Captain America: The First Avenger director Joe Johnston, who was also the Visual Effects Art Director on The Empire Strikes Back, recently detailed that he would have never revealed Boba Fett’s face in The Mandalorian and the upcoming The Book of Boba Fett series.
Johnston’s comments came during an interview with The New York Times about Boba Fett, where he recalled how Boba Fett’s iconic suit was originally envisioned to be a new super trooper armor.
However, the cost of the armor was going to be too expensive so Lucas decided to have one suit of armor and make the character a bounty hunter.
“George said we couldn’t afford an army of super-troopers, but we’ve got this new suit,” Johnston remembered. “He said, ‘Let’s make him a bounty hunter.’ OK, sounds cool.”
This backstory of Boba Fett isn’t new information. Johnston previously revealed the character’s inception in an interview with StarWars.com to celebrate The Empire Strikes Back’s 40th anniversary.
“George [Lucas] wanted a new trooper,” he recalled. “The original idea behind Boba Fett was that he was going to be an army of super troopers. There was going to be 40,000 of these guys.”
However, the cost for that many versions of the costume was too expensive and the idea of the super trooper army was set aside. But Lucas clearly repurposed the original suit.
Johnston explained, “The outfit came back from the UK [production office] and George said, ‘Instead of an army of super troopers, this is going to be a bounty hunter.'”
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As for who Boba Fett is Johnston also detailed, “He’s sort of a bad guy but he’s not on the Empire’s side and he’s not on the rebels’ side. He’s like a free agent, and he goes around the galaxy arresting people and bringing them back to justice or bringing them back to Jabba the Hutt or whoever.”
“He’s a mercenary. He’ll do anything for money, and his outfit, the way he looks, should reflect that,” Johnston added.
Johnston would echo those comments to The New York Times saying, “He was neither a hero nor a villain. You could hire Boba Fett to do whatever job you wanted him to do.”
The Jumanji director would also share his opinion that showing Fett’s face in The Mandalorian is something he never would have done. “I never would have shown his face,” said Johnston.
He elaborated, “I would never have had an actor underneath where he takes the helmet off and you see who it is. I think that eliminates a lot of the mystery. Before that helmet comes off, he can be anybody.”
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Boba Fett will take center stage in the upcoming The Book of Boba Fett series on Disney+ that will feature flashbacks as well as a continuing story.
Boba Fett actor Temura Morrison explained in an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, “Well, we can’t say too much, but we’re going to see his past and where he’s been since The Empire Strikes Back.”
He added, “What happened in those years between then and the end of Return of the Jedi. And then also seeing what would Boba Fett be like now.”
In a recent featurette for the show, Morrison also detailed, “With The Book of Boba Fett, we’re gonna find out where he’s been and about how he’s changing.”
Actress Ming-Na Wen, who plays the mercenary Fennec Shand also detailed the show “is more like a take on gangster movies” when comparing it to The Mandalorian.
The official synopsis for the series states, “The Book of Boba Fett,’ a thrilling Star Wars adventure teased in a surprise end-credit sequence following the Season 2 finale of ‘The Mandalorian,’ finds legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett and mercenary Fennec Shand navigating the galaxy’s underworld when they return to the sands of Tatooine to stake their claim on the territory once ruled by Jabba the Hutt and his crime syndicate.”
What do you make of Johnston’s opinion that Boba Fett should not have removed his helmet?
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