Book of Boba Fett: leak suggests a huge Mandalorian cameo

Ever since its introduction in December 2020, The Book of Boba Fett has been referred to as “The Mandalorian Season 2.5.” The spinoff follows Boba Fett directly after the events of The Mandalorian Season 2 as he takes over Jabba the Hutt’s crime empire, and with The Mandalorian Season 3 still several months away, Boba’s chapter is expected to fill in some blanks.

But could the series be a direct follow-up to The Mandalorian in more than just its timeline? One leak suggests there are some huge cameos in store for Star Wars fans over the new year. Here’s everything you need to know.

Grogu, the beloved “Baby Yoda” who helped launch The Mandalorian from obscurity to ubiquity over its two seasons, may lend his talents to The Book of Boba Fett. A report by Star Wars NewsNet claims a “reputable source” has confirmed Grogu will appear in the spinoff. Writer and leaker Jordan Maison built on this, quote tweeting the story with the claim “Who he’s hanging with is pretty cool too.”

What does this mean? The most boring answer is that it’s a claim to try and redirect attention surrounding The Book of Boba Fett back to the man himself. But the more exciting and probable outcome is that there’s another cameo in The Book of Boba Fett that promises to be just as much fun as Grogu.

So who could Grogu’s mysterious companion be? The most obvious contender is the last person we saw him with — Luke Skywalker. Considering how he took Grogu for training, it’s hard to imagine the little guy appearing without his new guardian. Even behind the scenes, Lucasfilm hired the CGI artist who posted their improvement on The Mandalorian’s mediocre Mark Hamill de-aging to YouTube, implying there’s more de-aging to be done in the near future.

However, there are still other possibilities. Rumors of Din Djarin appearing in The Book of Boba Fett also abound, which lends more credence to the series being The Mandalorian Season 2.5. The bond between Din and Grogu has been the backbone of Star Wars live action television since the start, so why would it stop now?

Regardless of who he’s with, an appearance by Grogu in The Book of Boba Fett is a huge deal. It’s the first sign of a Star Wars television universe that’s far more inter-connected than we thought. If The Book of Boba Fett is The Mandalorian Season 2.5, then maybe The Mandalorian Season 3 will be The Book of Boba Fett Season 2, and so on until every Star Wars TV show forms a smaller part of a greater narrative.

This leak could be the start of a new legacy of Star Wars storytelling, branching from The Mandalorian into all sorts of new directions. Gone are the days of nine-film multi-decade franchises. We could get nine TV series, each intersecting with each other.

The Book of Boba Fett premieres on Disney+ December 29, 2021.