a successor to Lucas has ended, Favreau obliterates it.

Favreau, most famous for directing ‘Iron Man’ for Marvel and also played Tony Stark’s right-hand man, Happy, created the Pedro Pascal vehicle ‘The Mandalorian’, with Dave Filoni.

Penning most of the first and second seasons of ‘The Mandalorian’, Favreau also directed the second season premiere episode. The show also gave fans perhaps the most well-received character since that universe was created decades ago. Now, it is quite obvious that the filmmaker truly understands the Star Wars universe, and how to build upon Lucas’ work, all the while adding cool new elements that are all his.

‘It has become crystal clear in ‘The Book of Boba Fett’, where even the ambience is that of classic Star Wars, and in the best way. It does make one wonder: Why the heck wasn’t this brilliant man offered a film in the final Star Wars sequel trilogy?’

While that was established in the hit ‘The Mandalorian’, it has become crystal clear in ‘The Book of Boba Fett’, where even the ambience is that of classic Star Wars, and in the best way. It does make one wonder: Why the heck wasn’t this brilliant man offered a film in the final Star Wars sequel trilogy? But I digress. Back to the matter at hand: It is clear that in Favreau, Lucasfilm has found a worthy successor to its legendary creator.

Reportedly, Favreau’s first taste of the Star Wars galaxy was on ‘The Clone Wars’, when he was given the chance to voice one of his favorite characters, a Mandalorian. That’s when he met Filoni, and began a friendship and collaborative relationship that would grow. Almost a decade later, he was able to return and create even more layers to their mythos, and cement them even more as Star Wars essentials.

So, yes, it appears to me that Favreau is indeed the ‘new Lucas’, and in the nicest way possible. And to me, he’s even better at being Lucas than Lucas himself, as both series he’s created are even more Star Wars than the prequel movies which Lucas wrote and supervised closely. Here’s hoping this winning streak we (fans and creators) are on continues into the next Star Wars series, and the next, and the next.