Following the Clues to a Possible Boba Fett Stand-Alone Movie. (Part 2 of 3)

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In the first part of this Speculative series we re-visited the origins of Boba Fett and some of the reasons why he became everyone’s favorite bounty hunter, with an eye toward the character’s future. In Part II we’ll take a closer look at who Fett really is, after the break.

 

PART II: BOBA WHAT?!

 

Once the Star Wars craze of the 1970/80’s died out it seemed like we wouldn’t see anymore movies. Then in the late ’90’s fans learned that we would be getting “Special Editions” of the OT, leading into the new series of Prequels. One by one, each film of the OT was re-released with “special modifications” some enjoyed and some not so much. (Ahem, Han shot first!)

 

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Han’s infamous scene with crime-lord Jabba the Hutt, for example, was salvaged off the cutting room floor, dusted off, and CGI’d so that slug Jabba appeared instead of the original human actor, Declan Mulholland. As a bonus, Boba Fett was also inserted into the scene, if for no other reason than the dreaded “fan service.” I suppose this is one of those mixed things in that some like it and some don’t. But now Boba Fett, still with almost no lines, is in all three of the OT films, canonically I might add, and still one of the all-time favorite characters. Everything seemed to be smooth sailing for Fettophiles until . . .

 

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The Prequel Trilogy seemed to offend almost every fan in some way, or some form, so it is only fitting that those who really loved Boba Fett the most were especially outraged to learn, in Episode II: Attack of the Clones, that Boba Fett wasn’t unique at all, but actually a clone. This shouldn’t have come as a surprise to any hardcore Star Wars fan as this concept was something George envisioned right from Fett’s start. From Fettpedia:

“I designed the final version of Boba Fett. Ralph and I both worked together on preliminary designs, and we traded ideas back and forth. Originally, Boba Fett was part of a force we called Super Troopers, and they were these really high-tech fighting units, and they all looked alike. That eventually evolved into a single bounty hunter. I painted Boba’s outfit and tried to make it look like it was made of different pieces of armor. It was a symmetrical design, but I painted it in such a way that it looked like he had scavenged parts and had done some personalizing of his costume; he had little trophies hanging from his belt, and he had little braids of hair, almost like a collection of scalps.” — Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays (p. 184-185, 1997)

It sadly turned-out the only unique thing about Boba was that he was an “unaltered clone” per his father, Jango Fett’s, request. Personally, I had zero qualms about seeing the origin of Boba as well as Jango Fett. In my opinion, it added some interesting depth to the character while simultaneously showing how vicious the Super Troopers could be. It was ominous to know that Jango, this very shady character, was supplying the genealogy for the Republic’s grand army. Furthermore, I think it was also pretty cool to see how Boba was affected by the Jedi negatively, planting those seminal seeds of fear and loathing, as young Boba watched his father decapitated at the hands of Mace Windu. Star Wars is nothing if not space opera — space opera served!

 

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That written, I can respect the idea that “less is more.” In this case taking a long-loved, fan-favorite like Boba Fett and turning him into a kid could be viewed as rather unnecessary. Those even more cynical than me, I am a big Han Solo fan after all, might even suggest his inclusion as a “cash grab,” to sell more action figures and merchandise. Ultimately, I don’t see it that way. Ultimately, when we watch Jango Fett in action during AOTC we are really, in the clever way that is George Lucas, able to watch a kick-ass Boba Fett in the Prequels.

 

While we learned that Boba Fett is a clone of his father Jango, and not ever named “Jaster Mereel,” there was the question of the Mandalorian armor. One question never answered during the PT was where is Jango originally from? It’s never mentioned, nor is it really ever revealed in the films canonically that he wears Mandalorian armor. Enter The Clone Wars animated series.

 

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During the highly acclaimed, award winning series which lasted six seasons, we learned a little more about young Boba Fett. We learned that he attempted to exact revenge on Mace Windu, for the death of his father, by enlisting the help of Aurra Sing and Bosskk. These nefarious outlaws picked-up young Boba’s training where Jango’s left-off. We also learned that Boba Fett actually adhered to a code that the aforementioned bounty hunters did not and that Boba was not a seething hate monster Hell-bent on destroying everything in his path — he had clear intentions.

 

But while some of Boba’s character came into clearer focus we still never learned an answer to the question of the Mandalorian armor. It was only in the special features “Creating Mandalore” where the answer was finally revealed, from the mouth of Producer/Director Dave Filoni:

The idea that Jango Fett is not a Mandalorian, that’s something that comes directly from George. I think when we first saw Jango in Attack of the Clones that a lot of us, myself included, we assumed, “Oh, he must be a Mandalorian. There he is in Mandalorian armour.” So there is kind of this early assumption that Jango must be a Mandalorian, and that was interesting to see. But that was never stated in the film. It was never stated that he was Mandalorian. He’s always just referred to as a bounty hunter.”

So there you have it once and for all, Jango, Boba, and by extension the Clone Army, are NOT Mandalorians. The only Mandalorians we’ve seen have been animated during The Clone Wars and soon to premiere Rebels series in the character of Sabine.

 

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We now have a better grasp of who Boba is, but we still haven’t looked into the future to answer the all-important question — What of Fett’s fate? In Part III . . .

 

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29 thoughts on “Following the Clues to a Possible Boba Fett Stand-Alone Movie. (Part 2 of 3)

  • July 31, 2014 at 6:20 pm
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    I don’t know though, is the death of his father enough to turn him into a RUTHLESS bounty hunter? Re: Him (most probably) incinerating Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. Every bounty hunter has their story, I wonder if Boba has a deeper one.

  • July 31, 2014 at 6:25 pm
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    I think Boba should have a cameo in one of the upcoming films. (7, 8, or 9) And Temuera Morrison could portray him, taking into account his current age. He could maybe settle down, and maybe have a family (just like that one clone in Clone Wars) OR he could be the one to put Harrison Ford out of his misery and kill Han.

  • July 31, 2014 at 6:36 pm
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    As much as I’d like a Jango Fett over a Boba movie, I do believe that a Boba movie featuring his rise from morally confused adolescent to (supposedly) cold-hearted ‘badass’ would be very interesting.

    Also, I just thought about something: What if this ‘super trooper’ concept is revisited? Like, Palpatine wants to take the leftover Jango clone, pump ’em full mof steroids, and practically crush any Rebellion? Boba is hired to infiltrate their ranks(By Bail?) must destroy from the inside out; Kinda like Dark Forces, in a way.

    • July 31, 2014 at 11:48 pm
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      I’m hoping that they actually save Boba’s coming-of-age story in a refitted version of the 1313 project. They hinted at it in The Clone Wars, but I think it’d be interesting to see the story from his perspective. It also sounds like this could be the game that Visceral Games is working on.

      With that out of the way, I think a post-ROTJ movie about Boba Fett would make for a more interesting story. I believe this is that much more likely since George Lucas said that Boba Fett escaped the Sarlaac, though this has not been seen in a canon source yet. What better way to have the character return on the big screen than to crawl out of the beast of Carkoon?

  • July 31, 2014 at 7:52 pm
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    I was never really into the Boba Fett character and I think we’ve learned enough about him. I don’t think his five minutes of fame in the OT deserves a full film. Star Wars is a huge universe filled with millions of untold stories; Disney should expand our perception of Star Wars, not limit it to characters we’ve already seen.

    • July 31, 2014 at 8:31 pm
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      It’s very refreshing to read comments from people who understand that good story telling involves mystery, new characters, and quality over quantity. Fett was so cool because he talked back to Vader without fear, captured Solo, and had an awesome vehicle. The mystery behind his character added insatiable curiosity (why does Vader trust/respect him? What does he mean by “No disintegrations”?). His character became much more uninteresting when the PT and cartoon series came out. Less is more.

      • July 31, 2014 at 9:23 pm
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        I agree, the mystery gave Boba an edge of interest. I was not satisfied with the expansion of his character in the PT and TCW; it really watered down his prestige. Although I agree with you both, Disney will do what they believe the fans want. In their eyes Boba’s just a bone with marrow left to be sucked out. I think it’d be cool to see him in action a little more before we just dismiss his character all together. If they do make a spinoff for him, it’d be great if we never saw his face or had any insight to his personal life. Instead the audience could stand by and just watch him do his thing. That way, we’d keep the mystery and still have the opportunity to see Fett work his magic.

        • July 31, 2014 at 11:42 pm
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          I don’t see it as “less is more”. I’ve seen the “more”; it just plain sucked. But if done right, I’d love to see more Boba Fett.

          Jango in the PT was just an excuse to give us more Boba Fett time when we really needed a brand new bounty hunter character. And like Boba, Jango died too soon and stupidly. Nobody wants to see kid Boba or feel that he’s less unique than the impression the OT gave us.

  • July 31, 2014 at 9:30 pm
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    The sad story is Boba Fett and Darth Maul are overrated by kids… They suck, they appeared for a few minutes on the movies and the EU milked them. (I love the EU, don’t take me wrong but these characters sucks)

    The Old Republic > “Boba Fett Movie” or even a “Han Solo” movie.

  • July 31, 2014 at 9:51 pm
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    I was thinking some of the news we are hearing about the various filming locations and second unit stuff could be for the other 4 or 5 movies being made and not directly to episode 7. Thus filming for the stand alone movies and eps 8 and 9 could be under way. George Lucas filmed the final scene in episode 3 while still filming episode 2 so he didn’t have to come back to the desert. Peter Jackson is known to make multiple films simultaneously. So why could the same not be happening in the Star Wars universe.

  • August 1, 2014 at 2:30 am
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    ”The Prequel Trilogy seemed to offend almost every fan in some way”

    That is very pretentious statement. Prequel trilogy maybe offended some fifty years old fans.

    But for majority prequels are good or even great movies.

    For example The Phantom Menace:

    14623 people voted 1 for that movies ( yes haters )

    But 40204 people voted 10, and that is almost 4 times more.

    Please haters stop act as majority, you are not.

    PT definitely did not offended me.

    Boba Fett origins are explained in PT. I’m pleased with that.

    I do not want Boba Fett movie. Please nooo.

    • August 1, 2014 at 2:36 am
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      Nah, you come across as pretentious.

      • August 1, 2014 at 2:39 am
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        Why? because he tells the truth?

    • August 1, 2014 at 7:10 am
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      Good or even great movies?! Was that poll taken from Star Wars fans, or the general movie going audience? Do you honestly think a non Star Wars fan would have considered the PT as great movies, or would they say something along the lines of “It’s pretty much what I expected”.

      I could write an entire essay on why they are bad films, but just to make the point stick, the only two Star Wars films in the AFI top 100 are ANH, and ESB.

    • August 1, 2014 at 11:42 am
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      Than why is Disney clearly marketing these new movies as sequels to the OT and downplaying the connection to the Pt. Disney dosnt want to make money? No that can’t be it. The young fans that grew up with the Pt that you claim loved those movies are now part the most coveted demographic that movies like these target. Obviously Disney knows how to make money. And obviously they know that the best way to make that money is to sell the connection to the OT that virtually everyone loved and downplay the connection to the Pt which are universally regarded as a major disappointment. Outside your small cocoon the Pt are an embarrassment

    • August 1, 2014 at 7:49 pm
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      We keep seeing this argument that the “majority” loves the PT films with vague references to some poll or other survey without any direct link or citation to that source. I suspect these “polls” or reviews (or whatever they may be) are simply a voluntary participation thing where the “vocal minority” (PT fans) go on to support their irrational love for these objectively poor films. In any event, of the millions and millions of people who saw the films, this particular “poll” only had 54827 respondents (40204 pro-PT + 14623 anti-PT). What about the opinions of the millions of others whop saw the PT?

      Please, lets quit pretending that the “majority” loves the PT.

      And in case you are wondering, I fall in the category of someone who grew up with the OT seeing ANH when I was 7 years old, was thrilled when it was announced the PT would be made, generally enjoyed seeing new Star Wars material and tried to like them (but felt something was off), and then after re-watching them again and again was able to discern all of the weaknesses that made them poor films.)

      • August 2, 2014 at 2:45 am
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        You do realize that a poll consisting of thousands of people, with a nearly three-to-one ratio of likes-to-dislikes, is considered a really good indicator of what masses of people thought of a movie, right? Polls that run on the scientific method often rely on using a sample group to indicate what the majority seems to think, if only because asking every single individual that experienced something would take an absurd amount of time.

        • August 2, 2014 at 8:48 am
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          Than depends on how diverse a group is polled. A few thousand people who have logged on to a website that focuses on Star Wars are likely to give very different answers than random people on the street.

  • August 1, 2014 at 2:38 am
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    Who gives these PT haters to write articles?

    In the future articles should write somebody objective not subjective.

    Echo-07 is bashing PT in every article that he writes. It is boring…

    • August 1, 2014 at 11:43 am
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      No, he is not and he never said that. Actually we already have a thread on the new forum “Do you like the prequels?” and Echo was first from the crew to express his opinion. I will even quote him for you:
      “YES, I absolutely love them…”
      In 10 days when the forum is live you can see his comment for yourself. 🙂

      • August 1, 2014 at 8:13 pm
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        Yes, lets stop bashing the so-called “PT bashers.” I get more tired of seeing the “Waaa, stop the PT bashing” posts than any others (even more than the sexism arguments). Just because people do not like the PT does not mean we should silence those opinions.

    • August 2, 2014 at 8:53 am
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      By “objective” you mean someone who agreed with you right?

  • August 1, 2014 at 2:43 am
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    Who cares for Boba Fett….
    Boba Fett movie would be huge flop…

  • August 1, 2014 at 10:24 am
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    Echo7 you say there we have it.
    That Jango is not a Mandalorian.
    I maybe very mistaken by my own memory.
    However did Jango not say in ATOC something to the effect of, The Jedi killed my people.
    Or something about his people being gone at the hands of the Jedi.
    If that is true, who were these people and who is he of?
    If Lucasfilm authorized, A Mandalorian background in one form or another, such as gaming back stories and in novels etc. Then I’m only left with what I got from lucadfilm which is that Jango is a Mandalorian warrior and his descendent is a Mandalorian warrior and the clones were the New Mandalorian Warriors with a new title Clone Army.
    Please someone straighten me out on Whether or not Jango stated something about his people in ATOC.

    • August 3, 2014 at 7:13 am
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      Latest of the New EU on Boba Fett reads a description about his character on the back of Officially licensed merchandising from hasbro with New Rebels logo stating Boba is from Kamino. And that his equipment is Mandalorian and inherited from his father.
      So Jango to me would be of a Mandalorian background, but being the article said it is not Canocally Official via the movie.
      Jango is the real mystery man, not Boba, we know where he is from and where he ended up.
      Jango and Boba are Mandalorians as far as I’m concerned and the Mandalorians of the Clone wars are just not it. I hope the the new movies do not rely on movie fans to of watched the cartoon of the Clone Wars to get the new movies. Lucas placed to many go read the book characters in the PT such as Sifo Dyas appearing to be set ups for the next film. Which never really go anywhere.

  • August 1, 2014 at 10:28 pm
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    Boba fett is awesome but with nothing decent being made since Rotj (other than the ex EU) it is very likely that they will destroy it. The only way to salvage boba is that the boba we see in the ot isn’t the boba in the pt. I.e. master mereel kills boba and take his identity.

  • August 1, 2014 at 10:45 pm
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    What? They aren’t going to do that. What a complete waste of time to introduce Boba as a child and adolescent in the PT and TCW.

    One of my favorite lines from Boba in the now defunct EU was “I’ve got one of those faces that used to look familiar to everyone.”

    If done right, a Fett movie could be incredible. And I think we know this, in the OT, the PT, TCW and now Rebels, there is always Mandalorians (or at least someone in the armor). I’ll be shocked if the ST doesn’t include one as well.

  • August 1, 2014 at 11:55 pm
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    35 years of starwars and the best Disney can come up with is more diluting and rehashing of old characters? LAME.

    • August 2, 2014 at 3:36 am
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      Just so you know Disney is not making this film, Lucasfilm is! Kathleen Kennedy who hires people, who all have experience in the franchise, most of Disneys top design folks worked for Lucas at one time, for example Ian Mcaig. Before you holler Disney please list them by name other than Iger or Walt for that matter. Star Wars was an attempt by George Lucas to do a Disney movie, Spielberg has said the same with ET, his attempt at a Disney movie.
      Star Wars is a ripped off amped up version of the Witch Mountain series. Twins brother and sister telepathical space aliens that fight forces of evil Man in black Christopher Lee.
      Not to mention Wizard of Oz often thought to be originally a Disney movie. So Star Wars not only looked at for being Disney like for years, is now Disney for as long as you live.
      Boba Fett statues sell better than Ashoka ones do!

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