Why The Gaming Droid In The Book Of Boba Fett Chapter 1 Means More Than You Think
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Chapter 1 of "The Book of Boba Fett"
The long-awaited "The Book of Boba Fett" is finally here, and fans have been busy dissecting all the Easter eggs since the first episode dropped. Despite the fact that he's a character that rarely has any dialogue, Boba Fett's (Temuera Morrison) cameos over the years in the "Star Wars" universe have sparked a lot of curiosity about the bounty hunter. Fans have been waiting literally decades to see how Boba survives the sarlacc pit he falls into in "Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi," and while there have been glimpses from various "Star Wars" stories, there's nothing quite like watching the live action unfold.
The first episode has many "aha" and "that's from..." moments, including visions of Kamino and Geonosis, the planets Boba remembers as a child from "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones." Fans recognize the white droid in Boba's throne room as 8D8, who was previously seen in "Return of the Jedi," while another nod to the same film is an appearance by Max Rebo, the Ortolan musician that looks like a blue elephant, playing in Oga's Cantina. But perhaps the most surprising Easter egg comes in the form of another droid seen manning a gaming table in the cantina.
DJ Rex was a longtime Star Tours pilot
With half of the "Star Wars" universe consisting of droids, it wouldn't be surprising to miss the significance of the little droid working at a gaming table in Oga's Cantina. Although it's not officially confirmed, eagle-eyed fans like @DeclouxJ on Twitter spotted what looks like the droid Rex in the cantina scene. R-3X, or DJ Rex, as he's now known in Galaxy's Edge, wasn't always providing entertainment for guests at the cantina. Originally known as RX-24, according to the "Star Wars" official wiki, he is a pilot droid that flies the shuttle between Lothal to Garel, helping the rebels steal weapons. After working for Star Tours and crash landing on Batuu, he is given to Oga Garra and reprogrammed into DJ Rex for Oga's Cantina. While he appears on screen in the third episode of "Star Wars Rebels" Season 1, his main storyline plays out in the Disney theme parks.
Longtime Disneyland and Disney World Star Tours and Galaxy's Edge fans will recognize Rex from the motion simulator Star Tours ride, which ran from the 1980s until the 2010s, when this version was closed and updated with a different story. In the original storyline for the ride, the droid begins piloting a Starspeeder 3000 for Star Tours, where he also works with C-3PO and R2-D2. Rex is fired after accidentally entering the battle between the Rebel Alliance and the Imperial forces. Rex was voiced by Paul Reubens, who was best known as Pee Wee Herman (via Disney Fandom). Reubens voices Rex in every appearance he's made so far, but as of yet, it seems that this iteration doesn't speak. We can't wait to see what other cameos and Easter eggs are to come in "The Book of Boba Fett."