Who is Boba Fett?

As a Star Wars nerd of the highest order I know there are multiple answers to this question but we shall stick to the canon made in the Star Wars films. Boba Fett is a clone of the infamous bounty hunter Jango Fett, Jango was used as the DNA template for the clone troopers we see in the prequels. Jango asked for one clone which he would raise as his son – Boba. After Jango’s death, Boba seems to bounce around the galaxy, eventually becoming the most feared and capable bounty hunter in the galaxy, so much so that it is Fett who tracks down Han Solo for Darth Vader. Boba met his death when knocked into the sarlacc pit by Han Solo. Or so we thought. Despite having a grand total of four lines, five if you include his scream, Boba Fett became a fan favourite. The mysterious bounty hunter featured in numerous books and other extended universe material and eventually showed up in The Mandalorian. The brief glimpse of Temuera Morrison (who played Jango Fett and so presumably Boba Fett would be identical to) at the end of an episode of The Mandalorian caused an explosion of fan theories, and indeed, Boba Fett made a huge impact on the second season of that show.

The Reports of My Death Are Greatly Exaggerated

In Return of the Jedi Han Solo accidentally activates Boba’s jet pack, which sends him careening into the sarlacc pit, never to be seen again in the original trilogy. But for such a popular character apparent death is a minor inconvenience. The Book of Boba Fett does explain his escape and how the battered, near death, bounty hunter managed to survive, after all, it’s great to escape the sarlacc, but then you’re stuck in the desert.

Why Do People Like Boba Fett?

Boba first appeared in the Star Wars Holiday Special, then had a pivotal role in The Empire Strikes Back and “died” in Return of the Jedi. From these appearances, he would undoubtedly be viewed as a villain by the audience, and he actually does very little. He had a clever idea to find Han Solo, he shoots at Luke Skywalker a couple of times and has an embarrassing tumble into a giant sand monster. But this figure, completely encased in armour, barely saying anything, with no backstory or explanation of who he is other than he’s a bounty hunter is beloved by fans. Boba was even added to the remastered A New Hope, appearing with Jabba the Hutt’s goons (who was also changed from a human to the famous slug we all know and love). I think it’s because he’s cool. Luke Skywalker is the hero but Han Solo is cooler. Darth Vader is evil but he is undeniably cool. C3PO knows seven million forms of communication and we can’t understand a word R2D2 says but we all know the little trashcan droid is far cooler.

The fact that most of the people the rebels fight are masked lends the bad guys an anonymous quality, I don’t think any of the stormtroopers in the original trilogy is ever referred to by name. Stormtroopers are nameless, hidden, seemingly endless foot soldiers and if a villain with any sort of identity shows up they are latched onto.

The Book of Boba Fett

The new show takes places in roughly the same time period as The Mandalorian, with Boba heading back to Tatooine to take over Jabba the Hutt’s crime empire. He is joined by Fennec Shand, another character from The Mandalorian, a brilliant assassin whose life was saved by Boba Fett. Like The Mandalorian, it explores the chaotic galaxy that has been created by the decline of the Empire, relatively unimportant worlds like Tatooine were abandoned as storm troopers were needed elsewhere. Coupled with the death of Jabba the Hutt a power vacuum exists, one which Boba Fett will take full advantage of.

I’ve watched the first episodes and really enjoyed them and if you want to keep following the story of the galaxy’s greatest bounty hunter you should watch it too.

Also Read: Beyond The Mandalorian: Expanding The Star Wars Universe

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The canvas Star Wars has to work with is big – a quick google lists the number of populated planets in the Empire in the millions. There are films and TV shows showing the time around the civil war that made up the original trilogy, but references are made to thousands of years of space travel capable civilisations. So with millions of planets and thousands of years to work with the possible stories within this are essentially endless.

Going Solo

Several characters are getting their own series – Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Lando Calrissian and Cassian Andor – all of whom are potentially very interesting protagonists. Kenobi’s show seems to be set on Tatooine in the period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope and given that this is a planet that will not only have storm troopers but Jabba the Hutt there will be a lot for him to do. Details about the Calrissian project are virtually non-existent to the extent we don’t know who will be playing him and all we know about Tano is that Rosario Dawson will play her and it will be set in roughly the same period as The Mandalorian. Cassian Andor appeared in Rogue One as a Rebel Alliance intelligence officer and presumably he’ll get up to similar spy shenanigans.

Rangers of the New Republic & Acolyte

Rangers of the New Republic is set in the same time as The Mandalorian and Ahsoka – perhaps suggesting some future crossover. Acolyte is perhaps the most original of all the shows as it is set in what is called the High Republic era, this being the several centuries before the birth of the Empire which, at least in film and television, is untouched ground. It’s worth noting that there are many books, graphic novels, computer games and more that have been made since Star Wars first came out that have dealt with what happened before, after and during the films. Grand Admiral Thrawn who appeared in Rebels and has been mentioned in The Mandalorian first appeared in a trilogy of novels set a few years after Return of the Jedi. The vast majority of these books, games etc have been declared non-canonical but are still a rich area to mine.

Animated

Two new animated shows were announced The Bad Batch and Visions, the first being a spinoff from The Clone Wars tv series about a squad of Clone Troopers working as mercenaries in the early days of the Empire, and Visions being a series of short anime-style films.

Why focus on television?

Disney also announced a Rogue Squadron film but most of the focus has been on television – and this is a lot of television. The Disney Star Wars projects have had mixed success with some fans thinking the recent trilogy worse than the much derided prequels. Star Wars fans have proven difficult to please and it’s certainly impossible to please all of them. Some want the films to make references to the original trilogy, some want them to be completely new and original. Some only want new characters, some want to see the old characters. This might be Disney’s strategy – provide a wealth of shows and people can pick the ones they want.

As big a fan of Star Wars as I am, I do think this might be too much and my worry is that the quality will diminish. Ever since the term “franchise” came to surround films there has been an idea that seemingly they will never stop – there will never not be new Marvel superhero films, there will never not be new Terminator films and maybe now there will never not be new Star Wars. I am sure great shows and films will come out of this approach but it does not sit well with me – it’s hard to get excited about Star Wars Project #17 that feels like it’s more about filling a quota than telling a story.

Also Read: The Mandalorian – A New Hope For Star Wars

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The post Beyond The Mandalorian: Expanding The Star Wars Universe appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.