For more than 40 years, Boba Fett has been one of the most popular villains from the Star Wars universe. Boba Fett made his animated debut in a nine-minute cartoon nestled in the middle of the wildly unpopular Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), and made his first live performance two years later in The Empire Strikes Back. Kids loved everything about Boba Fett’s armor, from his cool helmet to his missile-firing jetpack, but his most alluring attribute was the mystery surrounding him. Who was this masked bounty hunter who stood side by side with Darth Vader and was able to capture Han Solo?
And then, in Return of the Jedi, he died after his rockets were accidentally triggered by a vision-impaired Han Solo. Boba Fett went from being one of the most feared men in the galaxy to being digested inside the Sarlacc Pit in a matter of seconds.
Fans have never accepted Boba’s fate. How could one of the baddest men in the galaxy die so easily? Many fans refused to believe that the wily Boba Fett, with all his armor, weapons, and tricks, could be killed so easily. Twelve years after Return of the Jedi, Boba Fett emerged from the Sarlacc Pit in a short story from an anthology titled Tales from Jabba’s Palace, publised in 1995. The book, which was considered to be canon, explained how Boba Fett — after blowing up his jet pack and tossing dozens of grenades — was able to blow a hole through the Sarlacc’s stomach and claw his way back to the surface.
In 2022’s The Book of Boba Fett our antihero doesn’t escape in quite the same manner, but the result is the same. Moments after Luke Skywalker and his merry men zoomed away from the Sarlacc Pit, Boba Fett — partially digested and worse for wear — emerged from the belly of the best.
So Boba Fett is back, but unfortunately for him (and maybe viewers), it seems the position had already been in filled. Two years ago, Disney+ — the same people who gave us The Book of Boba Fett and the owners of Star Wars — gave us The Mandalorian, a series about a bounty hunter who wears the same (Mandalorian) armor as Boba Fett. Many fans have referred to The Mandalorian as the best thing to happen to Star Wars since the original trilogy, and no doubt a big part of the show’s popularity can be attributed to Grogu (dubbed “Baby Yoda” by fans). Boba Fett appearing in season two of The Mandalorian was one of the greatest crossovers ever, and whether or not it had been planned from the beginning, I’m sure someone at Disney said “if we can make a popular series about a guy that looks like Boba Fett, maybe we can make another popular series about Boba Fett!”
For those who don’t know, The Mandalorian takes place five years after the end of Return of the Jedi. We got some of Boba Fett’s story in The Mandalorian — we saw him reacquire his armor, and most importantly at the end of season two we saw him murder Bib Fortuna and assume Jabba the Hutt’s reign as the Daimyo (crime lord) of Mos Espa. That gave The Book of Boba Fett three eras to work with: little Boba (the last time we saw Boba Fett, his father, Jango Fett, had just been decapitated by Mace Windu in Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones); Boba Fett’s story from between his apparent demise in Return of the Jedi and the moment he showed up in The Mandalorian; and, perhaps most importantly, Boba Fett’s legacy — who is he, what motivates him, and what lies in store in the future for Boba Fett.
Boba Fett’s childhood, save for a couple of quick (we’re talking 5-10 second) flashbacks to Boba watching Jango fly away in the middle of the night) was unexplored. That left the other two eras — what happened to Fett over the past five years, and where’s he headed from here.
[MINOR SPOILERS BELOW]
The former was covered in a series of flashbacks. Fett, barely clinging to life after emerging from the Sarlacc Pit, had his armor stolen by Jawas and was kidnapped by Tusken Raiders. This story, told through a series of flashbacks, began with Fett being tied to a post, whipped, and forced to dig for water with his bare hands. Through a series of events, Fett eventually earned the clan’s trust and went on to be assimilated into the tribe. There’s no question that such an experience would affect a person, but it seemed to have changed Fett’s complete outlook on life. In Return of the Jedi, Boba Fett entered the Tatooine desert as one of the most feared bounty hunters in the galaxy. Five years later he emerged as a man who…
…well, that question is difficult to answer. After the death of Jabba the Hutt, Bib Fortuna seized power of Jabba’s territory, and Fett wasted no time in (violently) removing Fortuna from power and assuming Jabba’s territory. Why Fett would want to take over a criminal empire was never really established. When Fett demands offerings from everyone on the cut, not only does the mayor say no, but his representative asks for one in return. Fett and his loyal assassin sidekick, Fennec, wander the streets of Mos Espa letting everyone know they’re in charge, receiving polite nods of “sure you are, buddy” in return. When Fennec suggests Fett flex his muscles he declines, saying he prefers to rule with respect rather than fear. Fett may be the first crime lord in the history of Star Wars who refuses to commit a crime. At one point, a merchant asks Fett to intervene when local hoodlums are stealing drinking water from him. Fett tells the merchant to lower his prices, and hires the hoodlums to provide boots-on-the-ground intel. This is how the most dangerous bounty hunter in the galaxy spends his time; personally settling disputes over glasses of drinking water.
Slowly, a plot develops. The Pykes have been running an illegal drug known as spice through Tatooine, and Boba Fett decides it must stop. This is the opposite of what a crime lord should be doing, but it’s bigger than that now. Fett talks a a lot about saving “his” town and protecting “his” people, although as far as I know the vast majority of time the bounty hunter has spent on Tatooine was spent as Tusken Raider property. Fett asks the other crime syndicates in Mos Espa for assistance, and they say no. He then asks them to at least say out of the impending battle. This time, they lie and say they will.
A show builds toward a war between the Pykes and Boba Fett’s small group of pals, a battle that Fennec, the Mandalorian, and essentially everyone else in Boba Fett’s circle tells him he cannot win. Both sides pull out all the stops in an attempt to take control of Tatooine.
With such a large world to explore and so many stories to tell, Disney made the odd decision to focus on The Mandalorian for not one but two of the show’s episodes. The fifth episode of the show didn’t feature Boba Fett at all; in the sixth, he appears for less than three minutes. With so many Boba Fett stories available to tell, why the showrunners decided to spend not one but two episodes on someone else’s journey is mindboggling.
By design, The Book of Boba Fett was destined to fail. The show tried to take three killers — Fett, Fennec, and the former Wookiee gladiator/bounty hunter Black Krrsantan — and turn them into good guys. Worse than that, they Disney-fied them. When the chips were down, three people who formerly (and in a few cases, recently) made a living out of hunting and killing the good guys of Star Wars (including Jedi) banded together out of loyalty to take a stand.
A lot of The Book of Boba Fett was entertaining, and the final episode, from a purely action perspective, certainly delivered. As the closing credits began to roll, the Boba Fett we were left with was not the same character we new from the original trilogy. My only question was, was it the fans who didn’t understand who Boba Fett was, or Disney?
Yup, agreed on all counts. I just finished it, or rather struggled through it. As The Critical Drinker said in his YouTube review ‘I went in with zero expectations, and still came away disappointed’. Like you say the appeal of Boba is the mystery, letting the viewer fill in the blanks. Much like Clint Eastwoods characters in say ‘High Plains Drifter’, less is more.
This show filled in all the blanks for us, and sent a 61 yr old Boba to a Hippy retreat to find himself, peace, and love. I’m surprised they didn’t adorn his armour with flowers while they were at it. Aside from that the dialogue was cringe inducing clunky, like they were targeting a younger audience. The duel with Cad Bane (another wasted character) where Boba Fett says ‘That may be, but I’ve got armor’. I was like. Oh. God. Who approved these lines?
It was also unintentionally funny at times. Witness the young Boba clan members astride their four primary coloured Teletubby bikes to engage in a street chase at….5mph. Wah-wah. So bad, it was bad.
I think another problem is that the two main characters have zero chemistry or charisma. Ming-Na Wen is basically playing the same wooden character she played in Agents of Shield. And not to rag on a fellow Kiwi, but it’s still weird hearing Boba with a New Zealand accent (I prefer the original). Temuera Morrison is a former NZ soap-opera actor who frankly, isn’t very good. He wasn’t helped by the clunky lines he was given, but still.
Boba may have gone out like a Chump in Jedi, but in it’s way this show just added salt to the wound. They should have just left the character alone, because not every villain needs to be redeemed.
As Cad Bane said to him ‘You’re going soft in your old age’. So true Cad. So true.
I don’t know if The Book of Boba Fett was as memorable as The Mandolorian was. In my opinion, The Book of Boba Fett show writers could have used the same scripts for filming a second season of the Mandolorian rather than creating a spin off series.
I had to skip through the show and watch various episodes to keep my interest within the The Book of Boba Fett. I think the show would have done better if Baby Yoda or Grogu would have made more appearances within the show, besides in the final episode.