'Book of Boba Fett' trailer makes a forgotten Star Wars creature canon again

Opening shots are iconic, especially in the Star Wars universe. Since the first flyover of an Imperial Cruiser in 1977, the franchise has always made sure to kick off each adventure on a high note.

That’s why it was so interesting that the trailer for The Book of Boba Fett featured, in its first moments, a spider-like creature scuttling across the sands of Tatooine.

What is this creature, and what threat might it pose to Boba? The answer is a lot more interesting than you could have imagined. Here’s what you need to know.

Looking closer at this spider-like creature, its brain is floating in a jar where its body should be. In fact, it’s not a spider at all, but a human; these creatures are the final form of the B’omarr monks, an order that built Jabba’s palace on Tatooine years before he took it over. Jabba allowed the monks to remain in the palace, as their monastic life meant they weren’t much of a hindrance to his criminal organization.

Though seen briefly in canon, the finer details of the B’omarr monks were explained in non-canon Legends, especially the 1995 short story collection Tales from Jabba’s Palace. They dedicated themselves to the study of and reflection upon the universe, believing their bodies and external stimuli to be distractions from this grand purpose.

Lost Legends is an Inverse series about the forgotten lore of our favorite stories.

When a B’omarr monk reached peak enlightenment, their brain was removed by surgeons and placed within stasis in a spider-like mechanical body. A monk could theoretically spend eternity in this space of enlightenment, but this process wasn’t always used for good.

In Legends, Jabba’s right-hand man Bib Fortuna recruits the monks to help him overthrow Jabba, but they turn on him and instead place his brain in one of their patented spider-droid walkers, leaving him a state of partial insanity for the rest of his life.

How does this factor into Book of Boba Fett? Considering how Boba and Fennec had to get through Bib Fortuna in order to take the palace, it’s possible the monk we see in the first moments of the trailer is none other than Bib Fortuna, transformed by the monks as a way to prolong his life.

Aside from Bib’s involvement, the appearance of the B’omarr monks has huge implications for the series. Seeing as how Boba intends to rule through cooperation and respect, there’s a chance he could work with the monks to advance his agenda. Who knows, he may even give the palace back to them. It was theirs first, after all.

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