Warning: The following article contains spoilers The Book of Boba Fett, “Chapter 2: The Tribes of Tatooine.”
There were many reactions when viewers first saw the Wookie known as Black Krrsantan make his appearance in The Book of Boba Fett. Those who weren’t as familiar with Star Wars lore probably had no idea who he was, while hardcore fans of the universe knew him instantly. As it turns out, the actor playing him might just be an even bigger surprise.
Standing at 6’7″, Carey Jones is the man behind the beast, and while he might not be a household name, this Emmy winner is no stranger to television. He’s been in TV hits, including The Orville and Teen Wolf, and he’s been a special effects makeup shop supervisor for shows including Watchmen, Lovecraft Country, The Walking Dead, and Mare of Easttown. In 2012, Jones won for his work on The Walking Dead in Outstanding Prosthetic for a Series, Miniseries, Movie, or a Special.
Black Krrsantan made his live-action debut in “Chapter 2: The Tribes of Tatooine,” where the Hutt Twins (cousins of Jabba) have employed the hairy bounty hunter to threaten Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison). Krrsantan is towering and intimidating, but as daimyo of Tatooine Fett diffuses the tension and chooses to avoid combat. The following episode showed that that didn’t quite work out, however, as Fett is brutally taken out of his regenerative bacta tank by Krrsantan and violently pummeled. Fortunately, Fett’s helped by battle-ready youths and his partner Fennec Shand opens a trapdoor to trap the burly beast. In an act of kindness, Fett ends up freeing his prisoner…who then later gets into a fight with Trandoshans at the Sanctuary cantina and rips one of their arms off.
Jones can now add his name to the list of actors who’ve played a Wookie. The most famous, of course, is Han Solo’s pal Chewbacca. Peter Mayhew first played Chewbacca in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, released in 1977. At 7’3″, Mayhew made the role iconic and played him in various incarnations up until Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Sadly, Mayhew died in April of 2019.
In Solo: A Star Wars Story, Finnish actor Joonas Suotamo played the younger Chewbacca alongside the younger Han Solo. Standing at 6’11”, Suotamo was actually a body double for Mayhew in the aforementioned The Force Awakens. The origin movie showed how Chewie first met Solo when the famous smuggler was held prisoner on the muddy planet of Mimban. The Wookie was meant to kill him, but they instead worked together to get themselves out of that predicament. They succeeded in escaping, and the rest is history.
See what’s next in store for Black Krrsantan in The Book of Boba Fett streaming on Disney Plus.