Ever since The Mandalorian premiered, the titular Din Djarin has rivaled Boba Fett in terms of popularity as a Mandalorian. The two are now both synonymous with the appearance of Mandalorians, but Din Djarin has widely repopularized the concept for the modern era. This has brought one crucial question to the forefront: should the original Mandalorian, Boba Fett, have actually been the subject of the hit Disney+ series?
For over 20 years, Boba Fett was the main Mandalorian of the Star Wars timeline, and he was even further cemented into the canon by the prequel trilogy. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones gave Boba Fett a connection to the clone army that made him absolutely essential to the Skywalker saga’s plot, as he was also a clone. With The Mandalorian, however, Lucasfilm decided to try something completely new, and started over with a new character. Whether that was the right idea is still up for debate.
A lot of what originally made Boba Fett a very unique character has been shifted into Din Djarin’s character in Star Wars canon. The lone and revered bounty hunter, the armored gunslinger who never shows his face, and more are all what Boba Fett’s characterization really was in the original trilogy, and it’s what made him popular. Now, however, those traits are all pretty much what Din Djarin is in The Mandalorian. It’s a simple archetype, but is still really prominent in Star Wars storytelling, especially for these two very popular characters.
More than that, in the old Star Wars timeline, now dubbed Star Wars Legends, Boba Fett had a post-Return of the Jedi story told in books and comics that tied him into the Mandalorian people. This is another element of Fett’s character that’s been given to Djarin in the new canon. In fact, Din is much more involved with the diaspora elements of Mandalore and its wayward people than Fett is in canon storytelling. Boba Fett barely seems connected to Mandalorian culture at all in canon. It’s worth asking, then, why Boba wasn’t the focus of The Mandalorian itself.
After his triumphant return in The Mandalorian season 2, which is a bit ironic for this topic, Boba Fett went on to have a single season of his own series. The Book of Boba Fett was received somewhat positively among viewers, but many are vocal about disliking it and consider it a miss – especially considering Din Djarin pretty much took over the series for two episodes before the finale. Since that finale over two years ago, Boba Fett has been nowhere to be seen in Star Wars television.
The last he was seen, Boba Fett had successfully fought off the Pyke Syndicate in the streets of Mos Espa on Tatooine. He is now the Daimyo of the region, has a well-connected found family, and is respected by the citizens. He’s becoming a bigger name in the underworld of the Star Wars galaxy through leading with respect, and still, creatives seem to not know where to go from there. Many viewers expected a return in The Mandalorian season 3, especially with Din’s pit-stop on Tatooine, but no appearance happened.
It would have been easy for Lucasfilm to simply use Boba Fett in place of Din Djarin. Some really special elements of Din’s journey even play into Boba Fett’s already established backstory. Boba was a lost child who suffered a lot after the loss of his father, and in Din’s place would have had the chance to be a father to Grogu on their adventures together – the father he lost. This idea was touched on vaguely in The Book of Boba Fett, but wasn’t explored nearly as deeply as it could’ve been in a theoretical Boba Fett-led Mandalorian season.
This makes even more sense when the plot of The Mandalorian season 3 is considered. In Legends, Boba Fett eventually became the new Mand’alor of his people. He led the planet of Mandalore from 23 ABY onward, and even became a big part of galaxy-wide conflicts in this position of leadership. Din Djarin, as the temporary wielder of the Darksaber in canon, would have reflected this story, and could’ve even adapted it. If Boba Fett was the main character of The Mandalorian, it’s possible viewers could have seen him as the new Mand’alor following the retaking of the Mandalorian homeworld.
Boba Fett absolutely could have played the role of The Mandalorian, but in the end, it’s probably better that he didn’t. Boba Fett has an incredibly complicated backstory, and it would take a lot of explaining to even set up the character for the series, whereas Din Djarin can jump into the action from the first minute he’s onscreen, and viewers just get it. Boba would’ve been a much more complicated main character to deal with for the writers in particular, which is so different from Din Djarin’s completely clean slate as a new character.
Perhaps most important of all is the fact that Star Wars just needs to be new and fresh sometimes. It’s really amazing that Din Djarin, a character who debuted only in 2019, has already become ubiquitous with Star Wars as a brand and pop-culture force. That’s the power of good storytelling, not to mention the incredible concept of a Jedi baby of Yoda’s species accompanying this nobody, which makes the universe feel a lot bigger. If Boba Fett had found Grogu, it might just feel like too small of a world, especially with Din Djarin and Grogu meeting Luke Skywalker.
Also, the now-iconic Pedro Pascal wouldn’t have been able to join the Star Wars galaxy if Boba Fett was The Mandalorian.Pascal’s portrayal of Din Djarin’s growing intimacy, despite only revealing his face on select occasions, has undoubtedly been a focal point for the series’ humanity as well. As it turns out, not every Star Wars story needs to star a pre-established character, as proven by The Mandalorian not being Boba Fett.