The Book of Boba Fett's creator defends the series' depiction of the iconic bounty hunter. Since his introduction in the infamous Star Wars: Holiday Special in 1978, Boba Fett has been an iconic character in the Star Wars franchise. Since the character met his demise in 1983's Return of the Jedi, audiences have been wanting to see Boba Fett return, and in 2020, Temuera Morrison returned to the Star Wars franchise to play Boba Fett in The Mandalorian season 2, thus continuing his story past Return of the Jedi.
The Mandalorian soon paved the way for The Book of Boba Fett, a seven-episode series focusing on the bounty hunter's efforts to take over Jabba the Hutt's former criminal empire. The show premiered on December 29, 2021 and gradually unspooled its story in the weeks that followed. The Book of Boba Fett received mixed reactions from critics and audiences, particularly in regards to its handling of Fett himself. The most controversial decision was to depict Boba Fett as a more heroic character, which was in sharp contrast to his position as one of the key villains in Star Wars' original trilogy.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, series producer Jon Favreau defends the choice to paint Boba Fett in a more heroic fashion. He describes the character in relation to the film series The Godfather, explaining how the various characters choose to run their criminal organization and how Boba Fett is similar to the character of Don Corleone. He also references how series co-producer Robert Rodriguez likened Boba Fett to Conan the Barbarian, a warrior who must transition to a king. Read the full quote below:
"You think about Don Corleone. There’s a tremendous amount of restraint because he knows that to be sustainable, there has to be [peace.] You don’t do well unless there’s some political balance, because if you keep going to the mattresses, nobody’s earning. You think about what things are off-limits. Don Corleone wasn’t just doing everything to line his pockets as he got later into his career. You look at De Niro, in the flashbacks in The Godfather: Part II, as he’s walking down the streets. He’s seen as somebody who’s actually creating, someone the people respect because of the way he conducts himself. There’s lots of different ways to run an empire. There’s the Sonny Corleone way, there’s the Michael Corleone way and then there’s the Vito Corleone way. We would talk to Robert about Conan. Conan starts off as a young warrior and then ages up through the books until he’s Conan the King. So, how is Boba the crime lord going to be different, knowing what he knows, than what he would’ve been when he was a younger man? I think he’s just wise. … He’s also a much older character because now we’re after the original trilogy. He’s at a different point of his life, having experienced what we had seen in all the previous films.”
Favreau, Rodriguez, and producer Dave Filoni's decisions on The Book of Boba Fett were certainly a controversial and mixed bag for many. The series was still dominating streaming charts after it ended. However, the conversation around The Book of Boba Fett was certainly less positive than The Mandalorian, with much discussion centered on the series' structural choices, the decision to dedicate two of the seven episodes to the Mandalorian, and the characterization of Boba Fett himself. The Book of Boba Fett is a part of an interconnected pocket of stories in the Star Wars franchise, which will continue in The Mandalorian season 3 and Ahsoka, so there is a chance Boba's story is still not over.
While audiences may have been disappointed with The Book of Boba Fett, it does appear that the creators are telling a story that pays respect to the character's wider arc across all media. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a young Boba Fett is beginning his career as a bounty hunter, and the series establishes him setting up his own gang, similar to how he takes over Jabba's criminal empire. During the reign of the Empire, Boba Fett was a ruthless bounty hunter as can be seen in the Star Wars comics published by Marvel. So ultimately, Lucasfilm has crafted a narrative arc where a young man tried to live up to his father, lost his way trying to survive by any means necessary during the galaxy's darkest time, and finally tried to change and be the person his father always wanted to be.
Source: Vanity Fair