Disney's ownership of Star Wars has been controversial, if nothing else. It produced a lot of different content that feels more referential than engaging. One of the worst examples of using nostalgia in place of anything worthwhile was The Book of Boba Fett. That show broke the goodwill Disney built with The Mandalorian. The character's continued presence in the franchise could present a problem, but the only person free from blame is the star behind the character, Temuera Morrison.
Though celebrity performers are usually box-office draws, a film's creative success or failure rarely hinges on the actors. They're critically important, but directors, writers, and a thousand behind-the-scenes artists tend to be the ones who run the operation. This consistent paradigm shows through in popular nerd programming. From Marvel to Doctor Who, the faces of the franchises rarely cause many of the problems that earn criticism. They'll be in the YouTube thumbnails and article headings, but stars rarely decide to make boring, self-referential schlock.
Star Wars: What Did Boba Fett Do After Jango Died?
Fans have seen Boba lose his father, and they know the full-fledged bounty hunter he'll become, but what happened in between?
Temuera Morrison Won't Be Back for The Mandalorian & Grogu
Temuera Morrison joined the Star Wars franchise in 2002, when he portrayed Jango Fett in Attack of the Clones. He's solid in the role, even while delivering lackluster dialogue from the same script that made Hayden Christensen proclaim the line, "I don't like sand." He first provided the voice for Boba Fett in the 2004 Empire Strikes Back DVD Special Edition re-release. Since then, Morrison has been all over the franchise. He's in several video games, but he left for a few years after the late 2000s. Noted voice actor Dee Bradley Baker played all the Clone Troopers in the long-running Clone Wars series. Morrison slowly reintroduced himself in EA's Battlefront games before finally fully embodying Boba Fett for the first time in 2020. Morrison played Boba Fett in The Mandalorian. He followed that debut with a solo series, The Book of Boba Fett. Unfortunately, in an interview at FAN EXPO Chicago, he explained that he hadn't been tapped to return for the upcoming Mandalorian & Grogu movie. Screen Rant's Liz Declan recorded this quote:
I'm still waiting for a phone call, to be quite honest... I think we're just put on the shelf for a little bit. Maybe we come off the shelf later.
That Screen Rant article chooses to imply that The Book of Boba Fett negatively impacted the reputation of the character and the performer. While he didn't specifically say that, many onlookers have taken that perspective.
The Book of Boba Fett Had A Lot of Problems
The Book of Boba Fett is probably the worst Star Wars show under Disney's ownership. It's not the worst series ever made or anything, but it cracks under the nightmarish weight of Disney's corporate expectations. The premise was flawed, dragging a familiar character back into the spotlight for no apparent reason other than nostalgia. That was the potential fate of The Mandalorian, which became considerably better when it introduced original characters and followed them through new adventures. The show also forgets what it's about near the halfway point. The Book of Boba Fett's biggest sin is only partially related to the show. For no real reason, it contains a massive plot detail from The Mandalorian. A lot of fans skipped Boba Fett, only to jump into Mandalorian season 3 and discover that the most fateful decision of the season 2 finale was undone in an unrelated show. The Book of Boba Fett was dull, uninspired, and far too reliant on callbacks. The same is true of Obi-Wan Kenobi, but its popularity broke every potential measurement. Temuera Morrison is one of very few elements of The Book of Boba Fett that worked.
Temuera Morrison Was the Best Part of the Show
The draw of the show should have been watching Morrison portray a character he's become very comfortable with. There is some of that. The series unpacks Boba Fett's escape from his grim fate from the original trilogy. It depicts him as a rising crime lord, fighting a selection of other unsavory characters as he reaches toward the throne he once served. There could have been something worth exploring in its premise if they were willing to explore Boba Fett as if he were a new character. It worked for Cassian Andor, and he had more than five lines in his first appearance. Morrison was on a tight leash that wouldn't let him do much of note. The Book of Boba Fett didn't want to tell a compelling story, so it didn't manage that lofty goal.
Anyone could explain the many problems with The Book of Boba Fett, but Morrison's quiet, nuanced, and long-established performance wouldn't make the list. Only Disney could see a long history of issues with their corporate policies and immediately blamed the face on the poster. No one knows whether fans will see Morrison put on his Mandalorian armor again, but there's no reason to keep him out of it. The Book of Boba Fett wasn't worth opening, but that was never the man behind the helmet's fault.