Here's how a legendary 'Star Wars' bounty hunter strikes back in 'The Mandalorian' (spoilers!)

Bounty hunter Boba Fett and Darth Vader meet in 'The Empire Strikes Back' (Photo: Lucasfilms/courtesy Everett Collection)
Bounty hunter Boba Fett and Darth Vader meet in 'The Empire Strikes Back' (Photo: Lucasfilms/courtesy Everett Collection)
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Warning: This post contains major spoilers for this week’s episode of The Mandalorian.

By the end of the latest episode of The Mandalorian, our titular bounty hunter/babysitter (Pedro Pascal) has lost his tiny sidekick and his beloved ship... but he’s gained the aid of a Star Wars legend. In the Season 2 premiere, showrunner Jon Favreau teased the return of fan favorite Boba Fett, last seen on screen tumbling into the Great Pit of Carkoon on Tatooine. The latest episode, “The Tragedy,” makes the character’s comeback official, and opens the door for that spin-off movie and/or TV series that everyone from Josh Trank to James Mangold has contemplated making in the decades since Return of the Jedi.

Favreau wrote the action-packed half-hour yarn, which was directed by another geek icon, Robert Rodriguez. Having taken little Grogu to visit an important Jedi landmark on the planet of Tython, Mando’s mission is interrupted by the arrival of Boba (played by Temuera Morrison) and another returning mercenary Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen). But they don’t want the Child — they’re just after Fett’s Mandalorian armor. That’s when another interruption arrives in the form of an Imperial armada led by would-be despot Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito).

Amid all the subsequent run-and-gun action, Boba never gets the chance to tell Mando (or us) how exactly he survived his encounter with the Sarlaac monster. But he does suit up in his old clothes and dishes out all kinds of punishment to Gideon’s forces. As choreographed by Rodriguez, Fett single-handedly cuts a swath of destruction through the stormtrooper ranks that’s clearly intended to be a direct repudiation to those Star Wars viewers who have dismissed him as a loser over the years. And Boba’s devoted fans appreciated that this is the way The Mandalorian re-introduced him to live action canon.

Meanwhile, those who were previously skeptical of the Cult of Boba found new reason to profess belief in his importance to Star Wars.

And Morrison is sticking around for another adventure. With Grogu currently in the clutches of Moff Gideon, and the Razor Crest a pile of rubble, Boba and Fennec are in Mando’s debt until the youngling is rescued. But they’ll face some formidable obstacles, most notably Gideon’s squadron of combat-ready Dark Troopers — the far, far away galaxy’s answer to Iron Man. Good thing that Favreau has some experience with that kind of armor...

The Mandalorian is currently streaming on Disney+.

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