Matt Berry's role in The Book of Boba Fett is a potential Star Wars running gag. Berry voices the droid 8D8, a long-faced smelter droid who was in Jabba's palace for years and currently serves Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison). Star Wars' first instance of showing 8D8 was in Return of the Jedi in 1983, followed by a few appearances that include the DLCs for Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefront II. Before Boba Fett's daimyo reign, 8D8 worked in the torture chamber of Jabba's palace after being reprogrammed for sadism. With Boba's leadership being more forgiving, 8D8's role is no longer nearly as diabolical. As seen with the Rancor, the Tusken Raiders, and 8D8, Boba Fett does what Rise of Skywalker couldn't and fleshes out its villains from being purely evil to morally complex.
The new Star Wars era places celebrity droid cameos throughout. Droid voices are valuable in Star Wars, with C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels being the only cast member to star in all nine main Star Wars movies, from the originals to the prequels to the sequel trilogy. In Rogue One, prolific actor Alan Tudyk voiced K-2SO, an Imperial security droid reprogrammed to serve the Rebel Alliance. In addition to directing The Mandalorian's season one finale, Taika Waititi voiced IG-11, a droid who was originally set out to kill Grogu until he became his nurse droid. Richard Ayoade voiced The Mandalorian's Zero in episode 6, "The Prisoner," making him one of three Mandalorian celebrity droid voice cameos besides Waititi and Mark Hamill's EV-9D9, shown in "Chapter 5: The Gunslinger" and "Chapter 10: The Passenger."
Matt Berry and Richard Ayoade were both in the popular British comedy The IT Crowd, and while it's likely purely coincidental, it's fun to consider that the connection is purposeful, particularly considering that both actors voice droids. Plenty of future Star Wars celebrity droid cameo opportunities makes it possible for other IT Crowd stars to come. Taika Waititi is currently writing and directing an untitled Star Wars movie, which is bound to have his own comedic spin even if it will likely avoid Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok mistake of inserting gags in the place of emotional development. Other projects include the Ahsoka TV series releasing in late 2022, the 2023 Rogue Squadron film directed by Wonder Woman's Patty Jenkins, the animated TV series A Droid Story, and many others.
It's worth acknowledging that Berry and Ayoade are not the only Star Wars cameos who've worked together. For example, John Leguizamo plays Gor Koresh in The Mandalorian's "Chapter 9: The Marshal." Both Leguizamo and Alan Tudyk were in Disney's Encanto. Also, both Amy Sedaris and Bill Burr have Mandalorian roles, and both actors worked together in Netflix's F is for Family. However, compared to these other cameo connections, there's something particularly coincidental about two actors from one show, both voicing droids in sister Star Wars TV shows.
Matt Berry's voice cameo still creates a fun Boba Fett Easter egg. With Boba Fett's role to modern Star Wars both making improvements and repeating mistakes as the franchise continues to stretch its legs beyond the Skywalker storyline, there's bound to be callbacks and references littered in future Boba episodes and Star Wars projects. If Noel Fielding and Chris O'Dowd ever cameo as droids, then the IT Crowd connection will undoubtedly feel more intentional. Nonetheless, The Book of Boba Fett knows how to add fun droid cameos that are worth listening for.
Episodes of The Book of Boba Fett stream Wednesdays on Disney+
