The Book of Boba Fett was all the time going to battle an uphill process. Only the second ever live-action Star Wars sequence — all seven episodes are actually out there on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar — it arrived on the tail finish of 2021, following two seasons of the beloved The Mandalorian. That’s two full seasons of Grogu, higher referred to as Baby Yoda, carving a spot in our hearts by way of immediately meme-able moments. Two seasons of a bounty hunter (Pedro Pascal) kindling his paternal spirit, overcoming his dislike for droids, and trying to find his place within the galaxy. And then, when The Mandalorian season 2 ended with an emotional goodbye for the 2, it was The Book of Boba Fett — made by the identical creators — that stood in the best way, resulting in a two-year hole between seasons 2 and three.

To be honest, a subset of Star Wars followers has clamoured for extra Boba Fett for ages. It’s primarily the explanation The Book of Boba Fett exists. Boba Fett’s (Jeremy Bulloch within the ‘80s) enigmatic presence within the unique trilogy — he had mere minutes of display screen time earlier than falling to his demise — allowed audiences to think about a complete world of tales across the character. Unfortunately, for the longest time, outdoors of books and comics which have since been declared non-canon, there was no room for that. Star Wars was a Skywalker-driven movie franchise. Other characters simply existed round them. In the prequel trilogy, Star Wars creator George Lucas did give us extra Boba Fett by revealing that the famed bounty hunter had a “father” in Jango Fett Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison, now enjoying Boba Fett within the Disney+ sequence). And oh, he is a clone.

But ever since Star Wars producer Lucasfilm got here below Disney possession — the leisure large purchased it from Lucas for over $4 billion (about Rs. 29,896 crore) in 2012 — a standalone Boba Fett function had been within the works. And it could’ve even occurred, with Logan director James Mangold on the helm, had it not been for the vital and industrial failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Owing to that, the Boba Fett film — and different “Star Wars Story” initiatives comparable to Obi-Wan Kenobi — have been shelved. It took the success of The Mandalorian for Lucasfilm to reimagine them as Disney+ sequence. (Obi-Wan Kenobi, with Ewan McGregor returning within the title position, can also be due in 2022 following The Book of Boba Fett.)

Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett in The Book of Boba Fett
Photo Credit: Disney/Lucasfilm

But oh boy did it develop into a miscalculation. The issues with The Book of Boba Fett have been, naturally, manifold. On one degree, this story has already been informed — by the identical individuals. It’s known as The Mandalorian. After all, each are enigmatic bounty hunters who stem from the Mandalore race. The story of Din Djarin (Pascal) in The Mandalorian is what a Boba Fett film might’ve been. Except by including Grogu to the combo, and detaching from Star Wars lore (for one season anyway), The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau — additionally The Book of Boba Fett creator — was in a position to go to locations nobody had gone earlier than, actually and thematically. With The Book of Boba Fett, he is re-treading floor he himself has been to. Why put himself in that place?

Not that this could’t work. Star Wars has itself proven that, with writer-director J.J. Abrams mimicking the construction of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope on Episode VII – The Force Awakens. The Book of Boba Fett’s greater fault is poor and lazy writing. The first 4 episodes, dedicated to Fett’s character growth, have been completely ineffective. The backstory was largely boring — all it did nicely was increase on the Tusken Raiders — and the present-day story moved at a humdrum tempo. Stuck in a single place (Tatooine), The Book of Boba Fett floor to a halt. It might have overcome that if it had one thing to say or present, however the episodes had little to supply. And after they ran out of Fett’s previous and current, The Book of Boba Fett merely ditched him and converted to Din Djarin.

That additionally gave new that means to The Book of Boba Fett being described internally throughout manufacturing as The Mandalorian season 2.5, as the brand new Star Wars sequence actually turned a bridge to The Mandalorian season 3. Frankly, it was a nonsensical transfer — does nobody realise what this present known as? More than 1 / 4 of The Book of Boba Fett had nothing to do with Boba Fett. Disney+ and Lucasfilm would’ve been higher off simply releasing these two Mandalorian-driven episodes as a part of season 3. But by giving Mando his personal episodes in another person’s present, The Book of Boba Fett solely served as additional proof of how boring Boba Fett was. The new Star Wars sequence immediately turned higher the second it left its title character. That’s not look.

The Book of Boba Fett additionally gave its leads — Morrison as Boba Fett, and Ming-Na Wen — little or no to do. And Morrison being informed to take away his helmet did not add a lot, when the Kiwi actor might’ve made the identical impression by protecting it on. He does not have a whole lot of expressions, is what I’m saying.

Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in The Book of Boba Fett
Photo Credit: Disney/Lucasfilm

But even the most effective The Book of Boba Fett episodes had their very own points. Some typical Star Wars ones. Following Grogu’s departure with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on the finish of The Mandalorian season 2, everybody together with I questioned how lengthy Grogu would stay off-screen. After all, Baby Yoda was arguably the larger star in The Mandalorian. But we did not even make it to The Mandalorian season 3 earlier than Grogu’s (inevitable) return. The Book of Boba Fett additionally introduced again Luke Skywalker, this time in broad daylight. Not pleased with giving him a couple of minutes in the direction of the top of The Mandalorian season 2 finale, The Book of Boba Fett gave Luke Skywalker a starring position in its sixth and penultimate episode.

Star Wars has an actual drawback with nostalgia. The nine-film Skywalker Saga wrapped up within the worst of fashions, too beholden to the previous. And regardless that that saga is technically achieved, Star Wars writers preserve discovering new methods to exhume the Skywalker identify. In the previous 5 years, Hamill has returned to play Luke — in a method or one other — in The Last Jedi, The Mandalorian, and now The Book of Boba Fett. Meanwhile, Hayden Christensen will reprise his position as Anakin Skywalker/ Darth Vader in two upcoming Star Wars sequence: the aforementioned Obi-Wan Kenobi reverse McGregor, and later Ahsoka — one other The Mandalorian spin-off, from Star Wars veteran Dave Filoni — that follows Rosario Dawson as his former Padawan, Ahsoka Tano. Why cannot Favreau, Filoni and Co. go away them alone?

On one degree, the issue lies with Lucasfilm itself — it desires to promote toys and theme parks which might be closely tied into the Skywalker period. That leads to the Star Wars universe collapsing in on itself on a regular basis. If George Lucas was good at one factor, it was at increasing the world. But everybody concerned with Star Wars right this moment refuses to do this past a sure level. While Favreau did nicely on The Mandalorian’s debut season in that regard, the second season felt like a cycle of simply backdoor pilots for extra Star Wars, from Ahsoka to The Book of Boba Fett. This was all supposed to steer into the “climactic” Rangers of the New Republic, although due to Gina Carano’s firing, that sequence is useless — and its concepts might become part of The Mandalorian season 3.

Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin, Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano in The Book of Boba Fett
Photo Credit: Disney/Lucasfilm

Ultimately, The Book of Boba Fett was the worst attainable begin to the growth of — what I dubbed two Decembers in the past — the Star Wars cinematic universe on TV. The Mandalorian had excelled with its barebone method; The Book of Boba Fett wanted Favreau to do extra, and nicely, he failed. It confirmed the boundaries of Favreau’s storytelling skills. And extra importantly, The Book of Boba is additional proof that Lucasfilm must broaden the expertise base, not shut down the hatches. The Star Wars universe is already plagued with this drawback, the making of Star Wars should not fall into the identical lure.

It’s the second time this has occurred to Star Wars in current instances. After behind-the-scenes hassle on Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, Lucasfilm went again to Abrams due to his succesful dealing with of the franchise comfortable reboot The Force Awakens. He bombed. And now, Favreau has achieved the identical after his success on The Mandalorian. Thankfully for Favreau, he can brush off this miniseries prefer it by no means existed — too dangerous for these couple of episodes within the center. Good luck to Star Wars followers and information creators on how they accommodate The Book of Boba Fett of their suggestions — and return to doing what he is good at with The Mandalorian season 3.

A bit of Star Wars followers took problem with Boba Fett taking off his helmet an excessive amount of on The Book of Boba Fett. Alas, that was hardly an issue in a present the place every thing went nowhere. At least Mando and Grogu are again collectively — we even obtained a few immediately meme-able Baby Yoda moments in The Book of Boba Fett finale — and are fortunately flying off into the gap away from Tatooine. Good riddance.

All seven episodes of The Book of Boba Fett are streaming on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar. In India, The Book of Boba Fett is offered in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam.