Book of Boba Fett: Star Wars series set for December release date

Image source, Lucasfilm

Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett will drop on Disney+ four days after Christmas.

Disney has announced that the new show, featuring the famous bounty hunter from a galaxy far, far away, will be released on the streaming service on 29 December 2021.

Revealing the date, Disney posted an image of Fett, sat in Jabba's Palace, mirroring the same shot from the post credits scene at the end of season two of The Mandalorian.

Image source, Disney/Twitter

Image caption, The Book of Boba Fett twitter account announced the news

On the Star Wars website, a description of the series reads: "The Book of Boba Fett, a thrilling Star Wars adventure, finds legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett and mercenary Fennec Shand navigating the galaxy's underworld when they return to the sands of Tatooine to stake their claim on the territory once ruled by Jabba the Hutt and his crime syndicate."

Disney has also revealed that The Book of Boba Fett - which isn't a book despite the title - is "set within the timeline of The Mandalorian", meaning fans may see events shortly before Fett teamed up with Din Djarin, and definitely the events that have followed.

Who is Boba Fett?

Image source, Lucasfilm

In his own words, Boba Fett is "a simple man making his way through the galaxy".

An iconic character in the Star Wars universe, Fett is a fearsome bounty hunter.

In the original Star Wars movies, Boba was one of the bad guys, but in actual fact the bounty hunter is neither good or bad. He's a mercenary, meaning he is paid to do jobs.

Like Din Djarin, Boba Fett wears special Mandalorian armour, because he is the unaltered clone and "son" of Jango Fett - another Mandalorian bounty hunter who was the template for the clone troopers seen in the prequel movies and animated Clone Wars series.

Image source, Lucasfilm

Image caption, Boba Fett (right) wears Mandalorian armour like Din Djarin (left)

Boba Fett's first appearance in Star Wars actually came in 1978, as part of a short animation on American TV. The show, called the 'Star Wars Holiday Special', came out a year after the original Star Wars movie had been released.

Fett's first live action appearance came two years later in the film, The Empire Strikes Back. In the story he hunts down Han Solo and his ship, the Millennium Falcon, whilst working for the villains Darth Vader and Jabba the Hutt.

In later re-releases of the first film, Star Wars: A New Hope, Boba Fett was also digitally added to a scene with Jabba the Hutt.

Image source, Lucasfilm

Image caption, Boba Fett first appeared in a short animation included in the 1978 TV show; Star Wars Holiday Special

In 1983's Return of the Jedi, Fett's jetpack malfunctions when it's struck by Han Solo during a battle with Luke Skywalker. The faulty jetpack sends Boba into a spiral, and he eventually falls into the mouth of a giant sand monster known as the Sarlacc.

Many fans presumed that was the last they would see of Boba Fett, until he returned 37 years later in an episode of The Mandalorian.

Image source, Lucasfilm

Image caption, Boba Fett battling Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi

What is The Book of Boba Fett?

When Disney bought Star Wars from George Lucas in 2012, Boba Fett was set to be the subject of his own spin-off movie.

Those plans were shelved and a live-action TV show was commissioned instead - that show eventually became The Mandalorian.

Following the success of The Mandalorian, a Boba Fett TV series was announced.

Both Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen, the actors who play Boba Fett and Fennec Shand, will return for the series.

Image source, Lucasfilm

Image caption, Boba Fett and Fennec Shand in Jabba's palace at the end of series two of The Mandalorian

The Book of Boba Fett is one of the many Star Wars series currently in development at Disney.

It will be joined by an Ahsoka Tano TV show, an Obi-Wan Kenobi series and also a show about Cassian Andor, a prequel to Rogue One that was shot in the UK.

Meanwhile Star Wars: Visions, the latest Star Wars series released last week, re-imagines the galaxy far far away using Japanese anime.

Are you excited about the Book of Boba Fett? Will you be watching? Let us know in the comments!