UPDATE! George Lucas, Jonathan Rinzler: Boba Fett Lives!
Today’s a good day for any Star Wars fan that was worried about the new Expanded Universe, because a fan-favorite character is going to come crawling out of the underworld to kick ass once more…
Boba Fett had been appeared in post-Original Trilogy works since 1991’s Dark Empire (indeed, the revival of the character is almost universally considered to be the best thing about the comic to this day), but this resurrection seemingly was not to be once Disney decided that they were going to reboot the Expanded Universe. Those who worried that Disney wouldn’t retcon the iconic background baddie’s undignified death in Return Of The Jedi, fret not: according to the Lucasfilm Story Group’s Lucas Licensing’s Johnathan Rinzler (rather, George Lucas himself being paraphrased by Rinzler), Fett made his way out of the Sarlacc pit after all.
Yesterday, Jonathan Rinzler of the Lucasfilm Story Group Lucas Licensing held an “Ask Me Anything” thread on Reddit, which works just as it sounds – curious users ask the host questions for a few hours on end, and he or she answers the best and most interesting ones. (For anyone else who’s curious, the link to the entire AMA Thread can be found here.) Of course, avid fans of the famous mercenary were quick to ask questions about what Rinzler personally thought happened to the character (as opposed to his “death”, which was apparently canon now that Disney wiped the slate clean), but instead of getting a simple personal opinion, Rinzler straight-up confirmed a fact that many fans were hoping for: Boba Fett survived his accidental defeat by a blinded man at the Great Pit of Carkoon!
blackbetha: Jonathan, In your mind, does Boba Fett Escape the Sarlacc Pit?
Rinzler: Yes, he does. I have been in meetings with George where he confirms that Fett survived. If it comes from George then it’s true!
There you have it, folks – the head honcho of the Star Wars franchise has said that everyone’s favorite Mandalorian Bounty Hunter got to live to fight another day, meaning that we’ll no doubt be in for some interesting stories involving the character. The possibility of him getting a spin-off movie just got that much more likely! Here are a couple of sincere words you don’t see on the internet every day: thanks, George Lucas!
UPDATE!
It looks like we made a little mistake here – Jonathan Rinzler isn’t a part of Lucasfilm Story Group, but he is a part of Lucas Licensing (all instances where we made that mistake have since been corrected). Nonetheless, Lucas Licensing still plays a big part in the future of the franchise, and the word of George Lucas is basically the most reliable source when it comes to canon. In short, nothing has been invalidated, but we needed to make that little correction.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
GL loves Fett thats why.
*Selling Fett toys
yes no Money in death han ups boba toys.
If he survived then he should be In vii. No questions no arguments , fett would have taken it personal, and He’llbe out ffor revenge
maybe he’ll have a jetpack on his wheelchair
This film is set 35 years later. It’s too late to pull this out of the hat. I mean he wouldn’t age 35 years and then spring his trap, he would have just gone after Han maybe 3 or 4 years max after the event of Jedi, not 35 years. It wouldn’t make any sense for him to be in epvii so it would just feel like a silly fangasm rehash, when it’s actually incredibly stupid. Giving him a son or something would also be an equally pointless rehash. Time to move on.
Maybe it took him 35 years to get out of the pit?
Read the books Fett lived
I would be shocked if JJ doesn’t use Jeremy Bulloch somewhere in VII for at least a Boba Fett cameo, especially if Han dies in that movie.
Before Han dies, I definitely want him to:
– hang with Lando once more
– see him on Corellia
– have him encounter Boba Fett once more
Really? Why? Screw scenes of Han hanging around with Lando and seeing Boba Fett again. Personally I’d like the story to move on and give Han a great sendoff.
I’m down with seeing him on Corellia, but Fett should be dead and Lando doesn’t need to be in this film.
I’m scared of Harrison’s acting. I’d only want to see those scenes if he can make them believable, and I’d rather see the new actors and luke anyways.
I’m much more interested in seeing Leia as chancellor and Luke as the new old-ben figure. (If that’s the direction they’re taking those characters with) Han Solo is unfortunately dead weight to the universe at this point in time and Harrison Ford has not been very good at all in recent films.. so the rumours of his role being huge are rather frightening. I imagine he will die. There’s actually an interesting report that says Harrison and Carrie are only going to be in episode 7 and no longer be any part of the series –
http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/99815/20140717/star-wars-episode-8-release-date.htm?utm
Such a poor choice by Lucasfilm. One of the worst things the EU did was not let people die. This isn’t a comic book, Star Wars is above such foolishness. Now we have Maul living, Boba Fett living, what’s next? Palpatine clones?
Very disappointed in the path that the new EU is taking.
Still very positive on VII though, I’m sure we won’t be seeing Fett in that film.
Maul surviving is the only real joke. That was a terrible idea no matter how awesome Maul was. Cutting people in half should be enough for anyone to safely classify him as dead.
As for the EU it got slammed for permanently killing (spoilers I guess) Mara Jade, Both Solo Sons, Chewbacca etc…
So I wouldn’t say the it’s the EU’s fault. I’d say it’s bankrupt idea guys looking for a quick cash in on popular characters.
As for Boba Fett… well personal bias I fully admit to… say that’s perfectly fine he survived 😛
100% agreed
I can understand this notion in the context of Darth Maul; his character died in an epic and exciting manner. Fett, on the other hand, was supposedly killed by a recovering blind man with a shovel. I repeat: the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy was supposedly killed by a recovering blind man with a shovel…? I think not. Bringing back Fett is great news for the new canon. There are way worse things the old EU did back in the nineties than that.
The smart money says he’s in VII. They’re doing Tatooine so everything is pretty much in place for his return.
I think it’s safe to rule him out of VII. 35 years is quite enough for us to assume that this next episode will focus almost entirely on paving the way for the future Star Wars generation and less on reflection over what’s happened already. This is also why I believe some of the spin-off films will be based on existing movie-verse characters. There’s still a good amount of money to be made there.
this is best thing to happen. i don’t care what anyone says. i don’t care if he is in the new films or not, just knowing he lived it good enough for me
I personally can’t figure out what is so alluring about Fett, other than his costume. There is just not much there. As I grow older I begin to realize that it was mostly, “wow, he looks so cool,” but beyond that, eehhhh.
The most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy isn’t interesting enough for you? I’m Sorry…
“Most feared”? – he was one of many bounty hunters in EPV, but never in the movies was he portrayed as “most feared”.. Having not hit a majority of the EU, I never saw him as anything more than a bounty hunter in a cool costume. If anything, EPs I – III ruined the mystique of Boba Fett. I say you want him to live…. meh. but please ‘no’ to him in EP VII
This is unfortunately true. When I express my love for Fett… it’s the OT Fett. He was smarter than everyone else. He tracked down Solo.
However the prequels really did ruin the entire thing. Including storm troopers. The entire clones based on his DNA… terrible idea. They basically broke the golden rule of a character who’s known for his mask. You never take it off.
So in the end… I still love OT Fett. PT Jango and Boba? Yeah… no.
Precisely why they’re bringing him back; to give him more time in the spotlight and expand on him as a character. He’s one of the most iconic Star Wars characters and got a rough estimate of 10 collective minutes of screen time. By the time they’re done with him, the world-over will be drooling over Fett even more than they have over the passed few decades.
He’s alive for the sole purpose of their spin off movie. Which my guess takes place after episode 6. Just a guess.
At this stage, does it really matter what GL wants? Nope!
I’m sure they’re only saying that for fan service.
This was one of the EU stories that I never had a problem with. Boba Fett was a walking arsenal… why WOULDN’T he have blasted his way out of the Sarlacc?
I don’t expect him to be in Episode 7, though. If he was going to go after Han and company, he’d have done it long before this.
Plus, Jabba is dead, Vader and the Emperor are dead… who’s going to pay the bounty even if he does manage to capture Han? (Okay, so we don’t know who Han might have managed to piss off over the past 35 years, but still…) ;^)
I think it’s safe to rule him out of VII. 35 years is quite enough for us to assume that this next episode will focus almost entirely on paving the way for the future Star Wars generation and less on reflection over what’s happened already. This is also why I believe some of the spin-off films will be based on existing movie-verse characters. There’s still a good amount of money to be made there.
I have tended to assume that the Boba Fett spin-off would take place BEFORE Return of the Jedi, but perhaps they will rather go for a story that begins with him clawing his way out of the Sarlacc pit?
A good reason to bring him back is simply the fact that his “death” was so cheap.
But fresh from the Sarlacc, one would think he would be burning with hatred for Han and go after him right away. But since young Harrison Ford is no longer available, they would have to come up with a good reason why Fett cannot or will not locate Han.
Now there is a way out of this: Since the Sarlacc is said to digest its victims over a thousand years, it is implied that its juices (or whatever) keep them alive for the same period. So they COULD get away with a slightly-digested Boba Fett escaping the Sarlacc in Episode VII, after thirty years in a Sarcacc-induced state where he aged very little. After three decasdes of torture, he is finally free to go after Han …
The spin-off can then be set either in the pre-Sarlacc or post-Sarlacc period.
Whatever they go for in the end, it would be a treat to see the dunes shiver, the Sarlacc writhing in agony, and then a tormented figure slowly climbing out of the great pit of Carkoon. Finally he falls over and screams with all his burning hatred, a drawn-out roar filling the twi-sunned sky above: “SOLO-O-O-O!!!!!!! …”
Wow… Shivers down my spine to say the least. That’s a great explanation as to how they could include Fett in EpVII. Bravo! I agree with you 100%
So that literally means that almighty Sarlac is not that menacing as they want us to believe, right?….
Not to Fett, but to everyone else….yeah.
Defeating a monstrous beast of the sarlaccs magnitude is what makes Fett all the more badass.
Could they get away with having Fett’s resurrection scene before EVERYTHING? A slight deviation from the formula, but …
I mean, just the Disney logo … then we abruptly cut to the dunes of Tattooine … in fact, it just looks like a generic desert at first. Some uncertainty among the audience, has the movie started or not … ?
Then the Great Pit with the ultimate Vagina Dentata … and a figure comes crawling out … and just as he is definitely free and falls over and screams SOL-O-O-O, the screen abruptly goes black.
We still hear his hateful cry as we read A LONG TIME AGO, IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY …
vagina dentata hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
What a wonderful phrase!
Can clones reproduce naturally?
If they can, then how about Boba found a wife, had a kid, and that kid shows up in VII for revenge?
(A sort of ‘you-and-all-your-heirs’ kinda payback )
The Clone Wars had an episode where a Clone Trooper that deserted the Republic settled down with a Twi’lek and had children with her, so yes.
For the likely Boba Fett Spin off film I would love to see Manu Bennett take over as Fett. Temuera Morrison is too old Bulluch is white and definitely too old and Daniel Logan I wouldn’t take seriously as a feared bounty hunter. If you watch Arrow, Manu can play that line between making you feel for his character and really like him and still have him be down right menacing and frightening.
Grreeaat more Fett fanboy service.
It’ll be a spin-off trilogy. The Further Adventures Of Boba Fett.
Wait Han Solo, just wait!
Moby Dicj
Obvious and inevitable and the EU has nothing to with it, just the facts presented in the movie it self make it clear he likely would have escaped. I’m just glad this old debate can finally be put rest. I got tired of arguing the obvious years ago.
George Lucas stated “Boba Fett is dead. I killed him” a few years ago. The flanelled one became the weird one.
THE MORE WE LEARN ABOUT fETT, THE LESS INTERESTING HE BECOMES. LEAVE HIM BE.
Well, the creators DO listen to the feedback they get — sometimes they are almost too eager to please.
Jar-Jar was no success; ergo he is all but gone from Eps 2 and 3, even though we can safely assume he was originally meant to be the principal comic relief character throughout the trilogy.
On the other hand: Boba Fett, originally created as a rather marginal character and soon killed off with little ceremony, turned out to be a fan favorite. Ergo he is not only retroactively added to A New Hope, but Episode 2 was essentially one big origin story for Boba Fett. Yeah, this is of course exactly how George Lucas planned the Prequel Trilogy ever since the seventies, he ALWAYS knew that the stormtroopers were Fett clones … riiight …
Furthermore, it must now turn out that Fett wasn’t really dead after all (or, at the very least, wasn’t doomed to 1000 years of slow digestion). No, the EU has already let him escape the Sarlacc, and now the official, fully-canonical films will follow suit.
Oh yes. Our opinions do matter.
I noticed that in your first post, you put a line through Mandalorian. That was unnecessary. Even though he wasn’t born a Mandalorian, defies be mean that he didn’t become one.
I mostly just did that to poke fun at the pointless retcon that Lucasfilm Animation made for The Clone Wars. I think that a movie where Boba Fett reclaims his honor as a Mandalorian after it was denied to his father (which they need to actually explain) would make for an interesting story.
Has no one read the book Tales of the Bounty Hunters. Fett does not die. He is rescued by Dengar.
As I mentioned in the article, he was brought back for Star Wars Legends, otherwise known as the old Expanded Universe, which that story is part of. However, this is the first canon confirmation that Fett didn’t die.