Temuera Morrison Completes His Claiming Of Boba Fett

Warning: the following contains SPOILERS for The Book of Boba Fett.

The Book of Boba Fett stars actor Temuera Morrison in the titular role, and the series completes Morrison’s claiming of the iconic character as his own. Disney’s new Star Wars series gives Morrison the reins as it fleshes out the tumultuous backstory of Boba Fett after the events of the original Star Wars trilogy, which is chronologically when the character last appeared in the franchise, at least on the big screen. In the process, The Book of Boba Fett establishes Morrison’s characterization as the definitive version of the notorious Star Wars bounty hunter.

Temuera Morrison’s debut in the Star Wars universe was as Jango Fett in 2002’s Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. The end of Attack of the Clones sees Samuel L. Jackson’s Mace Windu beheading Jango Fett with a lightsaber, which sidelined Morrison’s involvement in the subsequent Star Wars movies. However, after this role, Morrison’s face and voice have canonically become the face and voice of Jango Fett and the rest of the Empire’s clone army. This is why, although Morrison doesn’t appear in any other Star Wars movies apart from Attack of the Clones, he has played the voice of both Jango and Boba Fett in several Star Wars video games and DVD releases. Later, in 2020, in The Mandalorian season 2, episode 6, “Chapter 14: The Tragedy,” Morrison made his long-overdue live-action return to the franchise as Boba Fett, Jango’s son and clone.

In Disney’s The Book of Boba Fett, Morrison steps into the character once more, in a series that establishes the iconic bounty hunter’s canonical backstory. In many ways, the new series has paved the path for Morrison to stake his claim as the definitive version of Boba Fett, and it could not have come at a better time for both Morrison and Disney. Although Morrison first became iconic for lending his voice and New Zealand accent to Jango Fett and the rest of the clone army, he is currently the perfect age for convincingly playing the role of Boba Fett, with respect to the timeline in which the series is set. Moreover, Morrison’s stellar performance shows that Disney has definitely made the right decisions in terms of fleshing out the beloved character.

How Temuera Morrison Became Boba Fett In Star Wars

In a way, Morrison has been preparing for his leading role in The Book of Boba Fett for about two decades. However, Boba Fett first appears in Star Wars as one of the nameless bounty hunters hired by Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back, which means that the character wasn’t originally played by Morrison. Before Morrison’s portrayal of Boba Fett in The Mandalorian, the character was first played by Jeremy Bulloch in the original trilogy, and then by Daniel Logan in the prequels. However, as Morrison’s career over the last two decades largely involves fleshing out the characters of both Jango and Boba Fett in a variety of Star Wars media, there’s no question that the character has become truly his. And The Book of Boba Fett only solidifies Morrison’s claiming of the character.

How Temuera Morrison Brought His Māori Heritage To Boba Fett In Mandalorian

Apart from Morrison’s long experience with actually playing both Jango and Boba Fett, certain elements in The Book of Boba Fett give the actor’s characterization a distinctly personal touch. This can be observed in how The Book of Boba Fett explores Tusken culture. After being saved by a tribe of Tusken Raiders, Boba Fett soon learns that the mysterious race is comprised of intelligent and organized tribes who claim ancestral rights over the sands and resources of Tatooine. After Fett proves that he has the heart of a warrior, he is accepted into the Tusken tribe. As Morrison reveals in an interview with StarWars.com, the actor also drew from his own Māori heritage in order to give life to the series’ compellingly original story.

“I come from a warrior background in New Zealand… I’m a Māori and I’ve been trained. It gives me something to draw on. I was trained as a young boy back in New Zealand in the art of our haka [warrior dance]. ‘Ha’ is the breath, and ‘ka’ is the fire. I’m using my warrior background as a source of energy and as a source of confidence.”

The Book Of Boba Fett Canonizes Morrison’s Influence On The Character

In fact, the scenes in which Boba Fett carves his own Tusken weapon echo the process of carving the Taiaha, a traditional Māori spear that functions both as a practical weapon as well as a ceremonial artifact that’s passed down over generations. Elements of the Māori haka dance are also present in the scenes wherein Boba Fett and the Tusken Raiders perform a ritualistic dance around a bonfire. Apart from humanizing a race that has long functioned mainly as cannon fodder in previous Star Wars movies, the direct influence of Māori culture on the Tusken tribes and the backstory of Boba Fett practically embeds Morrison’s very DNA into the iconic character. Moreover, the way the Tusken tribes are fighting for their ancestral domain also somewhat echoes the Māori protest movement for indigenous sovereignty and self-determination, not just in New Zealand but across the world. Through the careful use of Morrison’s Māori heritage, The Book of Boba Fett succeeds at canonizing Morrison’s influence on the iconic Star Wars character.

The Future of Temuera Morrison’s Boba Fett In Disney’s Star Wars

The Book of Boba Fett is largely based on long-established Star Wars lore. However, Morrison’s deeply personal characterization of Boba Fett – combined with the series’ unorthodox storytelling – has resulted in a wholly original narrative that bodes well for the character’s future. Although The Book of Boba Fett raises more questions about the Star Wars universe than it answers, it also reveals much about the iconic bounty hunter’s untold history. And much like how The Mandalorian connects to The Book of Boba Fett, the latter will likely also have direct connections to upcoming Disney series such as Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi and Star Wars: Andor. As Disney has gone through the trouble of meticulously fleshing out the character, Morrison’s Boba Fett is bound to become a staple character in the modern Star Wars era – not just in Disney’s upcoming series, but likely in future movies as well.

The Book of Boba Fett releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.

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