Cast This: Boba Fett

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Although SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY may not be providing Disney with the record-breaking box-office bucks that they've grown accustomed to, we're still quite a ways off from any STAR WARS film being deemed a box-office failure. Our future is destined to be filled with a variety of STAR WARS flicks, including a long-rumoured spin-off revolving around the feared bounty hunter, Boba Fett.

Rumblings of a Boba Fett spin-off emerged soon after Disney acquired Lucasfilm and announced that they would be developing an entirely new trilogy as well as a series of spin-offs, and although it was never officially confirmed, it was rumoured that the STAR WARS spin-off which Josh Trank (FANTASTIC FOUR) was working on before he was canned was a Boba Fett film. The movie finally became official when it was announced last week that James Mangold (LOGAN) had signed on to direct the Boba Fett film as well as co-write the script with Simon Kinberg (X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX).

Although the fan-favourite character burst onto the big-screen in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, audiences were first introduced to Boba Fett several years prior during an animated segment of the much-maligned STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL. Tasked by Darth Vader himself with locating the Millennium Falcon in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, Fett tracked the ship to Cloud City where he assisted in their capture and later took Han Solo (now frozen in Carbonite) to be delivered to Jabba the Hutt. The bounty hunter would be featured once more in RETURN OF THE JEDI, but Boba Fett had even less to do in that film before he was unceremoniously gobbled up by the Sarlacc. Not exactly the most illustrious end for one of the most popular STAR WARS characters of all time. Boba Fett would later be inserted into the Special Edition of A NEW HOPE during Han Solo's meeting with Jabba on Tatooine, and ATTACK OF THE CLONES would introduce us to Boba Fett as a young child, revealing that he was an unaltered clone of Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison), a bounty hunter who was used as the genetic model for all of the Clone Troopers.

Boba Fett has made numerous appearances in STAR WARS novels, comics, and video-games which greatly expanded the character's history, but when you strip all of that away, you're not left with a hell of a lot more than a cool costume. The character obviously resonates with fans however, and I've mentioned before that Fett's lack of on-screen history is something which could actually work to his advantage in a spin-off film. Unlike Han Solo, who we've gotten to know quite a bit about over the course of multiples movies, the sky is pretty much the limit for a Boba Fett film. There are plenty of stories which could be told and an ample amount of timeline to cover no matter when Lucasfilm chooses to set the film.

There's over two decades between Boba Fett's first chronological appearance in ATTACK OF THE CLONES and his arrival aboard Darth Vader's Star Destroyer in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. You could certainly see Lucasfilm going that route (and perhaps even tying in with a SOLO sequel), but my choice would be to head in the opposite direction and pick up with Boba Fett escaping from the Sarlacc sometime after RETURN OF THE JEDI. With the Empire in disarray following the Rebel Alliance's destruction of the second Death Star, as well as the death of the Emperor (Ian McDiarmid), this would be a great backdrop for some epic badassery from Fett as he struggles to reclaim his status as the best bounty hunter in the galaxy. You could even go simpler than that if you wanted, with Fett being nursed back to health by villagers following his escape from the Sarlacc and choosing to protect them from a marauding army of Tusken Raiders. You could pretty much do anything.

With the Boba Fett film now official, who should step into the role of the bounty hunter? As Boba Fett is known to be a clone of Jango Fett, it would make sense that Temuera Morrison would play him, especially as George Lucas saw fit to have Morrison replace Jason Wingreen as the voice of Boba Fett in the Original Trilogy during one of his many revisions for the DVD release. As Morrison is quickly approaching 60 years of age, he's obviously a little too old for the character if they go the post-REVENGE OF THE SITH route, but Daniel Logan, who played Boba Fett in ATTACK OF THE CLONES, is about the perfect age. I won't include Morrison or Logan in my suggestions, but feel free to pick them all the same.

As I'm partial to a Boba Fett film taking place after RETURN OF THE JEDI, I'm afraid that my suggestions will skew in that direction. I never would have thought of him myself, but following the announcement of the Boba Fett film, certain fans began campaigning for Taika Waititi (THOR: RAGNAROK) to take on the role. Comic-book artist Phil Noto even whipped up a sketch of Waititi as Fett which definitely sells it. The actor's history in comedy may lead some to dismiss him, but I'll admit that I'm intrigued enough to include him. I'm currently re-watching Spartacus, and Manu Bennett (who plays Crixus) certainly strikes me as someone who could take on the mantle of Boba Fett. With his gritty line delivery and impressive physique, Bennett would make for one imposing bounty hunter. Cliff Curtis (AVATAR 2) would also make for another compelling possibility.

Remember, you're free to suggest anyone in the comments, so let your inner casting director run wild!

Previously on Cast This, you were asked to fill the role of Charles Manson, the cult leader whose manipulation of his followers led to a summer of blood in 1969. Quentin Tarantino's upcoming ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD will use the Manson Family murders as a backdrop, and you came through with quite a number of interesting suggestions for who should take on the role of Manson, including Jared Leto (BLADE RUNNER 2049), Will Forte (The Last Man on Earth), and Billy Crudup (ALIEN: COVENANT).