- Ever since Return of the Jedi in 1983, Star Wars fans have been eager for as much Boba Fett as they could get.
- Fett is one of the coolest-looking and most-loved Star Wars characters, but his screentime in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi is more limited than people tend to think.
- Fett plays a key role in Season 2 of The Mandalorian.
There's a lot of debate among Star Wars fans, but a few things have always remained constant: the Millennium Falcon might be a piece of garbage, but it still freaking rules, Han shot first, and we need more Boba Fett. While Fett didn't have any footprint on Season 1 of The Mandalorian—well, OK, maybe he literally left some footprints—it's clear that the character will be a major, major part of the show's second season after the ending shot of the first episode.
The prevalent belief among many Star Wars fans and followers was that The Mandalorian was birthed from the ashes of an attempted Boba Fett solo film; a Boba Fett movie, which would have been done in the style of Solo or Rogue One, was rumored at times to be directed by the likes of Josh Trank (Chronicle) or James Mangold (Logan) but was eventually scrapped entirely.
While the timing made many believe that The Mandalorian was a reworked version of the Boba Fett solo film, Dave Filoni (who writes and directs on The Mandalorian in addition to being behind The Clone Wars and Rebels) said that one was unrelated to the other. "There wasn’t really any crossover with any previous development," he said in an interview with Deadline.
Still, though, it was Favreau and Filoni's view on the mystique of Boba Fett's original character that led to the creation of The Mandalorian, even if it eventually meant creating their own new character, Din Djarin.
“The Mandalorian idea really starts with Jon Favreau coming forward saying he’d like to develop a concept and talking with Kathleen Kennedy about it,” Filoni said in the interview with Deadline. “She knew I had done a lot of work with Mandalorian people and culture on Clone Wars with George (Lucas) over the years. She always knew that I knew Jon. She called me in when Jon pitched this idea, and he really loved the imagery of a lone gunman and Western. When we were kids, Boba Fett was a ‘Man With No Name.’ Even his publicity stills were evocative of the [Sergio Leone] Dollar trilogy.”
“Some of his mystique had been taken away,” Filoni said. “Jon’s idea was to reimagine that character as a straight-on bounty hunter and take that imagery of the lone gunfighter. The revelation was this idea of this child in a lone-wolf-and-cub sensibility.”
Boba Fett has a key role in Season 2 of The Mandalorian that is only just beginning.
Just because Favreau wanted a reworked and recreated version of Boba Fett as his hero doesn't mean that there isn't a place for the character in the world, though. As the Season 2 premiere explores, Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant) has been wearing Boba Fett's armor as a way to strengthen up and protect his village, Mos Pelgo. As a part of his deal with Mando, though, he gives the armor back once our hero helps to defeat the Krayt Dragon. As Mando rides away, armor in tow, we see a cloaked, armed figure looking on. When he turns around, all suspicions become truths—it's Boba Fett.
Looking grizzled and with a scarred Face, Fett is now played by Temeura Morrison—who played his father, Jango Fett, in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.
It's unknown what direction this story could take from here. While there's a chance that Fett could take on something of an Obi-Wan/Mentor role with Mando, it's much more likely that Boba Fett—very much not a Mandalorian, is hated by the actual Mandalorian creed. If you think of how mad Mando was when he realized that Cobb Vanth simply got the armor for Jawas, imagine how he must feel about Boba Fett, whose father killed a Mandalorian and stole his armor. We can only assume that son is like father.
Favreau and Filoni wanted specifically for their hero to not be Boba Fett.
Disney has made a point of distancing their guy from Boba Fett. First of all, the offical description from Star Wars describes the series as such: After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. “The Mandalorian” is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic. Of course, Boba Fett was based in the original trilogy, and Jango Fett, his father, figured into the prequels, and this wording, while somewhat vague, makes it pretty clear that the intent is as a different character.
“Our guy is a Mandalorian, and we definitely explore the culture of the Mandalorian,” showrunner Jon Favreau told Entertainment Weekly. While this is vaguer than some, he also told CBR definitively that Boba Fett would not be appearing. "Boba Fett is not [in it]. They're all-new, original characters," he said.
Filoni previously cited George Lucas as the reasoning for why this Mandalorian couldn't possibly be Boba Fett. “Boba Fett is a clone, according to Attack of the Clones, and by asking [Star Wars creator and former Lucasfilm owner George Lucas], he would say Boba Fett is not Mandalorian, not born on Mandalore. He’s more of a person indoctrinated into it, into the way of life, and gets a hold of the armor.” As you might remember, the scenes with Boba Fett as a child in Attack of the Clones make it clear that Boba Fett was a clone, developed with the purpose of fighting in a war.
