When Disney+ first came on the scene, it blessed us with The Mandalorian, and life was good. This was the way. But then, Star Wars fans received a major surprise when Boba Fett made an appearance in Season 2. The surprises didn’t end there though, because the biggest surprise of all may have been the fact that we were actually getting a show based on the famous bounty hunter titled The Book of Boba Fett!
And look, now we’re here, and we’ve already gotten our first episode, “Stranger in a Strange Land”. Honestly, even though I like (but don’t love) The Mandalorian, I’ve never really been a big fan of Boba Fett. Yeah, he’s always looked cool with that armor and all, but he seemed like a pretty one-dimensional character to me in the original trilogy. And when he got knocked into the Sarlacc Pit in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, I always just shrugged as a kid, and thought, “Um, okay. That was random.” So, I never really saw the appeal of the character.
Until now, because I actually really like what I’ve seen so far of The Book of Boba Fett. But maybe not for the reasons that you may think. So, here are five reasons for why I really dig The Book of Boba Fett after that first episode. The force is strong with this one. Or not… because, you know... He’s not a Jedi.
Oh, and some spoilers up ahead if you haven’t seen the first episode yet.
Boba Fett Is Not The Mandalorian, And I Think That's A Good Thing
Do you remember the first episode of The Mandalorian? I certainly do, because Din Djarin was a certified badass. I honestly didn’t know anything about the Mandalorians before the show, so I really loved Mando’s steely Wild West approach, and how much of a badass the show established him as from the very beginning.
But Boba Fett is NOT Din Djarin. Like, not even a little. We see him escaping from the Sarlacc Pit in the beginning, which is cool and all, but the rest of the episode, we see him mostly getting his ass kicked by pretty much everybody. Seriously, while I was watching him get pummeled again and again, I imagined him whining, “But it’s my first day!” in my head. He also takes off his helmet constantly, and he doesn’t seem ruthless at all. In that way, he’s nothing like The Mandalorian, and I think that’s a good thing. He’s a totally different character, so the show feels different. In a good way.
Boba Fett Doesn't Even Seem Like Boba Fett. At Least, Not The One That I Remember
I mentioned earlier that I’ve never been interested in Boba Fett before, and it’s true. I’ve always found him boring. He always seemed like the lone wolf, mostly silent type, and in the end, he didn’t even really do anything all that cool. If anything, I thought that his “dad”, Jango Fett, was much more interesting since he actually exhibited emotions.
But Boba Fett in The Book of Boba Fett is nothing like the one in Star Wars: Episodes V and VI. We got to see some of this in Season 2 of The Mandalorian, but it’s even more prevalent in the first episode of The Book of Boba Fett that there is an actual human being (or rather, a clone) within that sick piece of armor.
Boba Fett shows that he would be a just ruler as the new Daimyo of Tatooine, which ultimately gets him in trouble. But he also shows mercy to his captives and even defeats a four-armed monster before a Tusken raider kid gets squashed. So, yeah, I’m interested in THIS Boba Fett, because this one actually seems like an actual human being.
The Disjointed Narrative Of The First Episode Is Interesting Throughout
The first episode’s title, “Stranger in a Strange Land,” has a dual meaning as Boba Fett finds himself out of sorts pretty much in both times that he’s on Tatooine. He has a history on the planet, but he is out of his element taking the place of the Hutt clan. That said, he’s also out of his element once he pulls himself out of the Sarlacc Pit and finds himself taken as a prisoner.
Again, I don’t really know much about Boba Fett as I’ve never read the books or played any of the games that might have expanded his lore, but I love how we’re learning about his history while simultaneously finding out about his present. I don’t know if the rest of the show will follow this disjointed narrative like the first episode, but I think it’d be pretty cool if this was like a Better Call Saul situation where we see both his past and his present colliding.
I Like That Boba Fett's Partner Seems A Lot Tougher Than Him
One of my favorite movies of all time is Big Trouble in Little China, and one of my favorite things about it is that the hero’s sidekick is actually much more of a threat than the hero himself. And so far, we kind of get that vibe with Fennec Shand, played by Ming-Na Wen. We were first introduced to her in the episode, “The Gunslinger” on The Mandalorian, and she’s always been tough as nails.
But we see even more of this as she chases down the parkour-loving assassins who tried to kill off Boba Fett. Boba tells her that he wants the assassins brought back alive, but she kicks one of the assassins right off a roof and seems so much tougher than her partner in crime. I love that about her, and I hope that we see even more situations where Boba Fett severely messes up and Fennec Shand has to pick up the slack for her partner.
The End Music Is Unique And Super Catchy
I’m so used to the end music of The Mandalorian that I wasn’t prepared for the hummable end song of The Book of Boba Fett. We still get those sick illustrations of the episode’s events like we did on The Mandalorian, but The Book of Boba Fett, with its “HEY’S!” and what almost sounds like Gregorian chanting is just so freaking stirring and awesome, I just can’t.
Like The Mandalorian, it’s also by the Swedish composer, Ludwig Goransson, and it just slams so hard. In fact, I rewound it several times just so I could listen to it again and again, only for me to go to YouTube to listen to it some more. Sometimes, an end theme can make a good show even better, and I think The Book of Boba Fett may have an end theme for the ages.
And those are five reasons why I love The Book of Boba Fett so far. But what do you think? Are you a fan? For news on upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows, make sure to swing by here often.
