Star Wars: Simon Pegg Still Hopes to Play Live-Action Dengar

By Patrick Cavanaugh

The second season of The Mandalorian saw the fateful return of Boba Fett, who earned a passionate following after his live-action debut in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, but he's not the only bounty hunter with a faithful following. That iconic scene between Darth Vader and bounty hunters attempting to track down the Millennium Falcon also briefly introduced audiences to Dengar, with actor Simon Pegg recently expressing that he was still interested in playing a version of the character in a live-action project. Pegg has already voiced the character in both the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars and in the video game Star Wars Battlefront.

"Not in this season, but you just never know," Pegg shared with ComicBookMovie.com when asked if he could appear in Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett. "I've put many things out into the universe in the past and they've oddly come back to me. I occasionally throw out these little cultural boomerangs and we'll see."

After his live-action introduction, Fett became a key figure in the galaxy far, far away, as his pursuit of the Millennium Falcon resulted in the capture of Han Solo, who would go on to be sold to Jabba the Hutt. While he might have seemingly been killed in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, fans were always fascinated with the character, with that excitement ultimately resulting in his more formal return to the universe.

Fett wasn't the only figure from The Empire Strikes Back to earn notoriety based largely on appearance, as Dengar and other bounty hunters in the scene, such as Bossk and IG-88, all caught the attention of audiences. Thanks to books, comics, and animated projects, Lucasfilm was able to deliver the further adventures of these characters. Many of them can currently be seen in the Star Wars: Bounty Hunters comic book series, though Dengar made a much sneakier return with 2019's Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

In the book Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary, audiences caught a glimpse of a character known as Rothgar Deng. At first glance, the character didn't look entirely familiar, as he sported cybernetic limbs and a ghastly humanoid face, but StarWars.com pointed out why the ghoulish presence might be familiar.

The site explained of the character, "Hanging out in the lair of the ne'er-do-wells known as the Thieves' Quarter in Kijimi City is a bounty hunter with many cybernetic parts. An old Corellian hunter with an affinity for Imperial-era stormtrooper armor, using the alias Rothgar Deng. Like how Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba were hinted at but never mentioned outright in the Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide, we get hints here of someone we ought to know. But I can't seem to place a name to this now-hideous monstrosity of low-budget-augmentation who we might have seen during the Clone Wars and chasing the Millennium Falcon after Hoth. Deng it!"

With The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett taking place closer to the events of Empire Strikes Back than Rise of Skywalker, were Dengar to appear in any series, he would likely more resemble his look in his live-action debut than the enhanced figure seen in the sequel trilogy.

Stay tuned for details on Dengar's possible future in the franchise.

Would you like to see Pegg play Dengar? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

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