This article is part of a directory: Game Rant's Ultimate Sci-Fi Guide
Table of contents

One of the worst parts of the current cinematic landscape is a natural consequence of the domination of a couple of sprawling empires. With the unending expansion of these universes, some stories are crafted, not to be interesting or engaging, but just to set the stage for future products.

The Book of Boba Fett was never the best idea, but it would've felt pretty defeatist to assume that this would be its trajectory. After failing to make the intended film for years and being wholly supplanted by the far superior The Mandalorian, the show exists today as half uninteresting prequel and half advertisement.

RELATED: The Mandalorian Characters Get Their Own The Book Of Boba Fett Posters

Episode 4 of The Book of Boba Fett finally pulled the trigger on the obvious move fans expected from the start. The final moment of the episode sees underrated sidekick Fennec Shand proclaim that the heroes will need some extra muscle. Then, just in case fans couldn't put it together, the series felt the need to play the musical intro of The Mandalorian. The following episode received some harsh feedback for being, essentially, a lesser episode of the better series. Rather than bringing beloved grumpy dad Din Djarin into the existing plotline, the show abandons its narrative in favor of explaining where Mando has been. It's Season 3, Episode zero of The Mandalorian. Is it so crucial that fans learn where Din got his new ship, or what happened to his tribe right now that it can't wait until the series that's named after him? Was Boba Fett's story dragging so severely that a brief intermission to a different series felt necessary? Or is there an even more cynical reason at play for this drastic shift?

The Mandalorian and Ahsoka Tano in Book of Boba Fett

Episode 6 of the series wasn't much better. Din Djarin is still the focus, but the series expands its net even further to give the audience an explainer as to Ahsoka Tano's whereabouts before her solo show drops. Then, because no Star Wars property can be complete without a Skywalker, a deeply unnerving Luke drops by. The Book of Boba Fett has dedicated a whole third of its episodes towards setting various stages for Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and whatever Disney is planning on doing with Grogu. The content itself is radically hit or miss, but even what does work would work a lot better in context. Those planning on waiting for the series to complete its premiere cycle so that they can binge it in one sitting will likely be very confused a few episodes in. And with only one episode left, there's not a lot of room to save this sinking ship.

The Star Wars franchise is guilty of a ton of franchise management projects, from Rogue One's aimless dramatization of established canon to Solo's bad excuses for known details. It's far from the only example, however. Half of X-Men: Apocalypse's plot bends over backward to explain why James McAvoy's Professor X goes bald prematurely. The most regular criticism of this kind of media is fan service, but in many ways, this is beyond simple pandering. Fan service is when the plot bends to shove in more stuff longtime fans already know and love, and it isn't necessarily the worst thing. Franchise management is what happens when a studio, Disney for example, needs certain characters or concepts to be in place so that audiences are primed for later products.

The question now is whether The Book of Boba Fett was being devoted entirely to setting up the pieces for the upcoming Star Wars projects. If the characters with no business being in the series were there to draw eyes to Boba Fett's story, then it's fan service. It could be argued that the separation of Din Djarin's continued narrative makes it more akin to a long trailer to his later return. Two full episodes of Boba Fett's show went by with little to no mention of the former bounty hunter. Perhaps this is part of a larger plan. Perhaps Din Djarin's story is being set into place because Boba Fett's story will be resolved in Season 3 of The Mandalorian. That's entirely possible, but given how poorly Book of Boba Fett is being received, it's likely Disney just wants to get it over with. But even if it is part of a larger tapestry, is that better?

Star Wars The Book of Boba Fett Episode 3 Mistake

Tying a less popular series to a more popular one would be a fairly insidious method of ensuring that anyone who wants the full story has to watch every Star Wars product. Disney hid most of Fennec Shand's backstory in The Bad Batch, Ahsoka's first reappearance in The Mandalorian, and now puts Din Djarin's story through The Book of Boba Fett. Anyone who cares only about one of those characters won't be able to get the full story without looking into series and films they wouldn't be interested in otherwise. So is The Book of Boba Fett more ad than narrative? Sort of, but it's also part of an interwoven story that demands fans catch every minute, or risk losing track of the only parts they care about.

MORE: The Book Of Boba Fett: When Is It Better To Know Less?