The Mandalorian season 2 episode 6 saw the return of fan-favourite character Boba Fett, the bounty hunter who was last seen getting swallowed whole by a Sarlacc in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. While we still don’t know how he survived that ordeal, we do know that the years between the end of the original trilogy and The Mandalorian have changed the character a fair amount.
One major new thing was Boba’s intense fighting style sans-armour, which saw him take out several stormtroopers with ease. Temuera Morrison told the official Star Wars website how he included his own background and culture in the scenes.
“I come from a warrior background in New Zealand,” Morrison explained. “I’m a Maori and I’ve been trained. It gives me something to draw on... I’m using my warrior background as a source of energy and as a source of confidence.”
The actor added: “I was able to bring that into this production. Robert [Rodriguez, director] could see that I could use the weapon and swing the stick around. In our own culture, we have a staff that’s called a taiaha. I’d been trained in that as a young boy, as well... I’m trying to push it into a nice place. You don’t want to get this guy upset. He’ll rip you to pieces.”
We certainly saw a fiery side to the previously stoic bounty hunter in this episode, and Morrison spoke about that, too. “Within Boba, if he decided to erupt, he’s like a small volcano,” he commented. “And Robert was drawing a little bit of that out of me, as well. So when we do those fight sequences, there is a bit of rawness there, there is a bit of brutality there.”
Boba did manage to regain his armour in Chapter 14 – luckily before the Razor Crest was obliterated – and used his array of weapons with ease. As cool as it was to see the character sporting his iconic look again, Boba’s staff-wielding skills were just as awe-inspiring to watch.
