Concept art for The Mandalorian: Chapter 9 is showing that there were some different ideas about Cobb Vanth, the Tatooine marshal.
At the end of every episode of The Mandalorian, you get to see the spectacular concept art that went into creating that episode during the credits. But luckily, StarWars.com has released those concept art photos following the premiere of The Mandalorian‘s second season, and it’s giving away one big hint about a new character we met in the series.
By now (and spoilers are ahead), we’ve all come to love the character Cobb Vanth, played by actor Timothy Olyphant. And with everyone hoping that Boba Fett would make an appearance in the second season, they kind of pulled the rug from under our feet when they revealed something wasn’t right about the Boba Fett who walked through those pub doors on Mos Pelgo. That wasn’t, in fact, Boba Fett at all. But it gave us hope for a brief moment that our fan theories had been confirmed. (Well, save for the other plot twist at the end with the appearance of Jango Fett actor Temuera Morrison.)
But, according to the concept art for Cobb’s character, it looks like the creators were really going to try to fool us into thinking Cobb was Boba Fett. In some of the art below, you can see that Cobb is wearing Boba Fett’s full armor. In the series, he wore the chest plate, forearm straps, the jetpack and the helmet (of course). But with the cargo pants, scarf and normal shirt, you could tell by his ragtag appearance that something was amiss.
In the concept art, he also dons Boba Fetts’ pants and complete upper-torso attire. And say goodbye to the honkytonk cargo pants and scarf. He, 100 percent, would have been a Boba Fett look-alike.
In the end, the decision to give Cobb his own unique style was a good one. It was a visual trick that was just curious enough to make you wonder what was really going on. Plus, Cobb’s laidback style even added to the Western aesthetic they were giving to this episode. The only thing possibly missing in this episode was Mando coming through a pair of saloon doors while a piano in the background auto-rolled an old-timey song.
Hopefully Star Wars will continue to release more concept art as season 2 goes on. It’s a fun way to see what changes the creative teams made along the way. But if not, hopefully another season of Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian can also show us a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this season.
Would you have preferred Cobb Vanth in Boba Fett’s full armor, or do you like what they’ve done in the final cut? Let us know in the comments!