By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Another irony in Star Wars is that Boba Fett won over millions of fans while appearing for less than seven minutes in the Original Trilogy. Another reason for this is that he was extremely he is happy before many fans see him. Kids can send proof of purchase to four other numbers and get Boba Fett's email address before his first appearance The Empire Strikes Back. This created quite a stir, and the villain seemed to live up to the moment when he successfully tracked down Han Solo and escaped with his body frozen in carbonite as Jabba the Hutt's prize.
After all that build up, it was odd that Fett's death was turned into a dumb line in the next film. Why would George Lucas torture fans like this? As it happens, it's all because he finally changed his mind. At one point, the creator of Star Wars planned three trilogies, and at first he wanted Fett to be the Big Bad. Return of the Jedi. When he decided to “only” do two trilogies, Fett was demoted to be replaced by Emperor Palpatine. It was the right call, but it's fair to say that Lucas effectively saved the Original Trilogy by destroying his worst self.
Most Animated Villain
Although George Lucas has yet to speak personally on the matter, many Star Wars insiders have spoken about how the director's vision for his blockbuster franchise has changed over time. For example, Gary Kurtz was the producer of A New Hope again The Empire Strikes Backand after The Phantom Menace came out, telling TheForce.net that Lucas originally intended to create three Star Wars trilogies (after rejecting the idea of four). There were several differences between his original ideas and what we finally got on screen, but the most surprising is that Lucas didn't want to introduce Emperor Palpatine until the final film of the final trilogy.
When you consider Palpatine's huge influence on the Original Trilogy, Prequel Trilogy, and Sequel Trilogy, it's shocking to imagine a world where fans had to wait decades to even see him on screen. But Kurtz's revelation leads to an obvious question: if Palpatine hadn't appeared until the end of the third trilogy, who would have been the Big Bad of Return of the Jedi? According to Lucasfilm's head of fan relations Craig Millar, Boba Fett was going to be the final boss of the Original Trilogy, which is why George Lucas spent years manipulating Fett.
From Sidekick to Honcho
“Boba is going to be a big villain,” he said, in an interview with Inverse. “That was planned, why was he taking Han Solo, why was there a Christmas special with him.” After years of setup, what changed? “When George decided not to do a third trilogy, he completely ended that history, which is why in the first ten minutes, Boba Fett is attacked and falls into the mouth of a giant monster.” While this is disappointing for bounty hunter fans, it's interesting to note how quickly Lucas was willing to kill Fett when his plans changed.
According to Millar, we shouldn't be too disappointed that we never saw the third Lucas trilogy, because everything was condensed into one film. “So [Lucas] he took what was planned for the third trilogy, which was the conflict between Luke and Darth Vader, and the battle with the Emperor, and that went from three movies to one movie. And that was the plot Jedi.” This is very much in line with what Kurtz said back in 1999, although the producer insisted that Luke would still face Vader Return of the Jedi.
Sadly, we have no details on how Boba Fett would have worked as the ultimate villain in ROTJ. Would he have some position in the Galactic Empire, or use his vast resources as a bounty hunter to torture our heroes? We will probably never know the answers to these questions, which can frustrate fans. One thing is certain, though: if Boba Fett it was the Big Bad, would have died in a cooler way than being devoured by a giant angry pit. Fans shouldn't hold things against the Sarlacc, though: if you it was a sandy loam that should eat nothing but armed idiots and squealing pig people, and you would be hostile!
