The latest season of Star Wars’ Disney+ show, The Mandalorian, has now come and gone, but not without a fair share of controversy and debate. The season took a lot of unexpected turns, many of which reversed the key decisions made in season two of the series. Moff Gideon escaped without much explanation, Din Djarin reverted to not wanting to remove his helmet, and more. Din Djarin and Grogu were also reunited in another show, The Book of Boba Fett, highlighting another reversed decision and a choppy narrative across these Star Wars Disney+ shows.
Many fans and critics were disappointed in The Book of Boba Fett, citing those same writing concerns, and it seems that the star of that showfeels the same way. Temuera Morrison, who played Jango Fett in the prequels and now playes his son Boba Fett, recently expressed his disappointment in the writing of his own show, saying that Din Djarin and Grogu took everything over, along with how he was told he was going to be in the third season of The Mandalorian but never got a phone call. Ultimately, these comments are a worrying sign for the Lucasfilm produced Disney+ and, in particular, the MandoVerse series. They highlight the lack of focus in the writing, bringing down the overall narrative and the characters’ individual arcs along with it.
Temuera Morrison recently attended the SUPERNOVA Comic Con and Gaming Convention in Melbourne, Australia, where he voiced these concerns about the franchise’s shows. Per Comic Book, Morrison stated:
“Well that Mando guy stole a few chapters of my book. It was painful watching him turn up with some black new lethal sword. And the way he turned up in my Book of Boba , he just destroyed everybody. I'm sure this guy is…ah…ruining my show. But I couldn't say anything. I'm not the writer, so I have to bear it I guess.”
In these comments, Morrison is highlighting arguably the biggest issue with The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett: the writers’ inability to focus effectively, resulting in a choppy and often poorly told story. The strength of the first two seasons of the Pedro Pascal-led show was that the writing honed in on the story of Din Djarin and Grogu, especially as Moff Gideon and the Empire attempted to kidnap the child once again. Despite the appearances of Bo-Katan, Ahsoka Tano, and even Luke Skywalker, it was still a relatively personal show as everything was so centered on the two lead heroes. Temuera Morrison’s show was the opposite. It had a dull, uninteresting main plot line that was ultimately completely taken over by Din Djarin and Grogu come the season’s end.
Just as Morrison’s show struggled with those decisions, The Mandalorian season 3 was burdened in the same fashion. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni are clearly trying to expand the story to make it bigger and grander than it was before, presumably to set up the movie and ultimate Heir to the Empire adaption. But in doing so, they have shown their inability to balance their stories’ focus and narrative direction. Din Djarin didn’t even play that big of a role in season 3, and by the end of the latest eight episodes, it seemed as if decisions were being made without rhyme or reason.
Later on in the interview, Morrison also went on to talk about his planned appearance that never came to fruition:
"I was supposed to be in The Mandalorian Season 3, but nobody rang me. I was waiting for the phone call in New Zealand, waiting and wanting to give up."
In this quote, Morrison is highlighting another issue with these shows: there doesn’t appear to be any overarching plan for the narrative. For example, The Mandalorian set Moff Gideon up as a major player in the galaxy, arguably the lead Imperial in the absence of Palpatine, but he died in the season 3 finale and will presumably now be replaced by Grand Admiral Thrawn. Gideon’s storyline didn’t even have the relevance or importance that was teased earlier on, as he was just trying to clone himself to make an unstoppable army. All of that felt like an unplanned decision made in order to bring Thrawn in, although it’s possible Gideon still returns at some point.
Broadly speaking, this lack of planning is affecting the character arcs of these beloved heroes in a major way. Boba Fett lacked any sort of journey or development in his own show, and then his next appearance was scrapped all together. That was a huge disservice to one of the franchise's oldest and most beloved characters, and the strength of the series has always been the audiences' affection for the characters. In order for that to continue, these Disney+ shows must adapt and change.