Did You Know George Lucas' Original Plans For Boba Fett?
When it comes to iconic figures in the Star Wars universe, it could easily be argued that Boba Fett ranks in the top 10. Despite having very little screen time and hardly any dialogue in the original trilogy, his onscreen look and mystery around him was one of the things that really made him cool. Boba Fett first made his appearance in 1978 in the justifiably maligned Star Wars Holiday Special, in a small animation clip. Initial reactions had been good and George Lucas started making his early plans for Boba Fett in the movies.
Boba Fett made his cinematic debut in The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, appearing as part of the group of bounty hunters employed by the Galactic Empire and then serving his crime lord boss, Jabba The Hutt, in Return Of The Jedi in 1983. By this point, his role as a bounty hunter was firmly established and his apparent death in Return Of The Jedi created decades of speculation as to whether or not he survived.
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Despite the brief appearance on screen and his very quick "killing off" in the beginning of Return Of The Jedi, George Lucas originally had very different plans for Boba Fett. Boba Fett was originally penned to be introduced in The Empire Strikes Back and was then going to be a featured villain in Return Of The Jedi, maybe even as big, or even bigger than, Darth Vader. In fact, things were originally meant to pan out very differently in general based on George Lucas’ original plans. The Emperor reveal, Anakin Skywalker’s redemption as Darth Vader sacrificing himself to save his son Luke, along with the battle in the finale had all been lined up for another trilogy.
George Lucas changed his mind however, the idea of another trilogy was dropped, and things were changed for Return Of The Jedi. This included relegating Boba Fett from being a potential big bad to being a bit part player in the first ten minutes of the film who proved to be somewhat ineffective and met what could be classed as a comedic demise.
In an interview with Inverse, Lucasfilm’s first fan relations officer Craig Miller revealed how things had changed very significantly from George Lucas’ original ideas and plans for Boba Fett;
"Originally, Boba Fett was set up in 'Empire' as a character, and the third movie’s plot was going to be more about Boba Fett (capturing) Han Solo and all of that. Boba was gonna be the main villain… That was set up, why he was taking Han Solo away, why there was a thing with him in the Christmas special. When George decided not to make a third trilogy, he completely jettisoned that story line, which is why in the first ten minutes, Boba Fett gets bumped into and falls into the mouth of a giant monster... So he took what was planned for the third trilogy, which was the confrontation between Luke and Darth Vader, and the battle with the Emperor, and that got squished down from three movies into one movie. And that became the plot of 'Jedi'."
It’s a fascinating insight into how things did not go as planned and it really makes you wonder how different the Star Wars universe might have been. Would it have been a better place with Boba Fett as a major villain, or is it better that things went the way that they did and we ended up with a bounty hunter who was shrouded in mystery?
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Source(s): Screen Rant, Inverse