‘Star Wars’: Rian Johnson Would Love to Do a Spinoff on This ‘Fascinating’ Character
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is already about to hit theaters. But, two years later, fans are still arguing over the previous installment, The Last Jedi. Is it a masterpiece or the film that ruined Star Wars? It depends on whom you ask.
Despite that divisive response, writer/director Rian Johnson — whose first post-Star Wars release, Knives Out, has been a big hit — has expertly deflected all the negativity. In fact, Johnson still has ideas about what he could do in a return visit to the “galaxy far, far away.”
Rian Johnson isn’t officially done with ‘Star Wars’
To be fair, Johnson is still expected to return to Star Wars at some point. Prior to The Last Jedi‘s release, Lucasfilm announced Johnson would spearhead his own trilogy of films set in the saga. However, no details have ever been revealed about what these movies would cover.
Beyond The Rise of Skywalker, the future of Star Wars films feels very much up in the air. Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were also once attached to new Star Wars films but have since left that project. Yet, Lucasfilm still hasn’t made a definitive statement regarding Johnson.
The studio was reportedly taking an “indefinite hiatus” from big-screen Star Wars. Then, just weeks later, we began to hear about an imminent announcement disconnected from Johnson’s trilogy. Will the filmmaker come back? Hopefully, Lucasfilm will confirm one way or another soon.
The character he’d most like to make a spinoff film about
If Johnson does come back into the fold, it sounds like he has some ideas about what he could do. On a recent appearance on The IMDB Show, the filmmaker was asked which Star Wars character he would most like to make a spinoff about. If given full creative control, The Last Jedi director would tackle one of the saga’s biggest fan favorites.
I gotta say, and I’m not saying that I would do it. Obviously, they’re doing The Mandalorian now. The full disclaimer: this is not [happening], but I do find Boba Fett fascinating. He’s got that kind of Western, unknown, man behind the mask kind of thing that The Mandalorian is tapping into now, which I think is great.
Johnson concedes he hasn’t yet had the time — thanks to the Knives Out press tour — to watch the new Disney+ show. But his desire for more Boba Fett is certainly something Star Wars fans can relate to. After all, Lucasfilm once considered making A Star Wars Story about the notorious bounty hunter, with Logan director James Mangold attached.
Could a Boba Fett spinoff still happen?
As Johnson points out, The Mandalorian is tapping into the allure of Boba Fett pretty directly. Certainly, the series borrows much of the world and iconography fans would have expected from a standalone Boba Fett movie. Yet, this doesn’t necessarily mean a Boba Fett spinoff is out of the question.
Sure, the disappointment of Solo gave Lucasfilm pause regarding developing additional character-focused spinoff films. But once the studio determines its long-term path forward, it might want to readdress the Star Wars Story format. Remember, Rogue One earned $1.1 billion worldwide.
If anything, The Mandalorian could be priming audiences for an even deeper dive into the Star Wars underworld. The recent canon already brought Darth Maul back into the fold. The positive response to The Mandalorian could be exactly the push Lucasfilm needs to bring Fett back.
