He might've died via the galactic equivalent of slipping on a banana peel, but Boba Fett is still the coolest badass in Star Wars. After first appearing in animated form, Boba Fett made his Star Wars movie debut in 1980's The Empire Strikes Back as the most dangerous in a motley lineup of bounty hunters hired by Darth Vader to track down the Millennium Falcon. While he might've appeared sparingly in the original Star Wars trilogy, Boba Fett made a strong and immediate impression among fans, rapidly earning iconic status and becoming a symbol of the franchise, even among a casual, mainstream audience.

Boba Fett's unlikely rise to fame is already surprising because he was featured so sparsely in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Arguably, this lack of detail contributed to the character's aura of mystery, but how many other background characters with only a few lines of dialogue can claim to have made a similar impact? However, Boba Fett's enduring popularity 40 years down the line is even more impressive considering the less-than-dramatic "death" the bounty hunter suffered in Return of the Jedi's first act. In a moment of physical comedy Jar Jar Binks would be proud of, a blinded Han Solo accidentally knocks Boba Fett's jetpack, sending him flying into the side of Jabba's barge, after which he weakly slips into the mouth of giant desert orifice.

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It was hardly a death befitting of the galaxy's most feared bounty hunter, and a profoundly unspectacular end for a character audiences were hoping to see more of. Nevertheless, the prospect of Boba's return in The Mandalorian has sent a wave of excitement across the Star Wars universe, and the success of the Disney+ series itself can be attributed, at least in part, to the original bounty hunter's popularity. Despite suffering a death that would've been a joke among his fellow mercenaries for decades, here's why Boba Fett remains relevant, and unerringly cool, in modern Star Wars.

Boba Fett's Iconic Armor

Boba Fett looks menacingly at the viewer

The surge of popularity for a character with so little to do might've been unusual, but it certainly wasn't unique in the world of Star Wars. At the height of Star Wars fever, even the most minor character was blessed with a name, a backstory and an action figure, and many of these would be elaborated upon in what is now known as Star Wars Legends. Where Boba Fett differed was in his mainstream appeal. While a casual movie fan might mistake Bossk for the monster Captain Kirk fought in the desert, even those with only a passing interest in Star Wars would associate a picture of Boba Fett with the galaxy far, far away, and would likely even make a good fist of remembering his name.

This instant recognition all comes down to Boba Fett's striking, effortlessly cool visual design. Iconic in their own way, Stormtroopers looked intentionally regimental, clinical, alien. In contrast, Boba appeared with worn, beaten, camouflaged armor, closer to something from the real world than the Stormtroopers' clean white, or Darth Vader's foreboding black. Boba Fett's armor held hundreds of fascinating, untold stories, and bore weapons on the back and wrists, immediately enrapturing the imaginations of trigger-happy young viewers. Best of all was Boba Fett's helmet. Developed by George Lucas, Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnston, Boba Fett's helmet is an example of simplistic genius. Such is the brilliance of Boba Fett's helmet design, The Mandalorian was able to star a fascinating central character without removing his helmet for an entire 7 episodes.

Vader's Respect For Boba Fett Is Apparent

The Empire Strikes Back Storm Trooper Darth Vader Lando Calrissian Boba Fett

Because Boba Fett is utilized so sparingly in the Star Wars movies, it's tempting to assume everything about him a mystery, but this isn't quite true. The Empire Strikes Back certainly leaves more questions about Boba than it answers, but does provide information and backstory indirectly. A prime example comes during the bounty hunter's first appearance, receiving his instructions from Darth Vader along with the other mercenaries. During the scene, Vader makes a point of telling Boba Fett "no disintegrations" and while no further details are provided as to whom has been disintegrated and what they might've done to deserve it, this reveals a lot about Boba Fett as a character - his ruthlessness, his reputation, his violence. Star Wars may not have built-up Boba Fett at this stage, but the series had certainly established Darth Vader, and the idea that the Empire's Dark Lord would warn another character to tone down the bloodshed spoke volumes. And Vader was cool, therefore Boba Fett must be cool too.

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It would be far too big a stretch to claim Vader and Boba Fett were equals in The Empire Strikes Back - the bounty hunter bows to the Empire just like anyone else - but with the Sith lord so often working alone, it's interesting to see Boba at Vader's side during the scenes on Cloud City, almost fulfilling the role of a silent, deadly henchman for a brief time. At this point in the Star Wars tale, Darth Vader wasn't exactly known for his respect in the workplace, so his willingness to stand alongside Boba Fett says much about the new character, without actually saying anything.

Boba Fett Easily Outsmarted Han Solo

Princess Leia calling Han Solo a nerf herder in Star Wars Empire Strikes Back

Speaking of "cool" in the Star Wars universe, Han Solo is certainly a character who could give Boba Fett a run for his money, probably in less than 12 parsecs. Harrison Ford shot Greedo (despite evidence to the contrary), outfoxed Stormtroopers and talked his way around Jabba the Hutt. After flying the Millennium Falcon through an asteroid field and fighting in the Battle of Yavin, Solo had an aura of heroic invincibility around him. Then along came Boba Fett. The bounty hunter earned his payment by not only finding the Millennium Falcon, but also by helping arrange Lando Calrissian's betrayal, trapping Solo in carbonite, and shipping him off to Jabba the Hutt for a further pay day.

The Star Wars movies don't show many Boba Fett missions, but seeing the villain outwit the notoriously slippery Han Solo with relative ease immediately establishes Boba as a force to be reckoned with, giving viewers a taste of the storied reputation his interactions with Vader hinted at. Even better, so many secondary villains in Star Wars are bad at their jobs, from Stormtroopers who need to visit an optician, to the easily-destroyed Death Star (this was before Rogue One's explanation). Boba Fett was a breath of evil, fresh air by achieving exactly what he set out to do.

His Return Of The Jedi Death Is Less Embarrassing If He Didn't Actually Die

The Mandalorian Boba Fett

Star Wars Legends was quick to drag Boba Fett out of the Sarlacc pit, with the bounty hunter fighting his way free and being salvaged by ignorant Jawas on Tatooine. In Disney's current Star Wars canon, Boba's fate is less clear, and although his survival has been hinted at, no official material has yet confirmed whether the character lived. That looks set to change thanks to The Mandalorian. Boba's presence on the Disney+ series was hinted at in season 1, when a mysterious, largely unseen character approached the defeated Fennec Shand on Tatooine. Aside from the setting itself, another big clue that this enigmatic man was a Sarlacc-fresh Boba Fett came in the form of spur sounds, which famously followed the character in The Empire Strikes Back.

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Although The Mandalorian's first season didn't revisit this cliffhanger, Temuera Morrison has been announced for an appearance in season 2. Morrison portrayed Jango Fett, Boba's father, in the Star Wars prequels, and provided the basis for the Stormtrooper cloning operation, and while there are a few characters he might be playing upon his return, Boba is by far the most likely. Of course, if Boba wasn't actually killed by the Sarlacc, his Return of the Jedi appearance becomes immediately less embarrassing. Sure, being accidentally knocked into the pit will never be a highlight of his bounty hunting career, but if Boba Fett managed to somehow crawl out and survive, this helps restore the formidable reputation that a warrior might lose after being defeated by a recently-blinded man with a stick. Whether in Legends or Disney canon, Star Wars fans have never seriously entertained the idea that Boba Fett died in Return of the Jedi, and this helps protect his aura of cool in spite of a death scene even the accident-prone C-3PO would've been ashamed of.

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