Speaking last Friday at the Television Critics Association press tour panel, Ming-Na Wen and Temuera Morrison discussed the then latest episode of The Book of Boba Fett, The Streets of Mos Espa and addressed a number of topics including dissatisfaction regarding the colourful Mos Espa biker gang (“They brought a lot of color to it, I thought … they were great, were working hard”) and the fate of the Tusken tribe who took Fett in and taught him their ways and how to survive in the harsh climes of Tatooine.
“[Their portrayal] was better than it was [in the films],” Morrison said. “Then I read [in the script that] we were throwing dead bodies just on the fire and I was going, ‘Oh, hang on, we got to put a bit of ceremony into this.’ But they are the Indigenous of the sands of Tatooine, and I was creating a little bit more history about their own culture — and I was pulling from my own culture, in a way, in terms of the ceremonies and preparing the warrior and preparing a weapon. And Boba has never experienced a real family before — with the young Tuskens and the old Tuskens — and protecting their land.”
Added Wen: “We knew so little about the Tuskens, and [the show] really gave them an incredible backstory. … I thought all those elements really enrich who the Tuskens are, … and [setting the bodies on fire] was part of Star Wars, with A New Hope, whether it’s the Jawas, when they were attacked, there is this ceremonious desire on Tatooine to burn the bodies as opposed to letting them lie out in the open in the desert.”
We discussed that third chapter on Episode 123 of Making Tracks, and going forward will be giving our immediate spoilerific reactions on Wednesdays in our Making Tracks Reaction Chat episodes, which will run through The Book of Boba Fett and onto Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, The Bad Batch, The Mandalorian and beyond.
