Nipples & Bacta Tanks: Why the Book of Boba Fett Failed

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

copyright Owen Quinn

It was a time when every kid on the planet created brand new Star Wars in their imaginations. If reality is powered by dreams and wishes of the young then it was changed forever in the years when the original Star Wars rocked the world.

When I was a kid all we had were the original Star Wars movies and the Holiday Special. Everybody wished that George Lucas would make more Star Wars to feed our collective hunger but it never happened. Rumours persisted of new movies and a live action series but again to no avail.

Then the prequels happened and the Phantom Menace kicked us collectively hard in the balls. Our own adventures were our most treasured Star Wars moments while we were reminded of that old saying ‘be careful what you wish for’.

But the final three movies were to be made by Disney rather than George which is a whole other series of articles. When that deal was signed we knew that we were about to get swamped by a deluge of Star Wars. To be honest it is an easy money maker for Disney and every last inch of the universe is examined and prepped for a live action or animated treatment.

But for every Mandalorian there is a Book of Boba Fett.

It is also a sad indication of how little Disney does not really understand Star Wars. While The Mandalorian really took off in its second season, all the executives saw was those Mando helmets. They greenlit a show that couldn’t possibly fail because fans would lap it up and success would be assured.

Well, somebody miscalculated…very badly.

The Book of Boba Fett should have been the definitive bounty hunter show that cemented the legend of Boba Fett in fan’s memories and the genre for eternity. It wasn’t so why did it fail so badly?

The main reason is because Disney does not understand the character at all.

Boba Fett first appeared in cartoon form in the Holiday Special encountering Luke and the droids. Immediately fans sat up like the ears of a dog, fascinated by this new mysterious character who never took his helmet off. George was being clever because Fett was going to feature heavily in The Empire Strikes Back. We all know he wanted Han to collect Jabba’s bounty and nothing was going to stop him. His armour was so distinctive that they knew there was something special about this new character just from look alone.

His distinctive ship, Slave 1, became a top selling toy and everyone wanted the Boba figure. He was part of a major Kenner promo where you got him through the mail so it was Boba hype was at fever pitch.

He had 5 lines in total consisting of 27 words with screen time of 6 minutes and 32 seconds in Empire. 13 seconds of that were shots of Slave 1.

It is minimal but the effect was immediate. Everyone wanted to know who this character was and what lay under the helmet. While the prequels answered this to a degree, back in Empire’s days George cleverly kept all this to a minimum to stir the fervour. This is a great way to keep the audience’s interest and letting their own imaginations fill in the gaps. Such was that thirst for Fett that George Lucas got a huge kickback to how he killed Fett off in Return of the Jedi. The jaws of the Sarlacc were not for the likes of him so fan fiction reversed that death.

To them, Fett simply used his jet pack to escape being digested and returned to his life. Rumours of one’s death greatly benefit the life and profits of a bounty hunter.  

Indeed the Star Wars comic gave him the same get out clause to the joy of fans everywhere.

Yet, they still knew little to nothing about Boba Fett’s identity or background.

The mistake Disney made was the same one that Rob Zombie’s Halloween movies did with the character of Michael Meyers. We don’t need to know why a person is evil. Most times there is no reason; they are simply born with that darkness that will manifest with age. So Michael Meyers turns out the way he does due to his alcoholic abused childhood. That train of thought is so lazy and insulting to any child in that situation in real life. It just goes to show how insular and ignorant studio thinking can be.

Similarly we know Boba Fett as a child and see how he ended up as a bounty hunter given his father’s death at the hands of the Jedi. But everything after that is a blank. We still know nothing about him between being alone in the universe to becoming the most feared bounty hunter who dares speak back to Darth Vader.

Now the Star Wars database and publications have filled a lot of this in but in relation to canon, we can only go by what is played out on the big screen and television show.

We know because of the prequel what Boba Fett looks like because he is a clone of Jango Fett but isn’t it better to keep the helmet on like a Mandalorian is supposed to so we don’t get to see that confirmed?

The Mandalorian has removed his helmet on occasion but is struggling to redeem himself for that.

The first misstep from Disney was not including the jet pack escape from the Sarlacc like the comic. Instead we get a boring climbing out of the sand scene, What a great dramatic shot lost of his injured body smashing from the belly of the beast which would have made fans cheer. Disney is good at wish lists yet screwed this one up. They were probably in negotiation with getting Liam Neeson back for one minute of screen time in Kenobi.

Secondly, when he returns to our screens in The Mandalorian to retrieve his armour, we see his face. For me, through a sense of duty and honour to his father, Fett would have maintained some sort of covering to his face. How dramatic and cool would it be that his face is covered when he demands his armour and in the following shot we have Fett restored in full armour without getting a glimpse of his face at all?

Remember the shot of Vader in his chamber and the glimpse of the back of his scarred helmet just as his helmet goes on?

With some clever directing the same could have been achieved with the bacta tank scenes but sadly we get full visuals of everything including Fett nipples. I’m sure George never wanted that shot. There is no mystery any more as you literally see Fett naked to the viewer wearing only white pants, a far cry from the original intention of revealing as little as possible.

Outside of the storytelling itself, including the dreary Fett becomes a Tusken Raider idol aka Kung Fu master, the Fett we saw wants Jabba’s territory so promptly kills a bloated Bib Fortuna and takes the throne. It is a dramatic shot that promises so much and delivers nothing.

It can be argued that his method of taking over by being merciful is actually the tact of a master strategist who has no problem killing someone as quickly as he extends a morsel of mercy. That would be classic Fett but this version is so diluted; only the armour reminds you who he is.

The full impact of how they have messed up the character, as well as his solo platform, is seen as soon as the Mandalorian appears. He is the best part of The Book of Boba Fett, affectionately known as The Mandalorian Season 2.5. Immediately the screen is lit up by Mando and Boba Fett doesn’t even appear in his own show. If they were trying to be clever then it backfired dreadfully sealing the coffin of Boba Fett series two.

This reminds me of Jodi Whittaker’s final Doctor Who story, Power of the Doctor. This should have been her chance to shine in an epic send off. Instead they brought in five other Doctors; two of which stole the limelight with their respective companions, Ace and Tegan.

Fett has a tendency to talk a lot here which even actor Temuera Morrison had issues with. He tried to get the writers to give actress Ming-Na Wen, Fennec Shand, some of his lines to maintain the Boba Fett air. Sadly this was not to be but it speaks volumes when the main character is suggesting this.

The Book of Boba Fett should have been amazing but instead was diluted to a piss poor version of someone that was not the bounty hunter fans know and love. Like the Thomas Jane Punisher movie, it wasn’t really The Punisher, more ‘the avenger’ because he sought revenge on those that murdered his family. The Punisher only deals with those who have done wrong. The Wrong Turn remake was named incorrectly; there wasn’t a mad inbred cannibal in sight; just a bunch of isolationists.

Equally The Book of Boba Fett was about someone we don’t even recognise. Shame on whoever made this creative decision.

On one last note, the ship is called Slave 1, not Boba Fett’s ship as the merchandising is trying to sell it as. The Mandalorian is a blank slate where anything can be written but Disney need to embrace the established and build on that rather than what they think should be done. You did it with Luke Skywalker so you need to think along those lines going forward.

Disney took a great product and messed it up big time. Let’s hope they have learned a lesson.