What does 'The Book of Boba Fett' post-credit scene tell us about the future of 'Star Wars'?

The Star Wars franchise has successfully co-opted one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s trademarks in recent years, and The Book of Boba Fett didn’t disappoint when it came to proving its post-credit cred.

**Spoilers ahead for the season finale of The Book of Boba Fett on Disney Plus**

The Mandalorian set a high bar with its Season 2 post-credit scene, which was a full-on series announcement for The Book of Boba Fett. Our latest post-credit scene courtesy of The Book of Boba Fett was a bit more subdued, but still critical. If you need a refresher: After bounty hunter Cad Bane shot Marshal Cobb Vanth (played by Timothy Olyphant) in the street of Freetown, we were led to believe he was dead.

That assumption is largely paid off when the people of Freetown make the trek into the action in The Book of Boba Fett finale without Vanth, and it’s mentioned he was shot in the street in cold blood. Typically, at least in old western movie parlance, that phrasing means you didn’t survive the shootout.

But surprise! Boba had alluded to his bacta tank being in use late in the finale, and the final scene of The Book of Boba Fett reveals Vanth survived — and is recovering in Boba’s handy bacta tank. Boba has even called in his old pal the mod artist, the same one who saved Fennec Stand (Ming-Na Wen) after Boba fished her body out of the desert, to use his skills to fill in any necessary gaps needed to keep Vanth alive.

Photo: Disney+

But the big question is: Why hold this reveal for the post-credit scene in the first place? They just as easily could’ve shown Vanth survived during the episode itself. To this point Vanth has been a relatively minor, supporting player in The Mandalorian; and served a similar role in Boba Fett. Now, we’ve made the case ourselves that we need a whole lot more of Timothy Olyphant out on the outskirts of dusty space keeping the peace in the next phase of Star Wars. And by using the critical post-credit space to reveal Vanth’s survival, Disney+ might be setting the board to give us just that.

Considering how much The Book of Boba Fett also served as Season 2.5 for The Mandalorian (the proper third season is expected to drop in the back half of 2022), it seems Vanth will almost certainly resurface when that show returns. It also makes you wonder if he might be getting his own adventure down the line, too? That long-gestating Rangers of the New Republic needs some retooling while its back on the drawing board — maybe this is the first step in sketching out a new arc for Space Raylan?

Whatever the plan, it’s clear Cobb Vanth has a role to play in the next phase of Disney+’s Star Wars plans — and we can’t wait to see what happens when he finally hops out of that bacta tank.

Season 1 of The Book of Boba Fett, as well as seasons 1-2 of The Mandalorian, are streaming now on Disney+.