Band On The Run
Remember the band that was seen playing for Jabba the Hutt in Star Wars: Episode IV – Return Of The Jedi? Well, like most other characters glimpsed in this universe, they have their own story – and it would make for a fantastic, and very different, Star Wars movie.
The Max Rebo Band story is included in the 1995 anthology book, Tales From Jabba’s Palace – in a short story written by John Gregory Betancourt – and they’ve also appeared elsewhere in literature. The short story charts some of the events that befall the group in the year before Return Of The Jedi, though – through that film and a short time after.
Beginning as a quartet, the band arrives to perform at the Mos Eisley Cantina – but the resident group disapproves and murders the band leader. The remaining members – Sy, Droopy and Max – decide to continue on their musical quest, with Max as the new band leader. Jabba the Hutt helps them with this decision by offering them a lifetime of food to be the resident band at his palace.
Appearances by the band in Star Wars comic book stories have included escapades during their time in the employ of Jabba, where the crime lord sends them to play for one of his rivals – only for them to realize that they’re being used as unwitting accomplices in an assassination attempt, and they must use creative strategies to escape the situation.
Back in the short story, though, the band’s tenure at the palace is interrupted when Princess Leia throttles Jabba with the chain he’s used to bind her, during the rescue of Luke, Han. Chewbacca and Lando at the Sarlacc Pit. The band loses their instruments and equipment in the ensuing explosion, and Droopy resigns his position right there, in the middle of the desert.
The potential for high comedy in this story is considerable, while exploring characters that are familiar to some, but also new to many. This tale has close ties to iconic plot points in the core Skywalker saga, while also building highly empathetic new characters into the canon. Taika Waititi would really be the ideal choice for this movie, too, which could be an interesting spinoff that would reinvigorate the entire brand.