Boba Fett will reportedly play a small role in The Mandalorian Season 2. His return presents reasons to be both excited and hesitant about his impact on the hit show.
As if intriguing Star Wars news wasn’t plentiful enough right now, Friday brought word that Temuera Morrison will play Boba Fett in the upcoming second season of The Mandalorian. According to The Hollywood Reporter it is a “small role”, yet bringing back someone like Morrison to play a character like Boba Fett is a very, very big deal.
While we don’t know how much Fett will factor into season 2, his arrival will certainly command center stage when it does happen. There are reasons to be both excited and hesitant about throwing Fett into the mix.
2 reasons for bringing Boba Fett back
No. 1: He’s freaking Boba Fett
There’s a reason Boba Fett has commanded a cult following despite his lack of lines in the Original Trilogy and not-so-spectacular death: he’s also really freaking cool. It’s no surprise that Fett’s unique look and relatively mysterious persona inspired efforts to make a movie and video game about him.
His success, even in a limited capacity, paved the way for a show like The Mandalorian to make a mysterious, helmet-wearing character the focal point. Bringing him back on a show that he helped make a possibility is a beautiful full-circle ode to the bounty hunter.
There’s clear interest to see (and hear) more from Fett: Why not bring him back?
No. 2: Star Wars returns can be worthwhile
One clear thing that Star Wars isn’t afraid of is bringing characters back. This is done through flashbacks, Force Ghosts, or in even entire books/comics/shows that add more depth to someone we may only know from a limited amount of screen time. The latter of which rings true for Darth Maul, another uniquely intriguing character who also had a memorable demise.
After his perceived death in The Phantom Menace, Maul was revealed to be alive in The Clone Wars, which gave him ample time throughout the series to become a fully realized character aside from his movie appearance. Viewers got to know his motivations and see more of his personality, which brought meaningful detail to the famous Star Wars villain.
Applying this to Fett, his return can also be something that adds to Star Wars lore. There are various unknowns with Fett and an appearance, even if short, can add more life to the bounty hunter. It’s never a bad thing to know more about a character’s inner motivations or desires — in fact, that’s what makes them so captivating.
I want to know how Fett survived the sarlacc pit and what he got involved with after. And I’m absolutely intrigued at what role he’ll play during Mando and Baby Yoda’s adventures in The Mandalorian Season 2.
How will he appear? When will he appear? Who will he appear with? All these questions make the anticipation for Season 2 even greater.
2 reasons against bringing Boba Fett back
No. 1: Infringes on The Mandalorian‘s newness
The Mandalorian pulled off an incredible feat in its first season by making a captivating story set in the Star Wars universe but with new characters. Yes, some major characters were inspired by past Star Wars figures — the most popular character is known as the baby version of another famous character, after all — but they were all uniquely their own. No one felt like a direct copy; even IG-11 got to separate from IG-88 by getting an entire hunter-turned-babysitter arc.
Throwing in an established character like Boba Fett changes the dynamic. The same goes for adding Ahsoka as well. What was an original story now starts to become meshed with characters that have their own set of histories that shape who they are.
It felt refreshing to start The Mandalorian Season 1 with a clean slate. It can be exhausting at times to keep up with the varying backstories out there of famous Star Wars figures. Now, viewers of The Mandalorian will have to juggle the importance of Boba Fett and Ahsoka while also focusing on the new characters that already won them over.
No. 2: It may take away from Season 2’s progress
This reason bridges off from the previous. The Mandalorian hit a homerun with its cast and story. There are millions of viewers out there who are thinking about what the future holds for Mando, Baby Yoda, Cara Dune, and Greef Karga — not to mention the Darksaber-wielding villain, Moff Gideon.
Season one’s finale set the stage for what’s next by introducing the Darksaber and foreshadowing the possibility that Mando tracks down the Jedi. There are so many things I want to see from season 2, like Baby Yoda exploring his powers, background on Moff Gideon, and more of the Mandalorian tribes.
The possibility of adding Fett means there will likely be an inevitable break in season 2’s progress. There’s no point in bringing Fett back to be a background extra or one-line wonder. He’s going to command attention when he is on the screen. The bounty hunter didn’t absolutely need to be brought back from the sarlacc pit, so a pessimistic view is that this return will take away time that could be spent on the new characters, or their story, in season 2.
However, an optimistic view is that Fett’s return will not only be executed naturally, but it will also be necessary in helping season 2 along. It’s very possible that the showrunners see an opportunity where bringing Fett back makes total sense, especially since it hasn’t been fully explored elsewhere yet. Hopefully, his return will help flesh the character out while adding to season 2’s story.
What do you think of the return of Boba Fett? Let us know in the comments.