Why Boba Fett Should Keep His Helmet On Like The Mandalorian
Disney+’s The Book of Boba Fett has now taken all Star Wars fans under the helmet of the bounty hunter – figuratively. However, anyone who doesn’t feel like Boba Fett should have been unmasked is filmmaker Kevin Smith. Kevin was doing an episode of his Fatman Beyond podcast and talked about The Book of Boba Fett series which was currently streaming on Disney+. The Book of Boba Fett’s most recent episode was totally dedicated to The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal), however, there has been a few divisive opinions about that decision. For Kevin Smith himself, the debate boiled down to one thing: helmets.
As Kevin Smith pointed out in his commentary, the mystery of a Mandalorian’s helmet is what made Boba Fett a global icon. Kevin Smith argues that this new episode with Mando of Book of Boba Fett only showcases a point about these Star Wars characters in the Mandalorian armor: they’re way more effective when the helmet is on:
“One of the things I loved about Boba Fett through most of my life is that we never took his helmet off,” Smith explains. “And in Boba Fett now, Episode 4 or whatever [Chapter 5, actually], we are accustomed to Boba Fett just going au natural Charlie Brown style and stuff. And it don’t matter; I understand storywise he’s not a Mandalorian and so forth and such – like I’m not dumb. I’m just saying this episode, seeing Din Djarin… seeing this guy never take his helmet off just makes every scene cooler. Where you’re just like ‘I don’t know what he’s f*cking thinking.'”
Kevin Smith may also have quite a valid observational point. Chapter 5 of The Book of Boba Fett: “The Return of The Mandalorian” was supposed to be a thematic bridge between Din Djarin and Boba Fett, as matters of the tribe, belonging, and all the new burdens of leadership that have been placed on these former lone bounty hunters. Mando spent his episode doing what Boba Fett has done in the entire series: by finding his way into a tribe, traveling, training, and getting a whole new ship again. Still, the huge difference in response from viewers is quite undeniable.
Similarly, Boba Fett star Temuera Morrison has already become a hit meme and .gif for his absolute badass lines like “I am Boba Fett,” without any need of a helmet, so well, Kevin Smith may see his own childhood iconography of Boba Fett getting paved over quicker than expected.
