Boba Fett Was Meant To Be The Main Villain In Return Of The Jedi

Boba Fett is the ‘Star Wars’ bounty hunter with a cult all his own, but according to a key insider in the Lucasfilm empire, he was once being teed up for a far bigger role.

Despite having scarcely any dialogue (just four lines, in fact) Fett, who first shows up in 'The Empire Strikes Back’, was set to be the main villain in 'Return of the Jedi’, no less.

But when George Lucas decided that the first movies would not be part of a previously planned series of 12, the entire story was condensed and Fett’s larger storyline got the boot.

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Which is why, perhaps, he was unceremoniously shoved into a big pit with teeth in the desert in 'Return of the Jedi’.

Craig Miller, the first ever fan relations officer for Lucasfilm, told Inverse: “Originally Boba Fett was set up in Empire (Strikes Back) as a character, and the third movie’s plot was going to be more about Boba Fett rescuing Han Solo and all of that… Boba was gonna be the main villain.

“And then during all of it, George kind of lost interest in continuing it… While we were working on The Empire Strikes Back, George decided he was going to complete the first film trilogy and that would be it.

“When George decided not to make another trilogy, he completely jettisoned that story line, which is why in the first ten minutes (of Return Of The Jedi), Boba Fett gets bumped into and falls into the mouth of a giant monster.

“So he took what was planned for the next trilogy, which was the confrontation between Luke and Darth Vader, and the battle with the Emperor, and that got squished down from three movies to one movie. And that became the plot of Jedi.”

Fett, hailing from the aquatic planet of Kamino, was responsible with leading the Empire to Han Solo, and then returning his frozen body to the gangster of Tatooine, Jabba The Hutt.

He was played by Jason Wingreen and Jeremy Bulloch, Wingreen providing the voice and Bulloch donning the iconic outift. His likeness even appeared on a British stamp last year.

Wingreen died this year, aged 95.

Image credit: Lucasfilm/Royal Mail/Rex Features