Whether it’s Qui-Gon’s Force ghost, Luke Skywalker saving the day, or Darth Vader causing a little trouble — our favorite galaxy far, far away seems to have been overrun by bits of fan service. However you slice it, for better or worse, Star Wars has become incredibly self-referential.
Thankfully the folks at Lucasfilm tend to treat these moments with a healthy bit of reverence, and barring a few missteps — we can’t complain. Now, as we prepare for the upcoming third season of The Mandalorian, Star Wars fans have begun wishing for a new mind-melting cameo.
A Din Djarin (Mando) and Captain Rex crossover are enough to make us squeal with nerd-like anticipation. Seriously, getting these two together could be one of the coolest things Star Wars has ever done — and, if handled correctly, makes perfect sense.
Rex can generally be found hanging around Ahsoka Tano anyway, and since Mando has already been introduced — a meet-up with this former Clone captain is a complete no-brainer.
There’s only one problem. Mando could easily mistake Rex for Boba Fett. Why? Well, if you’d forgotten, Boba is a clone of Jango, who served as the clone template for the entire Republic army. Meaning — Rex might look a little bit like good ‘ole Boba.
Fans going back and forth on Reddit have run rampant, and no one can agree on whether or not Mando would be able to figure this one out.
It’s clear that no one can really agree, and we see both sides of the story. Din would have been a kid when all the Republic fell, and a sheltered one at that (he was in a cult after all.) The idea that he would know what the clones looked like is pretty far-fetched. On the other hand, it’s a big galaxy. To go as long as he has without ever hearing about clone troopers, or what they looked like even, is maybe just as unlikely.
At the end who knows, and who cares? Until something like this is actually brought to life, there’s no use arguing about it. It’s true that at face value, these levels of fan service aren’t (totally) a bad thing.
If done well, fan service exists as an incredible narrative device. Filling in the gaps in the Star Wars story, and pleasing the fandom in the process. If done poorly though, fan service transforms into a useless distraction, there to convince us that whatever we’re watching is much more interesting than it actually is.
More than that, it has the power to pull apart a fandom that has always been centered around friendship, individuality, and hope. So here’s hoping The Mandalorian Season 3 brings everyone back together.