Read this: Boba Fett creator explains how he designed Star Wars most popular bounty hunter
Joe Johnston, the director of The Rocketeer and Captain America, talks about one of his most famous creations: Boba Fett
TV Features Boba Fett
One of the most popular characters in the Star Wars universe, Boba Fett finally has Disney+ series to call his home. But as fans saddle up for the first season of The Book Of Boba Fett, The Wrap’s Drew Taylor spoke to Joe Johnston, who, in addition to directing The Rocketeer and Captain America: The First Avenger, created everybody’s favorite bounty hunter.
Johnston, who doesn’t have much to do with Star Wars these days, is refreshingly candid about the creation of the character. Designed as part of “an army of super troopers” akin to “upgraded stormtroopers,” Boba Fett quietly became a unique bounty hunter at George Lucas’ request. The Empire Strikes Back didn’t have the budget for “6,000 super troopers running across the landscape,” but they did have enough for a prototype costume. Lucas would have to put a pin in that original vision until Attack Of The Clones.
Though Johnston designed the character, Lucas helped give it those “used universe” Star Wars touches. “George said, ‘If we’re going to make him a bounty hunter, just make him look unique, like he found this outfit and scrounged a few pieces. And it’s old and beat up. And don’t make it look like it’s a prototype suit for anything. It’s just sort of this outfit.’”
Johnston would put his spin on the character, looking to Floquil paints, typically used for painting model railroads, and gave him a fresh coat “Santa Fe Orange and Burlington Northern Green,” mixing colors on the fly.
What Johnston describes is part of the alchemy of Boba Fett, a striking and memorable character that stands out in a scene of striking and memorable characters—in Empire Strikes Back, Johnston’s bounty hunter would have to stand next to IG-88 and Bossk, for crying out loud! Other markings on the costume, which would later inspire volumes of fan-fiction, spin-off novels, and now a TV show, were there to give the character a sense of history and mystery.
I made all that stuff up. Because I figured, let’s make him mysterious. Let’s not use anything we’ve seen before. And I had names for all that stuff. Most of them I’ve forgotten. But that wheat thing is called the Venom Vine. And on one of his shoulder pads he’s got, it’s like a skull of some creature. That’s all just out of nowhere.
Johnston has his feelings on the direction the character has gone (“I never thought he should take his helmet off.”) and the current state of Star Wars (“It’s not quite what the original trilogy was”). For his part, he thinks that mining the character of its allure is “too much.”
Nevertheless, George Lucas handing Boba Fett to Johnston in the late 70s was a good call. While Lucas would become known as the final word in Star Wars for more than three decades, when it came to Boba Fett, he simply requested that Johnston “make him look cool.” Mission accomplished.
27 Comments
My son was saying “Mandalorians never take off their helmets!” and I’m going “Boba Fett is a clone, not a Mandalorian”.Am I right?And, listen up, Lucasfilm! Johnston knows action movies. Please let him direct an episode of a Star Wars show.
iirc the show retconned Jango to be some kind of honorary Mandalorian, but the helmet thing is a fringe practise anyway (and I think Mando might actually be the last survivor of that subculture, so it’s basically just him).
Is that really considered a retcon? Nothing changed, they just filled in a void. We know nothing about Jango>>He was a Foundling.
I thought there was something before about him not being Mandalorian, but maybe that was old EU.
Some Mandalorian politician in TCW referred to Jango as “a common bounty hunter,” and told Obi-Wan “I don’t know where he found that armor.” But I think he was also dirty and trying to cover up his involvement with Death Watch, and may have damn well known Jango was former Death Watch or earned it by killing someone in Death Watch.
they just filled in a void
Like caulk?
Thank you. You’re right. Bo-Katan, a true Mandalorian, didn’t bother with the rule.
You’re right, and it’s complicated. Boba Fett isn’t a Mandalorian. Also, Mandalorians take off their helmets all the time. But, there is a fringe, fundamentalist sect of Mandalorians who DON’T take off their helmets. Other Mandalorians think they’re weird.
That’s pretty accurate.His father, Jango, is a Mandalorian (though he did taken off his helmet as well, he was trying to hide himself from the rest of galaxy) and even though Boba has no interests in honoring his father’s Mandalorian heritages, he did wears his armor out of respect and necessity (especially since he did shares his likeness with Clone Troopers, given that they all came from Jango’s genes.)
Jango was originally a mandalorian, then they changed it and Lucas said, “nah, he was never meant to be a mandalorian at all. (Seriously, WTF?) and then they kinda changed it back and grandfathered him in or whatever. So Boba is a Mando by virtue of being Jango’s son, but apparently, doesn’t really care that much anyway.
yeah, like I was raised Mando, but I lost the faith in college. Now I just go to Mando mass on Christmas and Easter to make my Mando mom happy.
My roommate was a Mando and his girlfriend was a Sith. Their wedding was….interesting.
I didn’t even know that guy was Mando until I saw him wearing ashes for Yom Kippur.
I think you & your son should settle it via wrestling.
Some Star Wars nerd should know the answer to this: when was the first time he was referred to as Boba Fett? I don’t remember him having a name in the original movies.
Thanks. I’d have never known that. Also just realized that I’ve never seen the original Star Wars in HD before. It looks so crisp and sharp.
He was id’d by name in the infamous 1978 SW Holiday Special, in which he debuted.
This is actually his first official debut
Bea Arthur: The most sarcastic bounty hunter in the galaxy!
Disney+ has a 20-minute documentary on the creation of Boba Fett, so I knew all this already.
Well aren’t you hot shit.
In all of my pop culture years, I never made the connection between Boba Fett and the Rocketeer – guess Johnston likes helmeted characters with rocket packs.
And Han Solo’s blaster was a modified broomhandle Mauser pistol, which was the weapon wielded by the Rocketeer.
Johnston also directed Honey I Shrunk The Kids, Jumanji, and Jurassic Park III.
MOST IMPORTANTLY…he designed the Millennium Falcon. The original design was too close to the Eagle from Space 1999. He had just weeks to do it because of FX work and set-building. A true national hero.Bonus: Here’s the 5 main ILM special effects guys for The Empire Strikes Back chatting for an hour and a half.
Joe Johnston doesn’t get nearly enough credit for all his amazing design work on SW. Ralph McQuarrie, fortunately, has been well-recognized for his enormous contributions to the look of the franchise, but Johnston is right behind him.
Fandom is weird. I grew up obsessed with Boba Fett. Favorite character, blahblah. I know that’s a common thing with men my age.However, unlike most people, I stopped caring about Boba Fett’s backstory. I think the re-releases and prequels kind of eroded my need to know the origin of every single character from my childhood.It was more fun when he was a mystery. I did not ask for nor need this TV series and might not even watch it.Which is all just to say I find it strange that this should be right in my wheelhouse as a Star Wars fan but I just don’t really care anymore. I wonder if the difference is that I grew out of it while others my age were turning to the books and comics? Or maybe it was the later generations? Who knows. It’ just weird to see all this obsessive fandom but I don’t know anyone my age who is one of those people.