LOS ANGELES • Boba Fett (right) is joining the Star Wars characters who are stepping out from the background and getting their own show.

Jon Favreau, creator of Disney's hit television series The Mandalorian (2019 to present), said on Monday that The Book Of Boba Fett will be a standalone spin-off series starring the clone bounty hunter previously best known for helping to capture Han Solo in the science-fiction saga.

Favreau told Good Morning America that the series, which was teased last week, will debut on the Disney+ streaming service in December next year.

"This is separate from The Mandalorian Season 3," Favreau said.

The Mandalorian, which has proved a huge hit for Disney+, stars Pedro Pascal as the titular character - a bounty hunter sent on a sensitive mission - and features fan favourite Baby Yoda.

It is the first live-action television series set in the galaxy far, far away that was first seen on screen in the 1977 movie Star Wars.

The Book Of Boba Fett will star Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett and Ming-Na Wen as mercenary Fennec Shand, who both appeared in The Mandalorian.

Morrison previously played Boba Fett's father Jango Fett in the Star Wars movie Attack Of The Clones (2002).

Boba Fett first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), mainly portrayed by actor Jeremy Bulloch, who died at age 75 last Thursday.

Favreau said The Book Of Boba Fett was an addition to the slew of about 10 new Star Wars related television shows and movies announced by Disney earlier this month.

He said the Boba Fett series was held back from that announcement because "we didn't want to spoil the surprise".

The Book Of Boba Fett will be set in the same timeline as The Mandalorian - shortly after the events depicted in the 1983 movie The Return Of The Jedi, Favreau said.

REUTERS