Star Wars fans were overjoyed to see the triumphant return of Boba Fett on The Mandalorian. Still, they weren’t any more excited than Tumuera Morrison was to play the famed bounty hunter. Initially cast in 2002’s Attack of the Clones as Boba’s father, Jango, Morrison also played numerous clone troopers in Episode II and Revenge of the Sith. His recent turn as a seasoned Boba has been heralded for Morrison’s contributions to the franchise and an excellent rendition of the fan-favorite character.
Though Boba Fett was the first reference to Mandalore in the Star Wars universe, his actual ties to the warrior race have long been in dispute. Jango was a significant figure in Mandalorian history in the old Extended Universe (now Star Wars Legends). Still, the new canon erased a lot of that lore and suggested Jango might not have had real ties to Mandalore at all. Much to the satisfaction of old-school fans, Boba’s Mandalorian heritage has now been re-canonized.
The Star Wars fandom has exploded with praise for Boba Fett’s gaffi stick-led Stormtrooper murder spree in “The Tragedy,” but no one was more excited for the character’s return than Morrison himself. “At the time, I was in Los Angeles, meeting on another film,” Morrison said in a new interview with The New York Times, speaking of his meeting with Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, “so I was pleasantly surprised to get the call. I actually got to the meeting quite early — I was so excited I got there about two hours early.” It was a call Morrison had been hoping to get for some time.
“There was a lot of stuff online about a possible “Star Wars” bounty-hunter film, and then I was watching all the new “Star Wars” movies coming out, wondering if they were ever going to do anything with Jango Fett. My agent and I had a number of discussions — when are they going to call me? But then I kept forgetting about it. In this day and age, they have a number of options. They could have called other people to play the part. They can go with a fresh face. They could have called the Rock. I felt so grateful that after all this time, something came to be.”
While the Star Wars prequels were largely panned in their day – and still are to a significant extent – the fan base has come to embrace specific aspects of the trilogy in more recent years. Morrison’s performance as Jango Fett is one of those parts, and he’s long been a treasured (if silent) member of the broader Star Wars family. His new performance as Boba Fett – the more fan-beloved of the father and son – in The Mandalorian – easily the most positively received Star Wars story in years – has only solidified his status as a crucial part of the universe.
Morrison’s return is only made better by his excitement. In the interim, he’s appeared in films like Aquaman and Moana. His breakout came in the 1994 New Zealand film Once Were Warriors, which helped him establish a name for himself in Hollywood. Now, Morrison could have a second life in the world of Star Wars, whether strictly through a recurring presence in The Mandalorian or via a potential spinoff series of his own.
Source: The New York Times
Originally from https://screenrant.com/star-wars-mandalorian-boba-fett-return-disney-temuera-morrison/