[Warning: Contains spoilers for the season finale of The Book of Boba Fett.] Critic and fan reviews of the most recent, live-action Star Wars offering are all over the map. One sentiment that appears to be universal, however, is that people loved seeing Cad Bane appearing in live-action form. Granted even that has drawn controversy, from his look to the fact that The Book of Boba Fett didn’t introduce him sooner. Now the question remains: has the Duros bounty hunter really seen his last days in the Star Wars universe?
In some respects, Cad Bane could indeed be dead. Dave Filoni created the character for The Clone Wars, and he instantly became a fan favorite. With his gravely voice and spaghetti western style, the brutal and opportunistic bounty hunter was something to behold. The care and detail Filoni put into the character was undeniable. There was a plan from the beginning, one we know would have ended in The Clone Wars’ originally-planned final season with a duel between Fett and Bane. Obviously that never happened, so Bane’s arc remained unfulfilled. Then we got The Bad Batch and, later, The Book of Boba Fett.
The Legacy of Cad Bane
Clearly Filoni wasn’t done with Boba Fett’s mentor-turned-nemesis. Cad Bane returned in The Bad Batch, tasked with retrieving Omega for the Kaminoans. Ultimately Fennec Shand bested him (barely) and escaped, but there was something different about Bane. He now had a metal plate in his head. That suggests that the duel with Boba that Filoni had planned did indeed take place, albeit off screen. We saw the plate again in The Book of Boba Fett. With Bane’s originally planned arc now seemingly fulfilled, perhaps his appearance in live-action was simply a swan song of sorts for Filoni to bring some closure to the character.
BUT….
There’s always a “but” when it comes to Star Wars deaths these days. Look no further than Cobb Vanth. We believed him dead following The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 6, and well into Chapter 7…. But there he was taking a bacta bath and about to get some modifications to address his wounds in the mid-credits scene of the season finale. So what makes us think Cad Bane may survive and return? Well, keen eyes will notice that, following a gaffi stick to the gut, a red beacon on Bane’s jacket immediately began blinking. It hadn’t blinked before. What other purpose would it serve other than to alert someone (or something, likely Todo) that Bane was in peril?
Will Bane survive The Book of Boba Fett?
For one thing, there’s nothing in canon that describes Duros internal anatomy of which we’re aware. Thus, we really don’t know if Fett’s blow to Bane’s midsection would actually be fatal. Painful, certainly. Enough to render him unconscious? Probably. With the Book of Boba Fett ending in such an ambiguous manner, anything is possible. Boba admits that perhaps being Daimyo of Tatooine isn’t for him, after all. The suggestion is, of course, that he and Fennec will return to their old ways and leave the planet in the hands of Cobb Vanth. If Cad Bane survives, he’ll have scores to settle with both Boba and Fennec. And don’t forget – Omega may still be out there somewhere, too.
For our part, we hope Bane survives. He’s simply too cool of a character to lose so soon after his return.
All episodes of The Book of Boba Fett are now streaming on Disney+.
