Mandalorian was an instant hit with Star Wars fans when it premiered on Disney+ in 2019, but the first live-action show within the new canon quietly destroyed the reputation of an iconic character who had existed in the space opera for decades. While a new figure rose from the ashes, the one that was swept aside still hasn’t recovered, and they likely never will. There’s no doubt the trade-off was worth it, but it’s still a little sad.

Debuting just before 2019’s Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, The Mandalorian ultimately turned out to be the franchise’s flagship property for years to come. The adventures of Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu flourished while Star Wars‘ big-screen reputation started to slide. The show’s success resulted in Star Wars shifting its efforts to a string of original series on Disney+ rather than cinematic events – a trend that is only just starting to end. For all the good The Mandalorian did for the franchise, it also tarnished the space opera’s legacy in a very specific way.

‘The Mandalorian’s Din Djarin Made Everyone Stop Caring About Boba Fett

After making his debut in the now-decanonized Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978, Boba Fett went on to have two official appearances — one in each of the final two movies of the original trilogy. Originally portrayed physically by Jeremy Bulloch, Boba Fett’s cool character design and enigmatic nature made him an instant hit with Star Wars fans. Despite his apparent death in 1983’s Return of the Jedi, the bounty hunter enjoyed more adventures in other Star Wars media, such as novels and comics. However, Disney scrubbed almost everything but the live-action movies from Boba Fett’s official Star Wars appearances when Lucasfilm was purchased in 2012.

Boba Fett’s popularity remained intact, and fans were desperate for Disney to bring the character back to the screen. When Jon Favreau created The Mandalorian, the visual similarities between the show’s titular bounty hunter and Boba Fett acted as an immediate way of placating those fans who wanted their favorite classic character back. As The Mandalorian progressed, it became clear that Favreau and company had done more than enough to make the Boba Fett faithful happy, despite building the show around a completely different bounty hunter. The scripts were so good and the overall production so slick that the demand for Boba Fett’s return all but vanished.

Boba Fett’s ‘The Mandalorian’ Debut Ended up Being Little More Than a Bonus

The Mandalorian had functionally replaced Boba Fett. Still, the show did introduce him in Season 2, with Temuera Morrison reprising the role after playing the character’s clone “father” Jango Fett in the prequel trilogy, as well as re-recording Boba’s lines for the remastered original trilogy. His presence in The Mandalorian felt surprisingly earned, and he slotted into the story succinctly during all four episodes in which he featured. That said, he wasn’t strictly a necessity.

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Rather than the project being built around Temuera’s character, The Mandalorian essentially used him as window dressing. His presence was more fan service than anything else, just an incredibly significant example of it. His surprise return was reason to celebrate for long-standing Star Wars fans, but newcomers also enjoyed the worldbuilding that Boba Fett’s return provided. Overall, it was worthwhile bringing him back. On the other hand, having Din Djarin and Boba Fett sharing the screen felt almost like breaking the fourth wall due to their stark similarities. It wasn’t necessary, but it was fun.

‘The Mandalorian’ Made Boba Fett’s Disney+ Spinoff Show Struggle To Find an Appropriate Storyline

Boba Fett’s presence among The Mandalorian Season 2’s cast turned out to be a sort of collection of backdoor pilots for Morrison to lead his own show. The Book of Boba Fett premiered on Disney+ in late 2021, and it was…not good. Because The Mandalorian had already functionally replaced Boba Fett with Din Djarin, everything fans had been watching Pascal’s character doing could easily have been Boba Fett adventures, and there would be no point in doing it all again with the classic character. So, Star Wars was forced to come up with an alternate plot for Boba Fett’s proper return.

The Book of Boba Fett has a score of just 66% on Rotten Tomatoes. The fans rate it even lower at 48%.

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As it turns out, the prospect of Boba Fett returning to Tatooine to become the leader of its criminal underbelly isn’t as interesting as it sounds on paper. The Book of Boba Fett struggled to find its feet throughout most of its run. In a poetic turn of events, it only started to get good when Episode 5, “Return of the Mandalorian,” brought Din Djarin into the show. From there, the constant references to the larger Star Wars universe stole focus from Boba Fett, because fans were already looking for anything more interesting to latch onto instead. Whenever anyone remembers the largely disastrous miniseries, Boba Fett is often left out of the conversation altogether.

Boba Fett’s Fall From Popularity Proves a Harsh Truth About His Character

There’s no denying that Boba Fett has always been a very cool-looking character. However, that’s where his appeal sort of ends. He was never on the screen long enough in the original trilogy to have any kind of real development, so fans were clearly flocking to him for aesthetic reasons. If he truly was a well-written figure, then it wouldn’t have been so easy to replace him so quickly with Din Djarin. His comeback would have been prioritized, rather than having him included as an afterthought.

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Granted, Din Djarin was also pretty unremarkable in The Mandalorian‘s debut. He was essentially a stand-in for Boba Fett, back when Favreau was initially trying to carve out his own corner of the Star Wars universe without treading on the toes of its main events. It was Din’s dynamic with Grogu that would go on to define his character, and vice versa. Writing the same story with Boba Fett in place of Din Djarin would likely have benefited the classic character just as much. That said, it’s understandable that The Mandalorian would want to build from scratch rather than with a Star Wars character that came with narrative baggage.