Back in the 1980s and ’90s, Boba Fett was one of the most popular “Star Wars” characters. I remember “Star Wars” Galaxy Magazine conducted a poll shortly before the prequels came out, and Fett ranked No. 2 among all characters — movies, books, comics or otherwise — behind only Han Solo.
But just as an analysis of Darth Vader now includes the kid who yells “Now this is podracing!,” an analysis of Fett has to encompass the kiddie clone of Jango Fett from “Attack of the Clones.”
The creation — and rise to fame — of Boba Fett was pure marketing genius: A cartoon appearance in the “Star Wars Holiday Special,” a sneak-preview action figure before “The Empire Strikes Back” came out, five quotable lines, and of course, the costume.
But eventually, people wanted to hear Fett’s actual story, and ultimately, that led to George Lucas’ revelation that he was a clone of Jango. So Boba went from being the ultimate “his own man” to being a copy of another man.
And yet, there’s a story there, too, and that was proven in the last three episodes of last season. Boba was voiced by Daniel Logan, who played him in “Attack of the Clones,” and animated with a scowl so pronounced that it might just as well have said “I want to kill Mace Windu” on his forehead.
Jango had a moral code of sorts — he wasn’t so much evil as he got into bounty hunting to make a living in a tough galaxy, although ultimately his greed (taking a side job for the Separatists while he had a standing job with the Republic) got him killed by Mace Windu. Boba also gets into bounty hunting as a practical career choice, but he always seems to be a darker, colder man than his dad. Jango was a successful blue-collar entrepreneur who started a family on his own. Boba probably could’ve used a psychiatrist, if anyone dared suggest such a thing to him, and while Karen Traviss’ novels reveal that Boba had a lover, a daughter, and even a granddaughter, he of course abandoned them.
Jango showed him the ropes of bounty hunting and flying the Slave I, but who gave Boba his harder edge as an intimidating loner? Partially, it was the simple fact of losing his only family, but more so, as we learn on “The Clone Wars,” it was the emergence of the family that replaced Jango: The cold-blooded Aurra Sing and her mercenary hire Bossk (who, of course, is among the bounty hunters hired by Vader along with Fett in “Empire”).
In “Attack of the Clones,” we saw Boba raised by a relatively decent guy. On “The Clone Wars,” we’re seeing him raised by a couple of pretty nasty beings. It’s showing us how Boba Fett becomes Boba Fett, and while it might not be exactly what we hoped for back in the ’80s and ’90s, it’s still pretty cool.
Main image: Lucasfilm