Warning: the following contains SPOILERS for The Book of Boba Fett.
The Book of Boba Fett divided viewers, but Star Wars fans should've expected a different take on the bounty hunter from the start. Disney+ set out to give Star Wars fans a show covering Boba Fett's (Temuera Morrison) past and present. Flashback scenes reveal how the bounty hunter survived an embarrassing fall into the Sarlacc pit in Return of the Jedi (1983). Following his escape, Boba Fett eventually joined up with the Tusken Raiders and learned the ways of the Tatooine people. In the present, the former bounty hunter attempted to take over Jabba the Hutt's place as the crime lord on Tatooine, killing Bib Fortuna (Matthew Wood) to secure the position for himself. And Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) is right there by his side.
The fan response wasn't great for The Book of Boba Fett. The series includes several flashbacks, which ultimately slow the story down in long, dialogue-less scenes with the Tusken Raiders. Additionally, Boba Fett doesn't resemble the character fans first fell in love with in The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Though viewers latched onto Boba Fett because of his mystery and iconic look, The Book of Boba Fett presents a reformed bounty hunter. And the new image doesn't quite fit with fan expectations.
Fans shouldn't have been surprised by the new version of Boba Fett. Disney made it clear from the start that the series was moving on from the old Boba Fett. As shown in his critically praised appearances in The Mandalorian, Temuera Morrison portrayed an updated version of the character. The series' description makes that abundantly clear. On Disney+, The Book of Boba Fett summary explains that the former bounty hunter is "no longer a hired gun" and "reinvents" himself on Tatooine. So from the start, the series set out to leave Boba Fett's past in the past.
In many ways, The Book of Boba Fett was always falling short of expectations. After all, Boba Fett has been a part of Star Wars for more than four decades, and fans have clamored for the bounty hunter's solo project multiple times over the years. Some projects, such as a film with director Josh Trank, even supposedly came close to happening. But these solo projects would've all had the same hurdles. The problem with a Boba Fett solo series is that fans latched onto the character for his look and mystery, but a show about the bounty hunter would have to demystify him. The series description shows that The Book of Boba Fett always wanted Boba Fett to move on from his past and reinvent himself. Though critics of the series often point out how Boba Fett is constantly helmet-less, all Boba Fett projects would have to show what's behind the mask.
However, The Book of Boba Fett criticisms are still valid. Since fans liked Boba Fett's mystery and iconic look, the series should've leaned into it at least a little bit. It's good that the show wanted to strip down Boba Fett's character and reveal what's beneath the mask, but The Book of Boba Fett episode 3 even had the character getting thrown around in his underwear. The series literally went too far in stripping him down. Plus, Star Wars reinvents the character from the beginning of the series, seemingly making him overly willing to leave his past behind him. From the start, it was clear that The Book of Boba Fett wasn't really about the Boba Fett fans thought they knew. That character really did die in the Sarlacc pit.
