Boba Fett has long been one of the most iconic and controversial characters in Star Wars. Thanks to a killer character design that launched a thousand cosplays, Boba Fett has long outlived the importance of his role–and unceremonious apparent death–in the Original Trilogy. But as most Star Wars fans know, those films are rarely the be all and end all of a Star Wars character’s story.
The Legends continuity of Expanded Universe books and comics spent a lot of time exploring Boba Fett’s later adventures after Return of the Jedi, and while those stories are no longer canon, it’s clear that Disney has long wanted to follow suit on screen — originally with a live-action movie and now with The Mandalorian. But it seems the infamous bounty hunter’s return won’t just be contained to one popular Disney+ series.
Deadline reports that there may also be a Boba Fett spin-off series in the works for the streaming service. You might be wondering just what that might look like. Well, we have some theories.
How Did Boba Get Out of that Sarlacc Pit?
Ever since Boba Fett revealed himself in the final seconds of The Mandalorian‘s “The Passenger,” fans have been wondering just what he’s doing on the show. Played by Temuera Morrison, the actor who played Jango Fett and the clone troopers in the Prequel Trilogy, Boba Fett only appears briefly, watching from a cliff as Din Djarin and the Child zoom through the Tatooine desert, a permanent scowl on his scarred face.
It’s impossible to tell from this scene what exactly his motivations are at this point. We know The Mandalorian takes place five years after Boba Fett took a dive into the sarlacc pit, which probably means he’s been roaming the desert for quite a while since his escape. Why hasn’t he gotten his armor back after all of this time? And how did he escape the Great Pit of Carkoon in the first place? The Legends continuity endeavored to answer the latter question and it could possibly hint at the way Disney will approach the subject.
Boba Fett first escaped the sarlacc pit in the 1991 comic book event Dark Empire by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy. It’s revealed in the book that the bounty hunter’s armor protected him from the beast’s digestive system long enough for him to fight his way out. In the 1996 short story collection Tales From Jabba’s Palace, J.D. Montgomery penned a story about that very same escape. “A Barve Like That: The Tale of Boba Fett“ is a far-out story that reveals the bounty hunter was able to establish a telepathic connection with the sarlacc’s consciousness and use concussion grenades to blow up the monster’s insides. Then the 1998 novel The Mandalorian Armor by K.W. Jeter explored the direct aftermath of his escape, revealing that it was rival bounty hunter Dengar who found the half-dead Boba Fett in the desert and nursed him back to health.
In the past, Disney has canonized elements of the Legends continuity when they fit the modern timeline (see: Grand Admiral Thrawn), so it’s not too far-fetched to say we could see a version of the aforementioned stories at the start of a Boba Fett spin-off. For example, we’d love to see the show’s creative team adapt Montgomery’s completely unconventional take on the sarlacc escape. Imagine this as your pilot episode: the fierce bounty hunter suspended from the walls of the sarlacc’s intestines while in constant telepathic conversation with the creature that is currently digesting him. Sounds pretty cool, interestingly gross, and a big statement for a first episode. Plus, you’d finally get to see Boba Fett actually blow stuff up, something he didn’t have time to do in the movies that made him famous.
Mrs. Boba Fett & Boba Fett Jr.
Seeing as in the Original Trilogy he was a true loner who was only really connected to Han Solo, Jabba the Hutt, and Darth Vader, it seems like there aren’t many people left in the saga who’d even remember who Boba Fett was, let alone welcome him back. But if Legends is any indication, it’s possible Boba actually has a family to turn to.
Published in the Legends comic Star Wars Tales #7, the story “Outbid But Never Outgunned“ follows Boba on a mission. But when he comes across Kiffar bounty hunter Sintas Vel, a dual blaster-wielding badass that he simply calls “Sin,” the shape of the tale changes. In a big final act reveal, we learn that the pair were once romantically involved and even had a child together.
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There’s no reason Boba’s family couldn’t be reimagined for the new spin-off series. Maybe we could learn about a family Boba sired and loved after he escaped the pit? This would explain why the bounty hunter hasn’t left Tatooine after all of these years. Or this could be a story about the bounty hunter attempting to reconnect with his loved ones after his escape. There’s plenty to draw from in the stories that followed Tales #7, including one of my favorite tidbits–that Sintas was frozen in carbonite for almost 40 years and forgotten in the belongings of a space criminal. She was eventually saved by her granddaughter Mirta Gev decades after being imprisoned, so basically there are generations of incredible Fett women who could offer up a new perspective on this line of bounty hunters.
Could Fett be looking for his family in the spin-off series? Maybe that’s what has put him on the path of Din Djarin? Or could Din’s hunt for fellow Mandalorians lead him to Sintas Vel or perhaps her daughter with Boba, Ailyn? Introducing Boba’s daughter would be a really cool twist, and while it’s unlikely we’ll see the characters directly adapted, many current Star Wars characters are heavily inspired by their Legends counterparts. We only need to look at how similar Ben Solo is to Jacen Solo, Han and Leia’s son in the old continuity, to see how easily Disney could do the same with Boba’s story.
To the Sand or to the Stars?
The lone wolf nature of the bounty hunter life means that Boba’s story will likely pick up at least some of the Western and Samurai-inspired storytelling we’ve seen done so well in The Mandalorian. After all, these influences are especially connected to Boba’s origin: George Lucas based the anti-hero on Sergio Leone’s Man with No Name. But if we look at the Legends stories in which Boba featured heavily, there’s also another rather exciting stylistic route that the series could go.
Many of these Legends stories leaned into the sci-fi space operas–like Dune–that inspired the films. Space royalty, glittering intergalactic cities, intricate politics; basically that good pulpy science fantasy that would set the tone of a Boba show apart from The Mandalorian. With Mando already doing a great job at a Lone Wolf and Cub-inspired Samurai Western, maybe Boba Fett will be featured in more of a pure sci-fi adventure filled with nefarious alien princes, strange creatures, and exotic locales.
The other option is of course to focus on Boba’s career. The Mandalorian is very much a story about a reluctant hero and his beautiful adopted alien son going on a journey of self-discovery, which means there’s still space (heh heh) for a more procedural look at bounty hunting. Star Wars has a long tradition of playing with genre and tone, so it’s possible the spinoff will focus on the assassin/spy element of Boba’s character. A crime or target of the week would be a simple way to give fans the badass Boba Fett that they’ve always wanted to see on the screen.
Of course, I still dream of an animated Boba Fett series, leaning into the Moebius-inspired 2D aesthetic of his first appearance in the much maligned Star Wars Holiday Special. For now, though, whichever route the creative team takes, it’s clear fans are thirsty for a proper Boba-centric story, especially one that will stay in canon for the foreseeable future.
