Star Wars Insider – July 2019

STAR WARS INSIDER / 49

FINDING YOUR FETT

HowBobaFettwentfromcconceptdeesignto icoonicmoviebadguy,plusa

uniquelook athoww hisfelloowbountyhunterswwere boughhtto thesscreen.

lthough

audienceshad

alreadycaught

a glimpseof

thecriminal

underbelly

oftheEmpirewhenGreedo

confrontedHanSoloinMos

Eisley’slugubriouscantina,Star

Wars:TheEmpireStrikesBack

(1980)introduceda bunchof

bountyhunterswhoimmediately

capturedtheimaginationofa

generationofcinemagoers:Boba

Fett,IG-88,4-LOM,Zuckuss,Bossk,

andDengar(or,asonecallsheet

lessglamorouslyreferredtofourof

them:LobsterHead,InsectHead,

LizardHead,andHuman).

Butwhatwasit aboutthis

ragtagbandofmercenariesthat

resonatedsomuch?Partoftheir

appealwasundoubtedlytheir

meanlooks,outfits,andweaponry.

BobaFett’scostumealone—with

A

its dents, jetpack, tantalizing tools,

and built-in weapons—hinted at

countless violent escapades. Dengar

was clearly a battle-worn hunter;

reptilian Bossk exuded menace;

implacable droid IG-88 was lethality

incarnate; Zuckuss’ alien eyes

conveyed a cool sense of mystery;

and 4-LOM—with his protocol

droid body and bug-like head—

was just, well, weird!

While the backstories of the

bounty hunters themselves were

left for us to imagine, the creation

of each of these movie mercenaries

is a fascinating story in itself, from

the complicated origins of Boba

Fett, to the piecing together of every

mercenary droid and alien.

Intergalactic Man

Of Mystery

It’s diffi cult to believe that Boba

Fett wasn’t originally designed

specifi cally for the fi lm.

WORDS: JAMES FLOYD