Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Book of Boba Fett episode 1.
Disney+‘s Star Wars TV show The Book of Boba Fett puts the legendary bounty hunter in the spotlight, but just how old is Boba Fett? Properly introduced in The Empire Strikes Back after an initial appearance in the much-maligned Star Wars Holiday Special, the Skywalker saga and its spin-offs have charted Boba Fett’s life from childhood to apparent death and surprising return. As the ice cold bounty hunter of the original trilogy, Fett is faceless and ageless; the prequels lifted off the Mandalorian helmet to show the more vulnerable child beneath, and Disney+‘s Star Wars shows follow an older, somewhat wiser version of the character.
How old Boba Fett is takes on greater curiosity because he is, of course, a clone. The Republic’s clone troopers were based on Jango Fett, Boba’s father, and given accelerated aging, allowing them to grow quicker, mature faster, and more readily become good soldiers. Boba, however, is one of the only clones who is a perfect genetic match for Jango; an unaltered clone, it’s allowed him to age normally throughout the Star Wars saga.
Boba Fett may not have accelerated aging - if he did, it’s unlikely he’d have his own post-Return of the Jedi show - but he’s still been through a lot: the death of his father, years spent hunting bounties, and near-death inside a Sarlacc don’t truly make him older, but they have aged him. Here’s how old Boba Fett is across Star Wars canon, up to The Book of Boba Fett.
How Old Boba Fett Is In Attack Of The Clones
Chronologically speaking, viewers first meet Boba Fett in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones as the young child of Jango Fett. The clones were created shortly after the Battle of Naboo, some 32-years before the Battle of Yavin, under the guise of protecting the Republic. Attack of the Clones takes place in 22BBY, meaning Boba Fett is 10-years-old in Episode II.
How Old Boba Fett Is In The Empire Strikes Back & Return Of The Jedi
The Empire Strikes Back takes place around three years after the Battle of Yavin in the first Star Wars movie, with Return of the Jedi then set a year later. It’s these films that have viewers a tease of what Boba Fett was capable of - Darth Vader’s “no disintegrations” line and how the bounty hunter talks to the Sith Lord are major reasons for his mystique and popularity - and give him an ignominious ending. That means the character was near his prime when he was cut down: Boba Fett was 35-years-old in The Empire Strikes Back, and 36 in Return Of The Jedi.
How Old Boba Fett Is In The Mandalorian & The Book Of Boba Fett
Boba Fett may have been left for dead on Tatooine, but he didn’t stay that way. With the help of some Tusken Raiders, he worked his way back to health, allowing for his grand return in The Mandalorian season 2. That show takes place around five-years after Return Of The Jedi, and since his solo spin-off builds on it quite closely it presumably occupies a similar place in the Star Wars timeline. That would make Boba Fett 41-42-years-old in The Book of Boba Fett’s “present day” storyline, though the dream sequences are much earlier. Showing Fett’s escape from the Sarlacc, these scenes likely pick up a few days after Return of the Jedi, so he’s still around 36 there. Temuera Morrison is 61-years-old, so is playing much younger, but just ask Obi-Wan Kenobi about how much the twin suns of Tatooine age a person.
The Book of Boba Fett releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.