One of the things Star Wars does best is scum and villainy — specifically space smugglers who stay on the wrong side of the law. Hondo Ohnaka has occupied that space in both the prequel and original trilogy eras, so it makes sense to bring him into the new era of the galaxy far, far away. Hondo is a perfect protagonist to include in the Disney+ Star Wars series, because he gets around and has fun doing it.
Characters can often be used as connective tissue between franchise shows. Rosario Dawson has continued this tradition as Ahsoka Tano, appearing in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett before leading her own eponymous series. The role of the connective criminal could go to Hondo, and according to voice actor Jim Cummings at DragonCon, his appearance in either live-action or The Bad Batch is “probable.” Cummings made clear he was speculating — but if Lucasfilm doesn’t already have something in the works, they should take his advice and call him immediately.
Introduced in The Clone Wars as a space pirate, Hondo is devious and motivated by money — yet even when he does the wrong thing, it still feels like the right thing. He is as perfect a True Neutral character as ever existed, though he certainly has his Chaotic moments. When he popped back up in Star Wars: Rebels he wasn’t a full-on hero, but since the Rebellion were all technically criminals he was a natural ally. Yet, as cold as he can be, Hondo did develop affection for both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ezra Bridger. He loves a hero, and the Disney+ Star Wars series are lousy with them.
Hondo’s appearance in an episode of Star Wars television always promised two things: action and levity. All credit to the writers, but Cummings’ performance as Hondo is what makes the character latch on to fans’ hearts and imaginations. His line deliveries can be deeply sinister and hilarious… sometimes simultaneously. Hondo projects an absurd amount of confidence at all times, while sounding like he is making everything up on the spot. And one thing is constant: Hondo always survives.
A character like Hondo is exactly what the Disney+ Star Wars series need to feel like a connected universe, especially if they are building up to a story event. When Ahsoka, Din Djarin and other Star Wars characters popped up in The Book of Boba Fett, it felt like an episode of The Mandalorian debuted accidentally. Adding characters like Hondo, who has an excuse to be literally anywhere in the galaxy, would help the universe feel cohesive but maintain the integrity of the individual series.
Universe-building aside, Hondo should come to Disney+ in live-action because he’s a great character. Disney knows this; they built an expensive animatronic version of the character for their theme parks that feels like it could be wheeled into the Volume set and programmed with new dialogue. The alien nature of the character would be a makeup and visual effects challenge, but Lucasfilm loves a challenge in that department. Hondo could become as beloved a character to Star Wars fans as other aliens like Wicket or Chewbacca. He’s just a different kind of cute, funny alien.
Hopefully, Jim Cummings slipped up and revealed that there’s already a plan to utilize Hondo Ohnaka. If not, Lucasfilm should immediately get to work on solving this problem and introduce the character in one of its Disney+ shows. He would bring humor to series that sometimes focus heavily on tragedy and make any episode feel like a classic Star Wars romp.