More than 40 years after he was introduced, Boba Fett finally got a spotlight of his own in the Star Wars franchise starting with his recurring role in the second season of The Mandalorian before headling his own series in The Book of Boba Fett. However, a lot of fans were surprised with the character's direction in the series as he was portrayed more as a "good guy." So what led them to that decision?
Speaking recently with Vanity Fair, The Book of Boba Fett showrunner Jon Favreau was asked about the surprising direction that the titular bounty hunter took in the series to which he revealed that The Godfather films influenced him in deciding the character's "good guy" route in the series.
"You think about Don Corleone. There’s a tremendous amount of restraint because he knows that to be sustainable, there has to be [peace.]," Favreau said. "You don’t do well unless there’s some political balance, because if you keep going to the mattresses, nobody’s earning. You think about what things are off-limits. Don Corleone wasn’t just doing everything to line his pockets as he got later into his career."
He added, "You look at De Niro, in the flashbacks in The Godfather Part II, as he’s walking down the streets. He’s seen as somebody who’s actually creating, someone the people respect because of the way he conducts himself. There’s lots of different ways to run an empire. There’s the Sonny Corleone way, there’s the Michael Corleone way and then there’s the Vito Corleone way."
Favreau also cited Conan the Barbarian as his inspiration for writing Boba Fett's journey in his series. "We would talk to Robert [Rodriguez] about Conan. Conan starts off as a young warrior and then ages up through the books until he’s Conan the King," he said. "So, how is Boba the crime lord going to be different, knowing what he knows, than what he would’ve been when he was a younger man? I think he’s just wise. He’s also a much older character because now we’re after the original trilogy. He’s at a different point of his life, having experienced what we had seen in all the previous films."
Hearing Favreau's explanation, he did make a solid case on why Boba Fett should have that journey in the series after the events of the original trilogy. It is certainly different from his badass look in The Empire Strikes Back, but there are a lot of fans who welcomed it and are looking forward to seeing the character's future in the franchise as he is now a big-time crime lord in Tatooine.
Also Read: Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season 3, Andor, Ahsoka Release Windows Revealed
All episodes of The Book of Boba Fett are streaming on Disney+.
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