I was about 13 when AOTC came out, and I remember plenty of friends who were stoked to see it just because Boba Fett was in there. Having lots of Boba Fett (well, a Boba Fett stand in) in the movie, including a scene where he has a fight scene with Kenobi, was just pandering to the audience. I honestly can’t believe people won’t accept that.
Ewoks are not that bad, and Boba Fett is not an interesting character
- Thread starter JirinPanthosa
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I was about 13 when AOTC came out, and I remember plenty of friends who were stoked to see it just because Boba Fett was in there. Having lots of Boba Fett (well, a Boba Fett stand in) in the movie, including a scene where he has a fight scene with Kenobi, was just pandering to the audience. I honestly can’t believe people won’t accept that.
Being stoked to have Boba Fett in AOTC ≠ seeing AOTC only because Boba Fett is in it. You originally said it was about bringing in more viewers.
Maybe not the first time, but more subsequent viewings, and I’m sure being stoked to see Boba Fett didn’t exactly hurt in terms of first time viewers. Remember, this was after TPM, which plenty of fans didn’t enjoy. Bringing Boba Fett back was a smart move because it helped bring back those fans and was an easy way to regain their good graces. You’ll still find most people saying that TPM was poor but AOTC was better and ROTS was good, and that’s because Lucas started catering those last two around fan wishes. It wasn’t only adding him that made people like those movies more, but he’s definitely part of it. Look online at what people liked about AOTC and you’ll find ‘Obi-Wan vs. Jango’ listed very frequently.
Ultimately, I just have a really hard time believing that Lucas didn’t bring back an insanely popular OT character for a larger role in AOTC without fan service being the motivation.
Given that Boba Fett was had some backstory connected to the Clone Wars I'm not convinced that fan service was the motivation.
Regardless, I'm sure fan service had some part, but I am skeptical that it moved the needle a whole lot in terms of going to view it. It certainly was a topic of discussion for my friends and I at the time.
As I said, I think it's part of what moved the needle, and you can still see that when people talk about AOTC today. At the time, it was a big sign that this wasn't going to be another TPM. I'm not sure where this Clone Wars backstory came from.
What people talk about today doesn't mean that's what people were looking forward to at the time. That's all I'm saying. I certainly like Jango more than Boba and Jango's appearance in AOTC was enjoyable for me (despite the decapitation-ugh) because I like Jango as a character, not because of any Fett connection.
The Clone Wars connection comes from (for me) the novelization and the info card on the back of his action figure in the 1990s, which refers to his Mandalorian armor being used by "evil supercommandos" during the Clone Wars.
I know one fan that stopped on Lucas' Star Wars at AOTC because of Jango Fett (and by extension Boba Fett). Mainly because he wasn't the actor(s) form the OT. She's was the type to be for the actors, and as soon as he was a Kiwi (Morrison) instead of a Brit (Bulloch) under the helmet she was out. It was disrespectful of the older actor (I suppose...Its been 18 or so she's since I talked to her about it). That and I think she's met Bulloch at a convention.
I watched Star Wars (all three over a few days) for the first time in the late 80s, my friend from school was a huge fan already and explained to me who everyone was and the entire story and showed me his action figures, he was a huge Boba Fett fan and I was really hyped and waited for him to be awesome ... that moment never came.
And I loved the Ewoks, I actually watched Return of the Jedi first because I wanted to see them.
And I loved the Ewoks, I actually watched Return of the Jedi first because I wanted to see them.
What people talk about today isn't necessarily what they were looking forward to at the time, but what people enjoy now arguably has a connection to what they looked forward to at the time. Ultimately, bringing Boba Fett back has proved an excellent and easy way to bring fans back on board. Lucas even wanted to bring him back for ROTS, but realized he'd be too long.
All I'm saying is that it seems a little naive not to credit the idea that fan service was the reason for investing more time in this character's backstory.
I just don't think it is the sole reason. That's all.
But, as I said, I am highly biased as I do not care for Fett as a character, think he is highly overblown, and just tire of him as a character. So, you might be right, and that's fine. I just don't see it. But, I can admit my bias too.
Then he must have had a growth spurt during the CW, because he was quite short in AOTC.
They accidentally spliced in some Kaminoan DNA during the cloning process. It was a tough puberty.
