Fanboys Anonymous

A few days ago, a rumor started going going around about a certain masked bounty hunter from the Star Wars universe. Slashfilm, who found the info by way of MakingStarWars.net, reports that Disney executives met at a breakfast in Disney World to discuss various properties related to Star Wars. One of the topics of discussion was Boba Fett and what a movie featuring the character front-and-center would look like.

Something like this, probably.

The paraphrased quote making the rounds speaks to Disney's apparent difficulty with trying to keep the darker qualities of this villainous character while still placing him as the hero of the film. Basically, Disney is unsure how to make a “good guy” film with a traditional “bad guy.” Boba Fett has long been rumored as one of the characters receiving a spinoff film, and perhaps franchise, within the new Star Wars canon. Everyone, Disney execs included, is apparently excited about the character but the trouble remains: how to frame the film or character?

Slashfilm brings up some solid bad-but-good-guy examples from Disney's own roster, citing Wreck-It Ralph and Jack Sparrow as well as Maleficent. These are all characters who are either considered villains in their own world or who aren't quite good guys, and each film (save Maleficent, whose fate remains to be seen) has proven successful. They point out also that Ralph tries to overcome his bad-guy status and Jack Sparrow is never really an out-and-out villain. Their suggestion to set the film prior to the original Star Wars trilogy, focusing on the origins of Boba Fett after his father's death, might help mitigate some of Disney's worries about the character by tracking the development of the bounty hunter before he really becomes evil.

I have a slightly different suggestion for Disney, and they won't like it: they need to get up off their family-friendly high horse and recognize the characters they bought for who they are. I understand Disney has a reputation to consider, and they've done a decent job so far of keeping the Marvel movies (the closest comparison) relatively family-friendly—despite, say, the enormous body count of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. However, if you have a fan-favorite character who you're pretty sure could also make your company a decent chunk of change if given a movie, you're going to have to kowtow to that character's traits a little unless you totally alter the character and thus miss the point. I'm not suggesting Disney should just go and make an R-rated Boba Fett film—although how awesome would that be?—and they never will. That's not their business. They do, however, need to think outside the Mouse House box. Just because a character is villainous, or has villainous traits, doesn't mean he can't have some redeeming characteristics or be impossible to root for. This is basically the same reason George Lucas changed Han Solo shooting Greedo first in A New Hope.

A veeeerrrrry popular decision.

My two cents: there are shades of gray, Disney, and I'm not referring to the erotica. A character doesn't have to be traditionally “good” or “bad.” Boba Fett is a bounty hunter. He hunts or kills people for money. So, he's a businessman. Perhaps at the time of the original trilogy, the Empire was just offering the most amount of money for the work. Over his long career, Fett could have taken other jobs that are more traditionally moral than his disintegration escapades referenced by Darth Vader. Let's find out if he's a hunter with a code of honor. What about the kind-of feud he has with Han Solo? There's a story right there, between two scoundrels. Hell, Disney could kill two birds with one blaster and make a Han Solo/Boba Fett film. The point is, a character can be fun to watch and root for even if he is traditionally a villain. It's all in the story. If you see him as a villain, you'll treat him as such and no more. If you see him as a man with choices, then you have a character, and then you have a film. 

Thoughts? Can Disney produce a satisfactory Boba Fett film? If not, should they even try? Is another character more deserving of a spinoff? Talk about the scum and villainy of the Disney universe in the comments below.