Star Wars: How Boba Fett’s Return in The Mandalorian Changes the Original Trilogy

Star Wars fans were recently shocked by the announcement that Star Wars Prequel Trilogy actor Temuera Morrison is playing Boba Fett in The Mandalorian season 2. Morrison was the actor who played bounty hunter Jango Fett in the Prequels; Jango was of course the genetic basis for The Republic and Chancellor Palpatine’s clone army, and as a request to the cloners on Kamino, Jango had his own personal clone created (which he allowed to age naturally). After Jango’s death fighting Mace Windu in the Battle of Geonosis (see: Star Wars: Attack of the Clones), Boba came of age as a smuggler and Bountry Hunter in the Clone Wars.

The Mandalorian will be the first time that Temuera Morrison finally gets to play the most famous of clone wearing his face – but Boba Fett’s return definitely means some major changes for the Star Wars franchise. With the iconic bounty hunter seemingly last seen tracking down the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda, here’s how Star Wars will have to shift to accommodate his return:

The Big Reveal

The first thing that The Mandalorian and/or the larger Star Wars franchise is going to have to explain, is how Boba Fett escaped Sarlacc pit and seemingly his death, in The Return of the Jedi. Of course, The Clone Wars animated series revealed just how much a schemer the man under the Boba Fett mask really is, while The Mandalorian has revealed just how tough someone wearing Mandalorian armor truly is. There’s foundation enough for a flashback showing Boba Fett fighting his way out of a Sarlacc’s belly. 

More Skywalker Saga Plotholes

Obviously, the change that Boba Fett survived the Sarlacc pit then raises 1,000 other questions about the Star Wars Skywalker Saga continuity. It seems to be the curse of the modern Star Wars franchise: with every new fan-service event (Palpatine and Boba Fett’s mutual returns), the franchise continuity needs to be re-organized and re-explained. Scroll below for just a few of the issues that Boba Fett’s return raises: 

Clone Sightings

One of the biggest questions a lot of Star Wars fans had after the Prequel Trilogy was what happened to the clone troopers in the era of the Galactic Empire. The Skywalker Saga has expanded to reveal how the clones were phased out of production by the Empire after serving as the first Stormtroopers, and eventually died off due to their accelerated aging process. However, Rebels revealed that key clone army leaders like Rex were forced into hiding after the Republic fell, and since he had no aging process, it seems that Boba Fett would’ve had as conspicuous a face (as a younger-looking Jango Fett) outside his armor, as he did wearing his stolen Mandalorian garb. Explaining how there were no major sightings of Boba Fett after Return of the Jedi gets tricky. 

What About Han?

Boba Fett was “killed” due to his service to Jabba the Hutt in apprehending Han Solo, who Boba had an infamous rivalry with. If Boba Fett survived Return of the Jedi and escaped into a universe where Han Solo was both a famous war hero and a still-practicing smuggler, it seems inconceivable that Han and Boba never had another clash in the Sequel Trilogy era. 

Kryat’s Claw Crew

The Clone Wars revealed that one of Boba Fett’s earliest ventures after his “father’s” death was forming a collective of bounty hunters / crooks called Kryat’s Klaw. The crew included iconic Star Wars bounty hunters like Dengar, Bossk, and Embo – some of whom we know lived on to become key players in pivotal events of the Sequel Trilogy era (The Battle of Jakku). If Boba Fett is truly the one hunting down The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda right now, it seems some Sequel Trilogy-era stories of a Kryat’s Claw reunion (and the entire changed dynamic of the Star Wars underworld, after the Empire) also need to be a part of the canon. 

Aka Rothgar Deng

One interesting thing that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker may have revealed is iconic Star Wars bounty hunter Dengar living in the Sequel Trilogy era as “Rothgar Deng.” Deng was a grotesque cyborg character hanging outside of Babu Frik’s workshop on Kijimi; his backstory suggests that he’s indeed Dengar, living under an assumed identity after bounty hunters loyal to the Empire were given pardons by the new republic, for fighting against the final Imperial remnants in the Battle of Jakku. It’s a small little side-story in the Skywalker Saga, but could definitely be carried over to explain how Boba Fett is still a free, working man by the time of The Mandalorian. 

Mo’ Mandalorian Problems

Of course, after the Great Purge of Mandalore, Beskar steel became a rare commodity in the galaxy, as the Empire smelted the dense ore down for its own uses. So, one thing that will have to be explained in Boba Fett’s return is what happened to his iconic armor, which would’ve become an even bigger target on his back than it already was. 

What do you think about Boba Fett returning to the Star Wars franchise? Let me know in the comments!