(SPOILERS AHEAD) Star Wars fans get to unwrap a late Christmas gift today: the first episode of The Mandalorian spinoff series The Book of Boba Fett on Disney+.

Written by The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau and directed by Robert Rodriguez, who brought his boyhood bounty-hunting idol back into the Star Wars universe in The Mandalorian season 2, Temuera Morrison again plays Fett both in flashback and in the present, as he’s trying to rebuild the crime syndicate run by Jabba the Hutt, who was killed by Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi. At his side is Ming-Na Wen‘s master assassin character Fennec Shand, from The Mandalorian.

But grabbing Jabba’s throne does not go unchallenged.  “Lord Fett” is both lauded by by local underworld figures — including Jennifer Beals‘ Garsa Fwip — and also set upon by assassins.

We also learn just how Boba Fett escaped his apparent inglorious end in the belly of a Sarlacc, the giant desert-dwelling creature that ate him in Return of the Jedi. Suffice it to say he was discovered by Tatooine’s scavengers, the Jawas, who also strip him of his legendary armor suit, then leave him for dead. He’s later recovered by a group of Tusken Raiders, who hold him captive.

Harvesting water for the Sand People, Boba Fett earns their respect — and presumably his freedom — when he saves one of their own, and himself, from a sand-dwelling alien’s attack. 

The second episode of The Book of Boba Fett debuts January 5 on Disney+. 

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