A lot of his popularity came from the Novels/Comics/Games. Yes he didn't do anything in the movies, but he did stuff in the printed materials.
Spoilers The Mandalorian season 2 discussion
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A lot of his popularity came from the Novels/Comics/Games. Yes he didn't do anything in the movies, but he did stuff in the printed materials.
Because Cobb Vanth is just as quick on the draw as Wild Bill Hickock, so Boba was much better off waiting.
Fett probably had to spend quite a bit of time recovering from being inside--and fighting his way out of--the belly of a sarlacc. Then it would have taken him time to figure out what happened to his armor, let alone who it ultimately ended up with. He might have only just recently learned about Cobb Vanth and had been on his way to Mos Pelgo when he saw that Din had taken it.
I read the printed stuff. There was one story that I can recall that I felt was remotely close to earning his popularity. But, it was still just "I'm a badass cipher" and not a character.
I remember the "Bounty Hunter Trilogy" to be an indecipherable mess that I couldn't even finish.
Boba Fett in print was kind of all over the place. None of the authors could seem to agree on his personality, disposition or motivations from one story to the next. But then that's the EU in a nutshell, really. The only comic I remember that really showed off his abilities was the 'Twin Engines of Destruction' story. It was fun and cheesy as all hell, but also kinda badass in a "not taking itself too seriously" kinda way.
Indeed while he was always popular, I think the overblown badass anti-hero thing only really crystallised around the time of the 'Shadows of the Empire' multimedia project, since part of that whole thing as all of the tESB bounty hunters trying to steal Solo's carbonite block off of him en route to Jabba, so there was a sizable influx of related products and media. And also because: 90's comics loved it some over the top anti-heroes.
After that, it kind of spun off away from Fett specifically into this weird fetishized "Space-Vikings who are also Spartans" culture, which was 100% NOT what Lucas had in mind when he invented Mandalorians.
Personally, I never really got the complaint that Fett in the OT never did anything. I mean, that's kinda the point. He wasn't supposed to be a one man army ball of destruction, he was supposed to be 'The Man With No Name' gun slinging bounty hunter. The kind that sits quietly in the corner of the saloon, face obscured in shadow under the brim of his hat.
Admittedly, they could have done a lot more with him in the Sarlacc fight, but I chalk that up to a combination of factors: 1) Richard Marquand was mostly a TV director and not terribly experienced with action scenes 2) the shoot was technically difficult given the (snake infested!) suspended set, Utah climate and stunt crew so determined to overdo it they wound up getting half of them sent back to digs with broken bones. And 3) they pretty much ran out of time and had to do pickups in post against a blue screen. Oh and they managed to set Chewie on fire at one point. So yeah, they could have done more with Fett, but really they're lucky they just got the bare minimum footage they needed for the edit.
Indeed while he was always popular, I think the overblown badass anti-hero thing only really crystallised around the time of the 'Shadows of the Empire' multimedia project, since part of that whole thing as all of the tESB bounty hunters trying to steal Solo's carbonite block off of him en route to Jabba, so there was a sizable influx of related products and media. And also because: 90's comics loved it some over the top anti-heroes.
After that, it kind of spun off away from Fett specifically into this weird fetishized "Space-Vikings who are also Spartans" culture, which was 100% NOT what Lucas had in mind when he invented Mandalorians.
Personally, I never really got the complaint that Fett in the OT never did anything. I mean, that's kinda the point. He wasn't supposed to be a one man army ball of destruction, he was supposed to be 'The Man With No Name' gun slinging bounty hunter. The kind that sits quietly in the corner of the saloon, face obscured in shadow under the brim of his hat.
Admittedly, they could have done a lot more with him in the Sarlacc fight, but I chalk that up to a combination of factors: 1) Richard Marquand was mostly a TV director and not terribly experienced with action scenes 2) the shoot was technically difficult given the (snake infested!) suspended set, Utah climate and stunt crew so determined to overdo it they wound up getting half of them sent back to digs with broken bones. And 3) they pretty much ran out of time and had to do pickups in post against a blue screen. Oh and they managed to set Chewie on fire at one point. So yeah, they could have done more with Fett, but really they're lucky they just got the bare minimum footage they needed for the edit.
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Heck, even in some of the comics under the new continuity, Boba's come across as a ruthless killer only out for himself, with no apparent code of honor. Then we see him pledging a debt to Din for returning his father's armor.
I guess sometimes near-death experiences can help you rethink your priorities in life.
I guess sometimes near-death experiences can help you rethink your priorities in life.
It's the never did anything and garnering so much adulation that gets under my skin.
Oh BTW, for those saying the knee darts date back to the visual dictionary; they in fact go back to the very beginning.
Lanister Fett always pays their debts" is a big one.
I admit it's a bit of a blur for me at this point, but I don't recall any canon stories where he does anything particularly underhanded. Cold, heartless, brutal, and mercenary, sure. But nothing overtly dishonourable.
Seriously though, I don't see the problem. He looked cool. People like characters that look cool. He was specifically designed to stand there and look cool. Box checked! Job done! One may as well be mad at how much people liked the X-Wings.
Personally, my problem with that whole part of the fandom wasn't with Fett as a character, but the fetishization of the Mandalorian warrior culture (not the same thing as an honourable martial tradition, there's a subtle distinction.) It's why I like how canon are characterising them for what they should be: a bunch of violent, oppressive zealots that turn tyrant the second they achieve power.
It's also why I liked Sabine's arc in Rebels; as through both Hera and Kanan she learned as more Jedi like path of using her skills not for power, glory or even honour, but selfless service to the helpless. Contrast that with Death Watch's attitude towards "the weak".
I don't see those as mutually exclusive. Clearly, he IS a ruthless killer. Always was. A code on honour just means he has a personal set of rules he holds himself to, and they don't have be be very nice rules. What those rules are are up to him. Here it seems "a
I admit it's a bit of a blur for me at this point, but I don't recall any canon stories where he does anything particularly underhanded. Cold, heartless, brutal, and mercenary, sure. But nothing overtly dishonourable.
Well he can hardly be blamed for other people's armour envy.
Seriously though, I don't see the problem. He looked cool. People like characters that look cool. He was specifically designed to stand there and look cool. Box checked! Job done! One may as well be mad at how much people liked the X-Wings.
Personally, my problem with that whole part of the fandom wasn't with Fett as a character, but the fetishization of the Mandalorian warrior culture (not the same thing as an honourable martial tradition, there's a subtle distinction.) It's why I like how canon are characterising them for what they should be: a bunch of violent, oppressive zealots that turn tyrant the second they achieve power.
It's also why I liked Sabine's arc in Rebels; as through both Hera and Kanan she learned as more Jedi like path of using her skills not for power, glory or even honour, but selfless service to the helpless. Contrast that with Death Watch's attitude towards "the weak".
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The Bounty Hunter Wars was an awesome book trilogy, its what made me a fan of Fett, and his parts (and the mandalorian parts in general) of the Legacy of the Force book series are the only parts that weren't terrible. He also showed up as a minor antagonist in various books (like the Han Solo trilogy, which is still the definitive Han Solo origin to me). He also had some good comic appearances over the years, although I'm a bit less familiar with those (I'm more of a Old EU book fan, I like a lot of the old comics that I've read, but there are many I'm not super familiar with).
So, yeah, for fans of the Old EU there was more then enough of him to become a fan, but its really cool to see him be an absolute badass on screen.
Casual SW fan here (movies only) -- I always thought he looked cool. I liked the color combination of his armor. Being masked, one can project on him too, which would resonate a lot with kids of my generation who were young when we encountered him in the theater and that Kenner toy that I believe had a lot to do with his appeal IIRC.
True enough, and I know this because of this forum and Wookiepedia. But most fans of Star Wars are not aware of the comics and novels. They could give a flying f*** about them, or the fact that that entire EU was cancelled when Disney bought SW. I read maybe 5 comics and 2 novels myself. For me, it's about the movies and the tv shows. So I never really understood this entire 'Boba is almost God-like' thing you can see online.
I am very happy for those that read comics and novels and got a more developed character that way. Each his own when it comes to fandoms and what you get out of it. For me, after seeing people going on about the awesomeness that is THE Boba Fett..... This was the first time I actually felt there was a character, not a dude in costume. And I finally really enjoy Boba now.
I recently started reading Marvel’s Star Wars Legends Epic Collection which reprints everything from Marvel’s original Star Wars run all the way up to the Disney purchase and the license leaving Dark Horse in chronological order throughout multiple subsets (Empire, Rebellion, The New Republic, several prequel era sets, The Old Republic, Tales of the Jedi, Legacy, the original marvel series and the newspaper strips). I almost always have found myself getting bored with the Fett comics. From this perspective, the EU Fett has just not been interesting to me. It’s the ultimate in fanboy-ishness in my opinion. He does no wrong and is invincible. Just not all that interesting. For me.
Part of me still wishes they would have kept with the initial concept for the armor as stated in the Empire Strikes Back novel. The book described the armor as something soldiers from the Clone Wars wore.
Because that wouldn't have been an episode in this series. It gives a way to introduce Boba to the show.
Yeah, I think people overthink this, he had a cool look and we always figured he was a badass because he could talk back to Vader and not get choked for his trouble. He was on to Han's ruse with the Falcon from the beginning showing he was competent. He was cooler than most of the initial Kenner toys we had as kids.
I think most of his popularity comes from the action figure. All the awesome stuff Boba Fett did happened in kids imaginations.
Short answer- I use to be.
Rule of cool is never something I abide too much
Largely because i use to be on the other side of it when writing fan films.
