Why Cad Bane Looks So Bad In The Book Of Boba Fett | Screen Rant
Cad Bane (Corey Burton) makes his Star Wars return in The Book of Boba Fett, but why does the bounty hunter look so bad compared to his animated design? Although the Disney+ show has taken a significant detour from Boba Fett’s (Temuera Morrison) story, his coming war with the Pykes finally heats up in the penultimate episode. The Book of Boba Fett’s ensemble is growing every week, and Cad Bane is the latest character to make the jump from animation to live-action, if not without some design problems.
The Book of Boba Fett follows the infamous bounty hunter as he attempts to become the new crime lord of Tatooine. Continuing his alliance with Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) from The Mandalorian, Fett has become less isolated as he seeks allies in his struggle to seize control of Jabba the Hutt’s old territories. Cad Bane can presumably be added to his growing list of enemies, having been employed by the Pykes. Bane first appeared in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and has a long history with Boba Fett and his father, Jango.
It’s exciting to see the Duros gunslinger make his live-action debut in The Book of Boba Fett, but his design pales in comparison to his animated counterpart. Although his presence provides compelling storytelling opportunities, Bane’s design arguably seems more cartoony and less expressive than in any of his animated appearances. It's difficult to adapt animated characters into realistic live-action figures, and it's not the first time Star Wars has encountered this problem—but it can be overcome with strong characterization.
As is common with the medium, and especially Star Wars’ animated style, bounty hunter Cad Bane’s original design is considerably more exaggerated. He has a gaunt, elongated face that looks almost like a skull, peering out from underneath a wide-brimmed fedora. In contrast, The Book of Boba Fett’s Cad Bane design appears slightly more human. He has a smaller hat and his overall build is more in line with a traditional Western gunslinger. Bane's face is noticeably more rounded, with paler skin. However, the prosthetics' limitations are most obvious in closeups of Bane speaking, and the shot of his fingers hovering over his holster. These features appear very cartoony, threatening to undermine his otherwise intimidating presence. This is likely due to the prosthetics having to fit around the performance artist’s body, but it detracts from his more unique and imposing figure in The Clone Wars and Bane's appearance in Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
Design changes are sometimes necessary, as what works for animation might appear silly in physical performances or could be impractical during filming. The Mandalorian's design for Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) differed somewhat from the animated shows. Her head tails, or "lekku", were shortened to accommodate for live-action stunt work. This is an understandable change, but the design still felt less natural compared to Ahsoka's animated appearance. However, the writing and Dawson's performance overcame these slight shortcomings and her design arguably looked more convincing than the de-aging technology used for Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in The Mandalorian season 2 finale. Fortunately, Cad Bane's menacing introduction in The Book of Boba Fett prevents his more cartoony live-action design from being too distracting.
Bane’s tense showdown with Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant) was an exciting way to lean even further into Star Wars’ Western roots. He instantly reminded viewers of his deadliness, and the potential for a thrilling duel with Boba is more important than completely matching his animated design. The live-action prosthetics might be disappointing, but they're far from The Book of Boba Fett's biggest problem heading into the show's finale.