Director Josh Trank may have exited the second of the so-called Star Wars anthology films (or he was forced out), but that doesn’t appear to have caused Lucasfilm to pump the brakes at all. Today brings news that the film will tell the origin story of fan-favorite bounty hunter Boba Fett.
According to The Wrap, their sources tell them that the plot does indeed revolve around the notorious villain, supporting one of the rumors that has been making the rounds for months. Since almost the moment these standalone movies were announced, Boba Fett has been one of names most mentioned in conjunction to them. Some thought it was just wishful thinking, but if this does in fact turn out to be true, and we’re talking about Star Wars, so who knows, this news will make a lot of people happy.
Boba Fett is most known as the intergalactic bounty hunter who tracks the Millennium Falcon to Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back, where Han Solo is captured and frozen in carbonite to be transported to the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt. And we all remember letting out a cheer when he falls into the Sarlacc pit in the next movie, Return of the Jedi. That’s what he gets for being a dick.
A Mandalorian by birth, Boba Fett was trained by his father, Jango Fett, who we first met in Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones, played by Temura Morrison (who was reportedly hired to play Boba Fett at one point). He travels around the galaxy, doing dirty deeds for the highest bidder, and as you can imagine, living such a life will lead to quite a few stories that could make for exciting movies. Aside from appearing in the films, the character also had a number of adventures in the Expanded Universe, and while Lucasfilm deemed all of that non-canon, it has been stated that those stories could be mined for content. It will be interesting to see if the story we see on screen resembles any that fans have heard before.
Aside from the fact that the second anthology film focuses on Boba Fett, and that it will be an origin story—which likely means we’ll hear casting news about a young Boba Fett eventually—there’s not much in the way of additional details right now. At the moment, you’d think the most pressing issue for the film would be finding a new director now that Josh Trank is gone. That’s not something they necessarily need to rush into, however, as the film isn’t set for release until 2018. They should be able to take their time and make sure they hire the right person for the job. Hell, Gareth Edwards’ Star Wars: Rogue One, the first of the anthology films—reportedly about the theft of the plans for the first Death Star—hasn’t even started shooting yet, so there is time make sure everyone is happy with the choice.
