Ming-Na Wen has had an impressive career. For Disney alone she has voiced a Disney princess in Mulan, played an Agent of SHIELD in the Marvel universe, and now has joined the world of Star Wars, first in The Mandalorian and now two more series.
Ming-Na Wen first joined The Mandalorian in season one as Fennec Shand, a notorious mercenary with a bounty on her head since the rise of the New Republic. She returned in season two episode “The Tragedy” joined by none other than Boba Fett.
Ming-Na Wen’s Fennec will also appear in the Clone Wars animated spin-off The Bad Batch, as well as the newly announced Mandalorian spin-off, The Book Of Boba Fett, which is executive produced by Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez directed the episode “The Tragedy,” where Fennec returned with Boba Fett. Ming-Na Wen will star alongside Temuera Morrison in The Book Of Boba Fett. This likely means their dynamic in The Mandalorian is an important peak into what we might be seeing in The Book Of Boba Fett.
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It’s fitting that Rodriguez directed the episode that first introduced the partnership between Fennec and Boba Fett seeing as he is one of the executive producers for The Book Of Boba Fett. Ming-Na Wen, who is a huge Star Wars fan, was ecstatic about her return. Ming-Na Wen talked with Starwars.com about returning to The Mandalorian in season two.
“Such tremendous energy,” Ming-Na Wen says. “I use the word ‘rawness.’ It’s a little bit different. There’s just this like guttural rawness and I think that comes from Boba’s character and what he’s gone through and now Fennec has also experienced death and it’s changed her.”
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Fennec was nearly killed on Tatooine before Boba saved her and she is now a cyborg. When Fennec returns she is in Boba’s service indebted to him after he rescued her from certain death. Fennec and Boba have a lot in common beyond nearly dying on Tatooine and thus facing their own mortality. They were also both mercenaries or bounty hunters who worked for Jabba the Hutt and are now on their own after the fall of the Empire. That being said their dynamic appears to be more like partners in crime with Boba as the leader of the pair.
MING-NA WEN TALKS ABOUT THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN BOBA AND FENNEC
“There’s a dependency and a respect that they have for each other, for sure,” Ming-Na Wen explains regarding her character’s partnership with Temuera Morrison’s Boba Fett. “It’s more like teamwork. He’s sort of like the front guy, right? The one that everybody sees. But behind the curtain we’re more equal. Like in that scene in Chapter 14 where she’s like ‘You better go to your ship.’ He just goes!” Ming-Na Wen says, laughing. “I really, really liked that.”
The dynamic has been a fascinating one to watch especially because these are two characters that are notoriously loners. Even without having known Fennec for long it was clear that she was someone who was on her own.
“She’s always been a loner. So to partner up with Boba, I think that’s a huge transition for her and I think also more vulnerable, a little bit. You don’t see it, but for me — in my mind, in my head — once you’ve died, once you’ve been killed, it takes a little bit of that edge off of feeling like you can get out of anything. So I think she’s also just trying to figure out how best to play the new game… She’s always playing a bit of chess here and there, figuring things out. But, ultimately, at this point in her life she’s still quite the mercenary.”
With Ming-Na Wen co-starring with Temuera Morrison in The Mandalorian spin-off, The Book Of Boba Fett this is a dynamic that will be explored more. Hopefully this partnership continues to grow and the dynamic is flushed out more thoroughly. While it is something that is featured for the rest of the second season, the pair’s partnership is most heavily featured in Rodriguez’s episode “The Tragedy”. Boba and Fennec could be the next great Star Wars partners if their time on The Mandalorian is any indication. Based on the post credit scene of the season finale of The Mandalorian the spin-off looks to be a fantastic addition to the Star Wars world.
You can watch the first two seasons of The Mandalorian on Disney Plus now. Are you excited about The Book Of Boba Fett? Do you want to see more of Boba and Fennec’s partnership? Leave your thoughts in the comments below or on our social media.
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Source: Starwars.com
