Although we met an adolescent Boba Fett in Attack of the Clones 16 years ago, it's been decades since we last saw his adult self wearing the Mandalorian armor and bounty hunting across the Star Wars universe. For years, a standalone Star Wars movie, just like Rogue One and Solo, has been in the works with Boba front and center, and earlier this year, it looked like that project was finally making some progress forward. However, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has revealed that Boba Fett's cinematic adventure has been scrapped. According to reporter Erick Weber:
So there you have it. Rather than go ahead and put Boba Fett in the silver screen spotlight, Kathleen Kennedy informed Erick Weber that Lucasfilm is instead focusing on The Mandalorian TV series, which will air on the Disney streaming service. Thus we reach the end of the Boba Fett movie's long, drawn-out journey.
With the exception of the 2008 animated Clone Wars movie that paved the way for the same-named TV series a couple months later, the Star Wars film series was composed of just the main saga, i.e. Episodes I-VI. Once Disney acquired the franchise, in addition to keeping that saga going, it also started developing one-and-done "Anthology" spinoffs. 2016's Rogue One followed the mission to steal the plans to the first Death Star right before A New Hope, and Solo explored how Han Solo got his start in the criminal underworld a decade before he met Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi at the Mos Eisley cantina.
As for the third spinoff, it was reportedly supposed to be a Boba Feet movie. Fantastic Four director Josh Trank was hired to helm the project, and Lucasfilm allegedly even had a teaser ready to show at the 2015 Star Wars Celebration to officially announce it. However, in My 2015, Trank left this Star Wars movie, publicly citing that he made the "personal decision to move forward on a different path," although there were reports that there were behind-the-scenes issues with Trank.
In any case, for several years there wasn't hardly any word on a Boba Fett movie, and once Billy Elliot's Stephen Daldry was reported in 2017 to be in negotiations to co-write and direct an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie, it seemed like that project stood a better chance of happening. But then came word this past May that Logan director James Mangold was hired to direct the Boba Fett movie, although he shot down these rumors a few months later.
Of course, the future of Star Wars spinoffs in general is currently in question following Solo commercially underperforming. Lucasfilm denied reports that new spinoffs have been put on hold, and there are "multiple" Star Wars movies in development that haven't been announced in addition to the new trilogy from Rian Johnson and the film series from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Still, that's already a packed slate, and when taken into account with James Mangold's comments, it didn't bode well for a Boba Fett movie.
Now we know that the final nail in the Boba Fett movie's coffin was The Mandalorian. Lucasfilm announced that a live action Star Wars TV series was in development nearly a year ago, but showrunner Jon Favreau revealed the premise at the beginning of the month. Set after the fall of the Empire and before the First Order's rise to power, The Mandalorian will follow a "lone gunfighter" in the outer reaches of the galaxy far, far away, where the New Republic doesn't have any authority.
Although Boba Fett and his father Jango wore Mandalorian armor, within the official Star Wars canon (in other words, forget about what you read/saw in the Legends continuity), those two aren't actually members of that warrior culture. But only the really hardcore Star Wars fans would know about that, so given how similar Boba and this unnamed protagonist of The Mandalorian seem, I can't blame Kathleen Kennedy and the folks at Lucasfilm for prioritizing the TV series over this movie that's been stuck in development hell.
So where does this leave Boba Fett overall in the Star Wars franchise? Well, let's not forget that officially speaking, Boba Fett is still considered dead, having ingloriously fallen into the Sarlacc Pit during Return of the Jedi. The first Aftermath novel hinted, through some Mandalorian armor that was being sold on Tatooine, that Boba might have somehow crawled out of the beast, but this has yet to be confirmed.
It's always possible that we could see Boba Fett again in a story set during the Original Trilogy era or even in the decades between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, but I can't help wondering that because his standalone movie is now kaput, Boba could appear in The Mandalorian. The fact that Lucasfilm has been so cagey about Boba's post-Return of the Jedi fate could indicate they've been waiting for the right opportunity to reintroduce him.
The Mandalorian would be a great opportunity to do that. Judging by the synopsis, there aren't too many "main" Star Wars characters who could fit seamlessly into the series, but Boba Fett definitely could. However he's brought in and whether he's an ally or enemy to the main protagonist, we could learn how he broke free from the Sarlacc and what he's been doing since the Empire was toppled.
Since The Mandalorian is being plugged as one of the Disney streaming service's flagship shows, you can bet that a lot of eyes would catch this grand return of Boba Fett. And needless to say including him would help establish closer ties between this series and the original Star Wars movies. So while nothing is certain yet, don't be surprised if Jon Favreau and the creative team find a way to bring Boba into The Mandalorian.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on what's happening with the Star Wars franchise. If you're curious about what movies are still in development, look through our handy guide. As for what non-Star Wars content is on the horizon, look through our 2018 and 2019 release schedules for that information.
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