Summary
ThoughStar Wars: The Last Jediwas undoubtedly the franchise’s most contentious production,The Book of Boba Fettwas unfortunatelyStar Wars’ worst mistake.The Last Jedifamously divided the fan base – while some appreciated Rian Johnson’s deviation fromStar Wars’usual narrative themes, others felt the film disrespected the legacies of characters like Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker. Nevertheless, the movie earned well over $1 billion at the global box office, paving the way for an equally divisive final installment of the sequel trilogy,Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Though both those movies arguably led to a long theatrical hiatus for the franchise, one which will only end in 2026, theTV side ofStar Warswas thankfully flourishing – except for one show. ThoughThe Mandalorian,Disney+’s first flagshipStar Warsseries, had proven to be a hit, its first official spinoff,The Book of Boba Fett,ended up being anything but. While Boba Fett’s solo return had its merits – hisalliance with the Tusken Raiderswas especially compelling –the series suffered from being so closely connected toThe Mandalorianand stalled the character’s progression indefinitely.
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The Book Of Boba Fett Destroyed The Main Character’s Appeal
Temuera Morrison’s return asBoba Fett inThe Mandalorianseason 2was an incredibly welcome surprise. This version of Fett, who had clearly been through hell and back, was stoic, strong, skilled, thoughtful, and wise. All in all, he was a much more compelling and complex character thanThe Empire Strikes BackandReturn of the Jedihad ever been able to depict. None of those new traits took away from the commanding presence that had made him so popular and appealing in the first place, either. WhenThe Mandalorianseason 2 teased Boba Fett’s solo series, audiences were understandably optimistic.
Boba Fett deserved to be the star of his own show, but he and his most important supporting companion were undeservedly sidelined in favor of other characters and uninspiring storylines.
Sadly, that optimism didn’t last long.The Book of Boba Fetttried to do too much and somehow managed not to do enough as well.Switching between timelines, having Boba Fett take over as Mos Espa’s Kingpin, introducing several Legends and other obscureStar Warscharacters, and most importantly, forcingThe Mandalorianinto the storyline created a muddled show that didn’t do its titular character justice. Boba Fett deserved to be the star of his own show, but he and his most important supporting companion were undeservedly sidelined in favor of other characters and uninspiring storylines.
Boba Fett’s New Status Quo Just Isn’t Appealing
What initially made the character so appealing was his mystique and intensity. When audiences learned more about a young Boba Fett throughStar Wars: The Clone Wars, it became clear that Fett wasn’t a character who could ever truly settle down, spending all his time in one place. Boba Fett isn’t a natural protector. That’s not to say that his wanting to do good after what the Tuskens did for him is necessarily bad writing, but having him stay put on Tatooine, being stuck in one place untilThe Mandalorianfranchise deems him necessary again, just isn’t all that alluring.
Additionally,Boba Fett’s showdown with Cad Banedeserved more attention, too – at the very least, more backstory was needed. Viewers who hadn’t seenThe Clone Warsand were only watching Boba Fett because ofThe Mandalorianwould have been understandably confused by their rivalry, and while their fight was visually interesting, and Boba Fett’s rage finally made its way to the surface, it didn’t feel like the ending either of these characters deserved.
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Boba Fett should be on the move, making his presence known throughout the galaxy. He’s not a crime lord, he’s a bounty hunter. He should be a shadow, hard to find and hard to die down.Instead, he’s been relegated to the sidelines because another Mandalorian galaxy-hopping bounty hunter had already stepped up to take his place.
The Book Of Boba Fett Devolved Into The Mandalorian Season 2.5
The biggest problem withThe Book of Boba Fettwas and still is its innate connection toThe Mandalorian. Though the character’s re-introduction inThe Mandalorianseason 2 was a rousing success,Boba Fett is now stuck withinThe Mandalorian’s shadow forever.Star Warsclearly believes that he cannot exist without being in Din Djarin’s orbit, as proven whenThe Book of Boba Fettsomehow, within only seven episodes, becameThe Mandalorianseason 2.5.
Star Warsmay be trying to build a more interconnected universe on Disney+, but it shouldn’t happen at the expense of the characters and their individual stories.
Dedicating two entire episodes of Boba Fett’s show toThe Mandalorian’s storylines was, to put it bluntly, a failure.The Mandalorian’s writers had separated its two most important characters at the end of season 2, and instead of using that separation to nurture some individual character development inThe Mandalorianseason 3, they sawThe Book of Boba Fettas an opportunity to reunite them as quickly as they had been torn apart.Having Din Djarin support Boba during his final standoff in Mos Espa wasn’t enough to justify his or Grogu’s overwhelming presence on the show.
What made this even worse was that, arguably, the episodes focused on Din Djarin, the Darksaber, and Grogu’s Jedi training with Luke Skywalker were more cohesive than the rest of the show overall. In all honesty, what happened to these characters inThe Book of Boba Fettwasn’t fair to any of them, including Din Djarin and Grogu. Some of their biggest moments happened in a show that wasn’t theirs, either.Star Warsmay be trying to build a more interconnected universe on Disney+, but it shouldn’t happen at the expense of the characters and their individual stories.
The Book Of Boba Fett Missed One Massively Important Star Wars Story
Perhaps even more confusing than the choice to include Din Djarin, Grogu, Luke Skywalker, and even Ahsoka Tano inThe Book of Boba Fettso prominently was the choice to skip over what is arguably one ofStar Wars’ most important character meetings.For some reason,The Book of Boba Fettdecided that it made more sense to join Luke and Ahsoka in a scene long after their first meeting, rather than witnessing such an important emotional moment.
Ahsoka’s cryptic and oddly placed reference to Luke’s father, her former Master, in which she tells Luke that he’s“so like [his] father,”isn’t enough to justify that choice. Next to Padmé Amidala and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka was one of the most important people in Anakin Skywalker’s life. She knew him better than almost anyone – Kenobi had certainly never shared much about Anakin with Luke. How did that affect him? How did that affect her? How did she react when she discovered Anakin had children before he fell to the dark side?
To learn more about Ahsoka Tano’s time as Anakin Skywalker’s Jedi Padawan, be sure to watch the animatedStar Wars: The Clone Warsmovie and TV show (2008).
On the whole,The Book of Boba Fettis a perfect example of how interconnected storytelling can actually be detrimental to the characters involved.Storylines get glossed over, some characters are ignored in favor of others, and important, emotional moments that would have resonated with almost every audience member are forgotten, unlikely to ever actually be put on film. It’s a shame.The Book of Boba Fetthad genuine potential and the chance to give one ofStar Wars’most iconic yet undeveloped characters the chance to shine, but unfortunately, it squandered that chance.
All episodes ofThe Book of Boba Fettare available exclusively on Disney+.
The Book of Boba Fett
Cast
After pulling himself out of the Sarlaac pit, Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) is kidnapped by the Tusken Raiders. But after gaining their trust, Boba is able to return to Tatooine and claim Jabba the Hutt’s throne with the help of Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen). The Book of Boba Fet also directly led into The Mandalorian season 3, which premiered in March 2023.
