It’s very possible no one hates spoilers more than the Disney corporation. Between its Marvel and Star Wars franchises, perhaps no other company goes further out of its way to prevent information about its upcoming projects from getting into the hands of the public, either by forcing workers to sign intimidating non-disclosure agreements or straight-up lying to people. Apparently, that includes lying to the people who are going to work on the projects, too.
The Hollywood Reporter has published an article titled “How The Book of Boba Fett Will Shake Up Star Wars,” in which there’s absolutely no concrete information about how The Book of Boba Fett will shake up Star Wars. That’s because Disney has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep the upcoming Mandalorian spin-off secret. The article does detail some of those efforts, including how star Ming-Na Wen (who plays bounty hunter and Boba Fett’s right-hand woman Fennic Shand) had no idea what show she agreed to be in when she signed her contract. Wen said, “They’re so secretive that when dealing with the contracts, there isn’t even a title for the show; it’s all under pseudonym. I naturally assumed I was doing Mandalorian season three until I showed up on set.”
That seems absurd, but it’s only the beginning. Apparently, only a handful of Disney executives, along with Star Wars TV head honchos Dave Filoni, Jon Favreau, and director Robert Rodriguez, knew the show was in the works; the rest of the company learned about The Book of Boba Fett when the post-credits scene rolled in The Mandalorian season two finale, including the people who work specifically on Disney+, where the show will be airing. And that’s still not all. If you’ve been underwhelmed by Boba Fett’s trailer so far, that’s because of a purposeful decision by Rodriguez and Disney to only use footage from the opening minutes of the very first episode.
That’s definitely absurd. I know the joy of a good twist, but there’s a major difference between learning Luke Skywalker’s going to pop by The Mandalorian finale and getting a trailer that makes me significantly more interested in watching the show. I mean, would learning about the existence of Baby Yoda beforehand have made you any less likely to watch Mando? I’m sure there’ll be some mind-blowing moments in The Book of Boba Fett, but it sure sounds like Disney is trying to keep them secret regardless of the consequences to the company, its staff, and even the show.