The Book of Boba Fett creator Jon Favreau has opened up about his depiction of the titular Star Wars character, likening the bounty hunter turned criminal kingpin to Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) from Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather.
Set after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983) and The Mandalorian Season 2 (2020), The Book of Boba Fett saw the “resurrected” Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) become the new Daimyo of Tatooine’s Mos Espa settlement after killing Bib Fortuna, notorious gangster Jabba the Hutt’s successor. However, the Star Wars series faced some criticism for its take on Boba Fett himself, with some fans believing that this smooth-talking, diplomatic version of the character was too far removed from his origins as a relatively silent, stone-cold killer.
During an interview with Vanity Fair, however, Favreau spoke about why he felt Boba Fett’s approach to being a crime lord needed to be, in the publication’s words, “more Don Corleone than Walter White [from Breaking Bad].” In short, it all comes down to the fact that while Boba Fett certainly desires power, he’s also wise enough to see the value of peace among his fellow criminals.
“You think about Don Corleone,” Favreau said. “There’s a tremendous amount of restraint because he knows that to be sustainable, there has to be [peace]. You don’t do well unless there’s some political balance, because if you keep going to the mattresses, nobody’s earning.”
Favreau continued, “You think about what things are off limits. Don Corleone wasn’t just doing everything to line his pockets as he got later into his career. You look at [Robert De Niro, who played a young Vito Corleone], in the flashbacks in The Godfather Part II, as he’s walking down the streets. He’s seen as somebody who’s actually creating, someone the people respect because of the way he conducts himself. There’s lots of different ways to run an empire. There’s the Sonny Corleone way, there’s the Michael Corleone way, and then there’s the Vito Corleone way.” Among those three, Vito is certainly the most even-tempered of the bunch.
Favreau also likened Boba Fett to Conan the Barbarian, a character Book of Boba Fett director Robert Rodriguez took a great deal of inspiration from. “We would talk to Robert about Conan,” he said. “Conan starts off as a young warrior and then ages up through the books until he’s Conan the King. So how is Boba the crime lord going to be different, knowing what he knows, than what he would’ve been when he was a younger man?” Favreau answered his own question. “I think he’s just wise,” he said. “He’s also a much older character because now we’re after the original trilogy. He’s at a different point of his life…”
The Book of Boba Fett ran for a total of seven episodes from Dec. 29, 2021 to Feb. 9, 2022. Favreau was the sole writer on six of the episodes, with another episode being co-written by Favreau and Rodriguez. Rodriguez also directed three episodes, with Steph Green, Kevin Tancharoen, Bryce Dallas Howard and Dave Filoni all directing an episode each. Despite some criticism, the Star Wars series was well-received overall, currently holding a 68 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Book of Boba Fett is streaming now on Disney+.
Source: Vanity Fair
Read Next
About The Author
