A long time ago (2012) in a galaxy far, far away (Burbank, CA), The Walt Disney Company purchased Lucasfilm for a crap load of money, and announced a new Star Wars Trilogy starting with Episode VII in 2015. Since then, every rumor under both Tatooine suns has befallen Star Wars. In the words of the immortal George Taylor from Planet of the Apes – “It’s a mad house! A mad house!” But I’m actually not here to talk about Episode VII…
Aside from a new trilogy in the primary Star Wars saga, Disney also announced spin-off films would be taking place every other year. Yup. Starting in 2015, every year will bring some sort of Star Wars movie. When I first read that story, I absolutely hated it. Spin-off films!? Haven’t the good people at Disney ever heard the expression “Too much of a good thing?” Apparently not. But as the months have gone on, the idea of spin-off movies have been kind of growing on me. The most heavily rumored character expected to get the first of these in 2016 is fan favorite Boba Fett. I’ve got a lot to say on this, so let’s just kick the jet-pack into high gear and get right into it…
The Boba Fett History:
Who doesn’t like Boba Fett? He’s a mysterious bad ass bounty hunter with a jetpack! We are introduced to Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back, the second installment of the original trilogy (Episode V). Here’s what he does in that film:
–Outsmarts Han Solo
–Figures out Han Solo is headed to Cloud City and beats him there
–Doesn’t take shit from Darth Vader, and even talks back to him
Now that is a total and utter bad ass. No wonder this guy is a fan favorite. I never want to learn about this guy’s past. Leave it a mystery. HE’S SO FRICKING COOL! Uh-Oh…wait a minute. PREQUEL ALERT! PREQUEL ALERT!
Much like a lot of elements in the prequels, they completely ruined an awesome Star Wars legend for me. When it was announced that Boba Fett and his dad Jango Fett would be in Episode II: Attack of the Clones, I immediately buried my face into my hands. Really? What a load of crap. The film certainly does not disappoint in completely gutting the coolness out of that character. Instead of Boba Fett being a ruthless and cunning bounty hunter who you know nothing about, George Lucas does the following:
–Gets an awful kid actor to play him
–Makes the character a whiny little brat
–Clone
Thanks, George…really appreciate it.
It’s for this reason why I have absolutely no interest in seeing a Boba Fett spin-off. I don’t want to see a prequel about how this whiny little kid becomes the greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy. It will further ruin any appreciation I still have left for this character.
The Spin-Off Conundrum:
To be honest, I don’t want the spin-off films to delve into characters we already know. The other two heavily rumored characters for this treatment have been Han Solo and Yoda. Come on! I know everything I need to know about these characters. Don’t show me anything else. Do I really need to see Han Solo win the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian? NO! And with this franchise, I really want to move forward. The idea of more back stories and prequels should no longer be synonymous with this series.
If they are going to spin-off Boba Fett though (which seems inevitable at this point), I have a couple ideas on how it could work…
Boba Fett Spin-Off #1 — MOVE FORWARD:
As I mentioned before, I don’t want to see prequels – move forward with all things Star Wars. In regards to Boba Fett, that would mean he didn’t die in the Sarlacc Pit from Return of the Jedi. Now let’s just get this out of the way right now – I know in the Expanded Universe, he does in fact survive the Sarlacc Pit. I don’t want the Expanded Universe anywhere near this new Star Wars regime – it doesn’t count. So, if Boba Fett is to survive, please execute it differently from the Expanded Universe. In fact, it would be a lot cooler if it was never explained, and would be a great way in bringing the mystique back to the character, which is the main reason he worked in the first place.
Bottom-line – If we are diving into a Boba Fett story post-Return of the Jedi, it’s something I could get on board with, as the character would be further removed from that whiny little kid we saw in Attack of the Clones. The idea of not knowing his fate is also intriguing, which is one of the reasons I’m usually anti-prequel towards most film franchises.
Boba Fett Spin-Off #2 – Okay, if you were to do a prequel…
If Boba Fett is actually dead, and they told the story of how Fett came to be the most feared bounty hunter in the Galaxy, I could get on board with it if they did one thing — made it dark. This movie would have to be dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, super dark. If you’re going to make a film about the whiny little kid who plays dress up in daddy’s armor, then I need to see a story that is totally messed up and twisted, and basically needs to be directed by Darren Aronofsky. Only then will I buy into this guy as a bad ass again. I suppose you could make the argument that holding your dad’s sliced off head (still in the helmet) is pretty bleak, but it was presented in such a goofy way, I couldn’t take it seriously. You’ll also need to get a very talented actor to play Boba Fett, as I imagine we would see him without the mask a lot. If you did those things, I could maybe get on board with a Boba Fett prequel storyline.
Closing Thoughts…
If it’s Star Wars, I’ll most likely give it a chance. I understand the business side of it. Disney paid an exorbitant amount of money to get Lucasfilm, so you better believe they are going to exploit it in every way possible, and Boba Fett is a pretty good way of doing that. While I’m not totally enamored at seeing a Boba Fett movie because of Attack of the Clones, I suppose it is a good opportunity to redeem the character.
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