TheStar Warsuniverse has always traded in standard good-versus-evil narratives. Series creator George Lucas was inspired by the archetype-driven storytelling of fairy tales and mythology to create a modern-day myth that would encapsulate those values. Luke Skywalker is an incorruptible hero. Emperor Palpatine is the deceptively camp embodiment of pure evil. The Rebels defeat the Empire, the Jedi triumph over the Sith, the light side of the Force balances out the dark side, etc.
Lucas’ mythologizing changed the face of Hollywood in the 1970s, but today, there’s more of an appetite for darker, edgier, more morally challenging stories.Batman BeginsandCasino Royalegave way to the “gritty reboot.”RecentStar Warsprojects likeRogue OneandThe Mandalorianhave flirted with these concepts, but the franchise has yet to really dig deep and explore them.
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The “Golden Age of Television” has drawn viewers into the lives of complicated antiheroes like Walter White and Tony Soprano. Movies usually don’t have enough time to get audiences to sympathize with a killer, but TV has the flexibility to explore their psychology and humanize them. The latestStar Warsproject to arrive on Disney+,The Book of Boba Fett, is Lucasfilm’s chance to venture into the hitherto-uncharted moral gray area between the galaxy’s heroes and villains.
As a former bounty hunter who has disavowed the Empire but not the business of killing,Boba Fett may fall somewhere between good and evil. By his own admission, Boba is “a simple man making his way through the galaxy, like my father before me.” He’s neither a hero nor a villain.Star Warsfinally has the chance to escape the trappings of its mythmaking and present a moral ambiguity that the franchise hasn’t played with much on-screen.
Morally complicated stories have been seen in plenty of otherStar Warsmedia. There’s an abundance of novels about the darker characters from a galaxy far, far away.The de-canonized video gameThe Force Unleashedis told from the perspective of Vader’s apprentice. But, unlike the MCU,The Lord of the Rings, and the Bond franchise,Star Warsactually originated on the screen. These morally ambiguous stories haven’t really been seen inStar Wars’ movie and TV content.
When it was first announced,The Mandalorianpromised to be a darker, rougher, murkierStar Warsshow that would explore the seedier corners of the galaxy and the cold-blooded killers that inhabit them.Din Djarin was a genuine revisionist western antiheroin the show’s pilot episode, but he became a traditional hero as soon as he took Grogu under his wing.
Since there was nothing confirmed about Boba’s spin-off series besides its existence inThe Mandalorian’s second-season finale, there’s been a lot of speculation about what the show could be. Some fans expected it to be aStar Warsspaghetti western about a bounty hunter traversing a lawless frontier, or evena straightforward revenge thrillerfollowing Boba as he settles various scores across the galaxy.
Now that Lucasfilm has finally dropped a trailer for the show, fans have a better idea of what to expect. It looks like it could be aGodfather-esque gangster epic about the balance of power between feuding outlaws. Boba has pledged not to rule with fear, but with respect. At the same time, it doesn’t look like he’s hoping to make any friends. He isn’t motivated by doing the right thing and he’s not above getting his hands dirty.
All signs point toThe Book of Boba Fettbeing the first trueStar Warsantihero story. It can be the show thatThe Mandalorianpromised to be when its early marketing was hiding “Baby Yoda.”The Book of Boba Fettcan launch a bold, daring new chapter ofStar Warsthat exploresa more complex spectrum of ethicsinstead of telling the linear, black-and-white story of a righteous hero taking down an unscrupulous villain.
It’s in very safe hands with executive producer Robert Rodriguez. In addition to helmingBoba’s spectacular return to actioninThe Mandalorianepisode “Chapter 14: The Tragedy,” Rodriguez has directed a handful of awesome, action-packed antihero movies throughout his career. HisEl Mariachitrilogy followed the ultraviolent adventures of a lone wolf seeking vengeance.Sin Cityis an anthology of hard-boiled crime stories, adapted from Frank Miller’s comics, featuring a rogues’ gallery of femme fatales and tough-as-nails detectives.
Machete, based on a fake trailer fromRodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s blood-soaked double featureGrindhouse, stars Danny Trejo as a Mexican federale doing the U.S. government’s dirty work along the border. The sequel toMachete,Machete Kills, promised a third movie entitledMachete Kills Again… In Space. Since that movie never got made, maybeThe Book of Boba Fettcan beMachete Kills Again… In A Galaxy Far, Far Away.
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