Star Wars Brings Back Fan-Favorite Clone Wars Actor for Book of Boba Fett Debut

By Charlie Ridgely

With no movies on the calendar or in production, Star Wars is currently all-in on its Disney+ TV projects. Not only are shows like The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett the cornerstone for the franchise at the moment, they're also being utilized as a way to bridge the stories from the films and animated series. Dave Filoni brought some of his most popular animated characters to life in The Mandalorian last season, with Ahsoka Tano and Bo-Katan Kryze making their live-action debuts. Now The Book of Boba Fett's latest episode has helped usher another character from one format to the other, and the original voice actor was able to reprise the role.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the latest episode of The Book of Boba Fett! Continue reading at your own risk...

At the end of The Book of Boba Fett's penultimate episode, ruthless bounty hunter Cad Bane arrived in Tatooine, marking the character's first live-action appearance in Star Wars. Many fans had been hoping to see Cad on the show at some point, given his connections to the underworld, and his debut certainly didn't disappoint. Perhaps the most exciting part of the character's arrival, however, is that the voice actor behind the animated version got the chance to continue. 

Actor Corey Burton voiced Cad Bane (and a horde of other characters) in all three of the major Star Wars animated shows. He played the character in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, and Star Wars: The Bad Batch over the years. Longtime fans of the animated shows likely noticed Burton's name pop up on a title card at the end of the new Book of Boba Fett episode.

There has been a lot of debate amongst Star Wars fans about the voice actors from the animated shows reprising their roles in live-action. Everyone was ecstatic when Katee Sackhoff appeared in The Mandalorian as Bo-Katan, the character she originated in Clone Wars and Rebels. Rosario Dawson was tapped to replace Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka in The Mandalorian, but her name had been the subject of live-action fan-casting for a number of years. The Ahsoka series casting Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren, however, was met with frustration by some fans who wanted to see voice actor Tiya Sircar in the role.

Fortunately, in the case of Cad Bane, there doesn't need to be a debate. Even in a live-action format, the role is only a vocal one for Burton, given alien nature of the character's face. He looks accurate and sounds exactly as Star Wars fans expect, thanks to Burton's performance.

Were you glad to see Corey Burton reprise his role as Cad Bane? Let us know in the comments!

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