When The Mandalorian dropped its 14th episode on fans, titled "The Tragedy," the Star Wars series gave fans something we've been waiting decades for: Boba Fett whooping all kinds of ass. What's more, the series brought in franchise vet Temuera Morrison to take on the role after previously playing the bounty hunter's father, as it were. Amusingly enough, not even Morrison was aware that Boba Fett was in the cards whenever he first started talking to Jon Favreau & Co. about joining The Mandalorian Season 2.
While speaking with StarWars.com about the secretive circumstances behind his celebrated return for The Mandalorian, Temuera Morrison explained the circumstances behind the discovery that he'd be playing Boba Fett for TV. Back in August 2019, the actor went to meet with Jon Favreau and Star Wars storytelling king Dave Filoni, and here's what he said about it:
I went to have a meeting at their office, and I was put in a room to wait. I got there quite early because I was excited, I didn’t want to be late. While I was waiting, I was looking at some of the conceptual drawings on the wall, and I suddenly saw an image of a guy that looked like me. I said, ‘Jeez, I’m sure that’s me there.’ But I didn’t want to get too excited.
Sure enough, when Favreau and Filoni arrived for the meeting (presumably in a less early manner), they confirmed that they were hoping for Temuera Morrison to take on the role of his previous character Jango Fett's cloned offspring. And to be expected, Morrison was not mad about it at all. It probably helped that the actor didn't drastically change his look in the past 18 years since Attack of the Clones was released, too.
Even though Boba Fett's existence in the Star Wars franchise has been extremely minimal over the years, the character's fanbase has only grown in number, so watching his live-action return in The Mandalorian was pretty cathartic for many. And it was quite a good time for Temuera Morrison as well, especially once Boba Fett's iconic armor entered into it.
There were moments when I put the armor on and I was looking at Dave and Jon, and the expression on their faces just said it all. It felt good. It felt right. It felt like, ‘Yes, I should be wearing this costume.’ And it gave me this sense of, ‘I’m back.’
Back and better than ever, many would say. And fans will likely see Boba Fett returning to The Mandalorian very soon, since the character pledged to keep his word to join Ming-Na Wen's Fennec in serving as protection for Baby Yoda until he connects with the Jedi who will train him anew, though that process was thwarted when li'l Grogu was kidnapped by Moff Gideon and his Dark Troopers. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we'll find out how Boba Fett is still alive after all this time, but maybe somewhere down the line.
The Mandalorian airs Fridays on Disney+ at 3:01 a.m. ET. While waiting for new episodes, head to our Fall 2020 TV premiere schedule and our Winter and Spring 2021 TV guide to see what new and returning shows are hitting the small screen soon.
