Potential spoilers for The Book of Boba Fett

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably super excited for the upcoming The Book of Boba Fett. But you’re probably excited for it based off of the talent involved and the character, not the marketing for the show, which was admittedly, been a little lacking.

Turns out, there was a reason for this. As part of the press junket for The Book of Boba Fett, Robert Rodriguez was explaining the very deliberate marketing we’ve seen so far, explaining that what we’ve seen so far is actually only the first half of the first episode.

“We can’t use the second half of the first episode because it gives so much away.”-Robert Rodriguez, director and producer. He would also add that Boba “invites a whole world from the underworld in with him.”

Adding to the mystery, producer Dave Filoni had this to say on the show:

“Boba gives us a direct connection to the Star Wars saga since he was involved in that story. This creates a nice crossover point for both classic characters and new characters. Much of The Mandalorian was new, or had not been seen onscreen. Through Boba Fett, we can weave some of those characters and tales together using a character we know but don’t know a lot about.”

So why is the marketing for the show being so cryptic, to the point where we can’t see anything from beyond the halfway point of the first episode? Recent events in the comics may have the answer.

Possible spoilers ahead.

Based on the language and current events in the canon timeline, I wouldn’t be surprised if The Book of Boba Fett while introduce Emilia Clarke’s Qi’ra from Solo as a major character of the show. Known in the underworld as “the Lady” in the comics, she’s the current leader of Crimson Dawn, the criminal empire that Darth Maul established. After Solo is frozen in carbonite in Empire, she orchestrated the theft of his icy figure from Fett, which naturally caused a bit of bad blood (understatement). The comics have established already, through the choice of narrative style, that Crimson Dawn does fall at some point, perhaps even before the events of Boba Fett and Mandalorian, but that doesn’t mean that Qi’ra dies with it. Like Fett, she is a survivor and likely out to reclaim her place in the underworld in the power vacuum that has grabbed hold of Tattooine.

Considering that Boba is trying to unify the criminal underworld in The Book of Boba Fett, him brushing shoulders with Qi’ra seems almost inevitable and would link the comics and Solo together very nicely. She could be resistant to the idea of Fett ruling out of respect and may want to try to reclaim her position of power in the underworld herself.

Another possibility, another more unlikely, is seeing the return of Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo. While it could make a good deal amount of sense narratively speaking, the New Republic is looking to squash crime and sends a former smuggler to intervene in Boba’s affairs (something Han would jump at if it means getting back at Fett again), I just don’t see this one as likely. Ehrenreich is known for playing the younger version of the Solo character, so anything that takes place after the original trilogy may seem jarring to have him suddenly appear as Harrison Ford’s iconic character. But stranger things have happened.

So who else can show up? Well, some deeper cuts like Bossk and Dengar could for sure pop up at some point, but I don’t see their inclusions having that wow moment for many fans aside from fan service. They’re cool characters, but you don’t build your spoiler moments around them. Still, wouldn’t be surprised if either bounty hunter shows up at some point.

While still a bit unlikely, it would be cool and very interesting to see Cad Bane show up. This popular Clone Wars character was a mentor to the young Boba Fett during the Clone Wars and taught him a lot about the bounty hunting business. It’s heavily alluded to The Bad Batch that the duel between Fett and Bane (part of unfinished episodes of The Clone Wars that you can watch online) actually happened, so the two definitely have a tried history. We don’t know if Bane is alive five years after Return of the Jedi, but would be neat to see a grizzled Bane show up.

My final point will be a quick one, but for all we know, Din aka Mando will show up at some point or other, maybe unsatisfied with Fett’s transition from baby saviour to crime lord and will be in open conflict with him. I doubt this, largely due to Pedro Pascal’s schedule, but it’s also not impossible to think it could happen.

Time will ultimately tell who shows up but I’m very curious to hear your thoughts leading into the premiere next week, so sound off in the comments and on social media!