Lucasfilm Vice President Doug Chiang explains how Boba Fett's armor influenced Star Wars: Attack of the Clones' Clone Trooper design. The Clone Troopers were introduced as predecessors to the original Star Wars trilogy's Imperial Stormtroopers. Chiang currently serves as Vice President and Executive Creative Director of Lucasfilm, having first worked on the Star Wars franchise in 1995.

Developed as part of Palpatine's (Ian McDiarmid) plot to eradicate the Jedi Order and reorganize the Galactic Republic as he saw fit, the Clone Troopers were introduced in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. Created by the cloners of Kamino, the Clone Army was developed from the genetic template of the bounty hunter Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison), who would also request his own unaltered clone that he would raise as his son, Boba (Portrayed by Daniel Logan in Attack of the Clones). While Attack of the Clones' ending would be a foreboding moment for the Jedi, later media would flesh out the Clones as defined individual characters, endearing them to a generation of fans. In celebration of the film's anniversary, Chiang explained the origins of the Clone Trooper's armor.

Related: Star Wars: How Did The Republic Defend Itself Before The Clone Army?

During the Attack of the Clones 20th Anniversary panel at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2022 (Shared by the Disneyland Experience YouTube channel), Chiang explained how he developed the design for the Clone Troopers during the film's early production stages when asked by host and Ahsoka Tano voice actress Ashley Eckstein. Building upon George Lucas' idea of Jango being the template, Chiang combined elements of Boba's armor, such as the T visor, with the Stormtrooper armor, creating a clear line of evolution between each set of armor. Check out Chiang's response below.

"So I literally took Jango Fett and his armor, and basically kept the original design that original design that Joe Johnston and Ralph McQuarrie did, and then we'd start to blend it towards the classic Stormtrooper helmet that we saw in the original trilogy. And so, if you look at the Phase 1 trooper, you'll see that it has the T visor shape, but then we start to introduce that downward mouth for the troopers."

With white armored Phase 2 Clone Troopers appearing in Andor, Lucasfilm has continued to explore how the Clone Troopers would be replaced by the Imperial Stormtroopers by the time of the original trilogy. In The Bad Batch, fans witnessed cloning operations on Kamino being shut down by the newly formed Empire as part of Vice-Admiral Rampart's (Voiced by Noshir Dalal) Project War-Mantle, which would see human recruits trained to replace the Clone Army. Obi-Wan Kenobi would further show fans the sad fate of the Clone Troopers, as Ewan McGregor's exiled Jedi Master encounters a homeless 501st veteran (Played by Morrison) begging on the streets of Daiyu, cast aside by the Empire.

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones continues to have a great impact on the Star Wars franchise. Beyond inspiring the acclaimed The Clone Wars animated series that informs many of Lucasfilm's current projects, the film marked a turning point within the prequel trilogy itself that represented how the galaxy would devolve from the Republic into the fascist regime of the Galactic Empire, with glimpses of the clone army evoking Imperial imagery. Chiang's design not only helped illustrate a clear line of evolution, but its Boba Fett-inspired traits would solidify the character's place in galactic history.

Next: Bad Batch: What Happened To Clone Cadets After Order 66?

Source: Disneyland Experience

Key Release Dates