With all the attention that has been paid to J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Wars Episode VII, it’s surprisingly easy to forget that Disney is not just working on that expansion of the beloved Star Wars franchise. With many popular characters and endless potential stories to tell (thanks to the sprawling Expanded Universe that has been growing since the release Return of the Jedi), the House of Mouse is aiming to bring multiple spinoffs to the big screen in addition to the revitalized main series. First and foremost in their minds is a vehicle for bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Unfortunately, it appears that Disney is stuck in the ideas stage as far as that spinoff goes. According to rumors across various Star Wars fan sites, Lucasfilm execs met to discuss the future of the franchise, and a Boba Fett stand-alone, possibly set between either A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back or The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, came up. According to MakingStarWars.net, one executive was paraphrased as saying:
Lucasfilm wants Boba Fett to remain menacing and scary but we have to make him the hero of the film and it is a real challenge.
Lawrence Kasdan is rumored to be penning the script, though this has not been confirmed by Lucasfilm. It’s true though that the notoriously deadly bounty hunter is pretty much as bad as they come, which must be very challenging for the writers.
One way they could tackle this problem would be to paint Fett as a devil-may-care antihero, similar to Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean. Clearly, that move would ruffle some feathers among purists, so Disney might be uncomfortable making that transition, but it would certainly be easier for the writers to handle. I’d imagine that Lucasfilm execs are going to be watching this summer’s blockbuster Maleficent quite closely, considering that film aims to turn a famously evil character into a relatable protagonist.
Still, it’s great to hear that people are still invested in a Boba Fett spinoff. He was always one of the coolest and most interesting characters in the original Star Wars films, and it would be great to see more of him, despite his apparent demise at the jaws of the Sarlacc Pit in Return of the Jedi.