Though Young Sheldon’s titular brainiac may often side with the emotionally taut nature of Star Trek’s Vulcan race, Iain Armitage’s Sheldon Cooper is certainly no stranger to the world and characters of the Star Wars universe. Even though he’s still years away from crossing paths with such franchise legends as Carrie Fisher in the Big Bang Theory timeline, Sheldon will soon share the screen with a more recent Star Wars recruit: The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett star Ming-Na Wen!
With her time as Boba Fett’s badass second banana Fennec Shand coming to a (presumably temporary) end in the coming weeks, Ming-Na Wen thankfully won’t be absent from the small screen for too long. She’s set to appear in Young Sheldon’s upcoming Season 5 episode titled “A Free Scratcher and Feminine Wiles,” which is set to hit CBS at some point in February, according to TVLine.
Understandably, Ming-Na Wen won’t be joining Young Sheldon as part of the Cooper family, but rather as Dr. Carol Lee, who serves as the director for experimental cosmology at East Texas Tech University. Clearly, she’s got more than enough brains to out-converse many of the characters on this show, but Sheldon will almost definitely be one of her biggest career challenges yet, even if he’s not directly involved with anything in her career. It’s presumably just that much harder to get back to work after hearing the myriad questions that come out of the pre-teen’s mouth.
Check out Ming-Na Wen celebrating her new role going public in the Instagram post below, which is quite complimentary to the back of Iain Armitage's head:
Sheldon has certainly taken other educational heads to task in the past, including those played by fellow guest stars Eg Begley, Jr., Frances Conroy, Melanie Lynskey, and Wendie Malick, to name a few. Cosmology seems like a proper field for Ming-Na Wen’s character, too, considering she has been spending time in other parts of the universe for Disney+’s Star Wars series. It’s not entirely clear whether or not Fennec Shand will return for more action following the events of The Book of Boba Fett, so it’s good to know the actress is already locking down other high-profile roles in the meantime.
Young Sheldon, which also featured the beloved late comedian Louie Anderson in a Season 3 guest spot, hasn’t embraced quite as many pop culture-heavy cameos as its predecessor The Big Bang Theory, which is understandable given its less-sitcommy vibes. The flagship comedy actually featured a trio of legends during its 12-year stretch, with Carrie Fisher and James Earl Jones meeting in person for the first time during a Season 7 episode, and Mark Hamill popping by to officiate Sheldon and Amy’s wedding in Season 11. It'll be interesting to see if the prequel series will bring in more modern era Star Wars actors, as opposed to the classic stars that visited TBBT. Anyone want to place bets on Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen?
Young Sheldon airs Thursday nights on CBS at 8:00 p.m. While waiting for her episode to debut, check out what other Ming-Na Wen movies and TV shows are out there for your perusal, and be sure to bookmark our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see what other new and returning shows are debuting soon.
