We recently discovered that the Star Wars live action television series from Jon Favreau has a title – The Mandalorian.
And, as Star Wars fans will tell you, Boba Fett wore the armour of a Mandalorian – though it’s worth noting that the term is never used in any of the movies so far.
But many might be wondering just what the significance of this species has in a galaxy far, far away. Here’s everything you need to know about Mandalorians in the Star Wars universe on television and film.
The Star Wars Holiday Special
In case you weren’t aware, a year after the George Lucas space opera first hit cinemas, a small screen special was unveiled to the world. Alongside meeting Chewbacca’s wife Malla and son Lumpy (no, really), the 1978 oddity introduced audiences to the new character Boba Fett in an animated sequence.
He befriends Luke Skywalker (in fact, he called EVERYONE he meets “friend”), though Threepio and Chewie are suspicious. And quite rightly, as we discover Fett is in the employ of Darth Vader.
“We’ll meet again, friend,” Boba jauntily tells Han Solo and the gang, setting up his next appearance.
Just months later, fans could get their own Fett merch in an action figure “mailaway” promotion. A move which created much hype before his first movie outing in the first sequel.
The Empire Strikes Back
With less than two minutes of screen time, Boba Fett became an instant legend when he bested his fellow bounty hunters on a quest to track down the Millennium Falcon and its occupants.
“No disintegrations!” Vader demanded of Fett, and he was true to his word. Boba tracked the ship to Cloud City where he received Han Solo in carbonite and took him back to a presumably very happy Jabba the Hutt.
Interestingly, Fett receives more screen time in the prequel Attack of the Clones.
Return of the Jedi
We find Fett hanging out with Jabba on Tatooine and, as usual, taking a back seat.
However, it’s not long before he’s called into action and sadly, for him and his many fans, he finds himself in the belly of the Sarlacc in the Great Pit of Carkoon.
An ignoble exit.
Star Wars ‘Special Editions’
When George Lucas went back to his babies and jazzed them up ahead of the prequels, Boba Fett got some renewed attention.
He was inserted into A New Hope, during a deleted scene between Jabba and Han, while Return of the Jedi saw some extra seconds in Jabba’s palace where the helmeted one was revealed to be quite the ladies’ man.
Attack of the Clones
Or Boba’s origin story.
His dad, Jango Fett, had led Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) to the planet Kamino where a clone army was being assembled. They were all taken from Fett’s genetics but he demanded to have one “unaltered” clone for himself, with no tampering and no growth acceleration.
This was Boba Fett.
We meet him as a young boy and he doesn’t have a great start to life. After some hi-jinx in space, Boba witnesses his father beheaded by Jedi Mace Windu (Samuel L Jackson).
The Clone Wars / Rebels
This is where you’ll find the bulk of appearances from Mandalorians and discover a great many things about their history.
Mandalore had its own arc within the former where we met Death Watch, a group of fundamentalists who desired a return to their war-filled roots. Like the prequels, it was a fairly involved political affair, but we also learn of their ancient war with the Jedi.
Rebels‘ Sabine Wren is from Mandalore (and wears a modified version of the armour), and unfinished threads and ramifications from its predecessor were picked up here.
Perhaps there’ll be some more Mandalorian connections with season 7 of The Clone Wars next year?
The Force Awakens
A blink and you’ll miss it reference here.
If you look closely as Rey, Finn and Han approach Maz Kanata’s castle, you’ll see a bunch of flags outside. One of them features the same skull design emblazoned on it as seen on Boba Fett’s shoulder.
(Apparently, fact fans, it’s the skull of a Mythosaur, a creature not seen on screen as of yet.)
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
We don’t actually see a Mandalorian or hear anything about them, but the first Star Wars spin-off included a great nod for hardcore fans.
During the film’s final third on Scarif, Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor discover a project called Darksaber when they’re searching for the Death Star schematics. A Darksaber was a black-bladed lightsaber created by the Jedi but stolen by Clan Vizsla of the Mandalorians, and subsequently passed down the generations.
The Darksaber has been seen extensively in both the Star Wars TV shows, The Clone Wars and Rebels. The latter’s Sabine Wren was last seen wielding it after acquiring it on Dathomir, a planet Darth Maul reveals himself to be on in the final moments of Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Dryden Vos, played by Paul Bettany, had quite the easter-egg laden menagerie in his stylish space yacht. There’s a Sith Holocron, a Crystal Skull AND a full set of Mandalorian armor.
We don’t know how or where he got it or its significance but many fans wondered if this hinted towards the much-mooted (but probably cancelled) Boba Fett movie. Though, earlier this year it was reported that Logan director James Mangold was signing up for it…
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