Boba Fett's reintroduction to the Star Wars universe was met with universal excitement in The Mandalorian Season 2. The second season of Lucasfilm's flagship Star Wars show suffered from the weight of setting up countless spin-off shows. However, Boba Fett's appearance wasn't a hindrance.
In fact, it was fantastic to see one of Star Wars's legendary figures fight again. With The Mandalorian's Din Djarin now being the prime stoic, helmet-wearing bounty hunter, Fett needed to prove he wasn't just replaced. In The Mandalorian, he proved that with ease. However, things have changed.
The Book of Boba Fett dilutes the character
The Mandalorian finished with a brief post-credits scene announcing that we would be seeing more of Boba Fett. The short scene showed the ex-Bounty Hunter taking over the throne at Jabba’s Palace after killing Bib Fortuna.
This set up an intriguing scenario. Fett ruling the criminal underworld of Tatooine, one of the roughest places in the galaxy? Paired with the excellent Master Assassin Fennec Shand, the potential to make something great was more than apparent.
However, four episodes in and The Book of Boba Fett has fallen flat. It feels confused as it moves between past and present. The show appears unsure, confused. It can't decide if it wants to portray Fett as a hardened warrior or a bumbling fool.
In the past, he escapes the Sarlac, learns to fight with Tuscans, steals from a biker gang, destroys a Spice operation and steals back his ship. In the present, he spends most of his time confused about the criminal world he grew up working for.
Fett doesn't feel like the old character growing into something new. Instead, it feels like the character has been almost completely altered to make room for The Mandalorian, essentially a more successful version of what Fett was perceived as in the 80s. And the latest episode only exacerbates that.
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The Mandalorian is the hip new thing
Episode 5 of The Book of Boba Fett, appropriately titled “Return of The Mandalorian”, was, by far, the best episode of the series. Moving away from the messiness of Fett’s storyline, the episode instead focuses entirely on Din Djarin after the ending of The Mandalorian.
Without Grogu, Djarin is back to bounty hunting, this time equipped with The Darksaber. Compared to previous episodes, Return of The Mandalorian was hyper-focused. The episode showed interesting environments, amazing fight scenes, actual drama and a storyline worth caring about.
If anything, Return of The Mandalorian proved that Din Djarin is just cooler than Boba Fett now. It helps that most of the “cool attributes” of the character have been removed wholesale from Fett and pasted onto Mando.
Now, Mandalorian is the cool new show that everyone likes, and Boba is being phased out. And you know what? That's okay. Fett has been the cool, stoic bounty hunter for 40 years; passing on the torch is fine.