Among the growing slate of upcoming superhero films making headlines with rumors, speculation and other frustrating amounts of unverifiable and partly fake information, sits Star Wars: Episode VII and the 2015 relaunch of the saga. This time around however, there's more riding on a single episodic installment than ever before.

Star Wars 7 not only sets the stage for another trilogy, picking up where Return of the Jedi left fans 31 years ago, but is potentially launching two full trilogies, along with an unknown amount of spinoffs that'll ensure Lucasfilm and parent company Disney will have Star Wars in cinemas every year for the foreseeable future. At least one of those planned spinoffs is all about the fan-favorite bounty hunter known as Boba Fett. Sort of.

Let's take a step back from reports which have every recognizable name and face from TV and films meeting with director J.J. Abrams for a role in Star Wars 7, and from the creative differences between its writer Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) and the pair of people rewriting the script (J.J. Abrams and The Empire Strikes Back's Lawrence Kasdan). In a roundup of rumors (tired of these yet?) at LR, they have sources claiming that Kasdan is also working on the Boba Fett spinoff (which we heard before) and that his pitch involves a drastically changing the title character.

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Kasdan's (rumored) idea of a Boba Fett solo feature has the iconic character killed off quickly and another, new character taking the armor and weapons (and name) and suiting up. The screenwriter apparently isn't a fan of the clones story arc from the prequel trilogy and wants no Jango Fett (Boba's father) clones involved.

At first glance it seems like a way to simply milk the brand and recognizable character design for merchandising purposes. Why not create a new character in a standalone story? There are obvious business reasons as to why not and at least if this story is at all true then the Boba Fett spinoff will be straying away from the prequel ideas - and that's a good thing.

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The last part of the report claims that Joe Johnston (Captain America: The First Avenger, The Wolfman) is at the top of Disney's interest list for potential directors. No one is signed or in negotiations, nor do we know any other names on that list so take that for what you will.

Want to see a new Boba Fett or are you done with the Mandalorian armor? Where would such a film take place in the timeline?

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More: Rumored 'Star Wars 7' Cast Members & Plot Details

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Star Wars: Episode VII hits theaters December 18, 2015.

Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes.

Source: LR