Warning: spoilers ahead for Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #11!
In the latest issue of Marvel Comics' Star Wars: Bounty Hunters, the legendary Trandoshan hunter known as Bossk gets the spotlight, and the issue confirms his similarity to a Star Trek character in a very hilarious way. In the issue, Bossk finds himself competes in the Great Hunt of Malastare, fighting for his life against a variety of other hunters having been paid by Jabba the Hutt to eliminate some rivals. However, one such battle sees the reptilian hunter facing off with a much larger foe, and it resembles Captain Kirk's battle where he comically fought a Gorn Captain in an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series.
In the episode of Star Trek's first season entitled "Arena", the crew of the Enterprise found themselves in combat with a vessel belonging to the reptilian species known as the Gorn. However, they both ended up intruding upon an unexplored sector of space guarded by beings known as the Metrons, who transport Captain Kirk and the Gorn captain to a remote arena and battlefield to face off in a one-on-one brawl, with the victor's ship being allowed to leave while the loser's is destroyed. As such, the following battle is a comically choreographed and slow fight sequence between the captains, which at one point sees the Gorn captain throwing a large rock at Kirk. As such, the battle is a classic and iconic scene from the original series, and it seemingly gets referenced in this new Star Wars issue from Marvel.
In Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #11 from writer Ethan Sacks with art by Paolo Villanelli, Bossk has likewise been thrown into a competition where he's battling for survival. Furthermore, Bossk ends up being at odds with the large Dowutin big-game hunter known as Grummgar (first seen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Maz Kanata's castle). While Grummgar demands that Bossk fight with honor, the lethal and cunning Bossk cares little for honor so long as victory is achieved, and his violent response seemingly mirrors the attack of the Gorn captain, whom he very much resembles being a reptilian himself.
Given the similarities between the two lizard warriors, many Star Wars and Star Trek fans have playfully wondered if the Gorn and Trandoshan are distantly related cousins, and have actually speculated that Bossk was perhaps modeled after the Gorn, seeing as how "Arena" aired in 1967 while The Empire Strikes Back (Bossk's first appearance) was in 1980. The biggest resemblance of course lies in their heads, as they both have similar ridges and nostrils. However, Bossk's yellow jumpsuit has long been confirmed to have been recycled from an episode of Doctor Who.
In any case, it's a rather fun reference that's perhaps being made by Ethan Sacks, and is still quite hilarious even if the similarity was unintentional. However, it should be noted that if Bossk ever came face-to-face to one of the Gorn's warriors in a duel, he'd more than likely win as he's more than proved his lethal skills and mercilessness in this new Star Wars issue from Marvel Comics. While they're certainly strong, Star Trek's Gorn would just be too slow.