Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for The Book of Boba Fett, episode 4, "The Gathering Storm."
The Book of Boba Fett episode 4 hinted at the possibility of a cameo from Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) but that likely wouldn’t save the show from its lackluster story. The initial 4 episodes of the series have had a few highlights but have generally received a lukewarm reaction from the Star Wars audience. Taking place on the planet of Tatooine, the series has provided insight into the period of Boba’s (Temeura Morrison) life after escaping the Sarlaac pit and before his reappearance in The Mandalorian.
Fett’s role in Mando’s show had likewise been foreshadowed in its second season, after a 15-year hiatus for Morrison from the live-action Star Wars universe. It was exciting to see Boba onscreen again and audiences were ecstatic over the teaser for his solo show in the post-credits of the Mandalorian. However, The Book of Boba Fett has so far suffered from very slow pacing and a generally weak story. The first four episodes have delved into Boba’s plan to begin a new regime on Tatooine in the place of Jabba the Hut, interspersed with flashbacks of time spent with a tribe of Tusken raiders. While interesting in theory, the execution has been underwhelming.
At the end of episode 4, Boba’s ally and right-hand woman Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen, reprising her role from The Mandalorian) suggests getting “muscle” to help them take down the Pykes. It has not been confirmed that this muscle is Din Djarin, but he seems a likely candidate. An appearance from Pascal’s bounty hunter might initially be considered a shot in the arm for The Book of Boba Fett but a cameo wouldn’t be enough to save the show.
Many viewers of the show are also devotees of The Mandalorian, so including the character might keep people more interested and it would undoubtedly be fun to see Din Djarin team up with Fett and Shand again. When the first trailer for The Book of Boba Fett dropped, people were curious about why Mando was absent from it. But unless the show significantly picks up the pace of the story, a cameo would feel like a ploy meant to distract the audience from the weakness of the plot.
The Mandalorian used the appearances of familiar characters to great effect, with major Star Wars players such as Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), Bo Katan (Katee Sackhoff) and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill, with the help of special effects) returning in memorable ways. But the storyline of that show was strong enough that if those characters had been replaced with unknowns, it wouldn’t have significantly impacted its quality. The same is not true of The Book of Boba Fett.
The Mandalorian used its legacy characters to help accommodate long-time audiences while also still moving the story along in fitting ways for those characters. The Book of Boba Fett takes place in the extremely familiar setting of Tatooine and has a legacy character at the center of the action, along with the popular newer character of Fennec Shand. It should not have to resort to pulling in old characters to make the story seem more exciting and would also not make sense for most of those characters to appear on the outskirt planet of Tatooine. While it would make more sense for Mando to appear than others, audiences should hope for improvement in The Book of Boba Fett’s plot over distracting cameos.
The Book of Boba Fett streams episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.