The Mandalorian: What's Boba Fett Been Up To?

Debuting in the Star Wars Holiday Special back in 1978, Boba Fett was one of the franchise's most mysterious characters. Having follow-up appearances in The Empire Strikes Back and in Return of the Jedi, Fett captured the hearts--and wallets--of Star Wars fans for decades. So what's he been up to all these years, especially since he's supposed to have been dead? Here's what we know leading up to the latest episode of The Mandalorian.

If you remember the Star Wars prequels, then you know Boba's "father" was Jango Fett, a Mandalorian foundling--a child adopted into the Mandalorian culture. Later in life, his DNA was used to create the Clone Army for the Galactic Republic. Jango was given one clone for his own to raise, and that was his "son" Boba Fett. This happened during the movie Attack of the Clones.

After Jango was beheaded toward the end of the movie, Boba joined a team of bounty hunters in order to get revenge on Mace Windu, who killed his father, on the animated series The Clone Wars. Obviously, that didn't work out, but during this time, Boba started his own bounty hunter syndicate on Tatooine. He eventually became one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy; however, this happens entirely off-screen, as there is a huge gap between his childhood years in the Clone Wars and when Boba reemerges during A New Hope where he's working for Jabba. This is only in the remastered version. Theatrically, Boba's first appearance was in Empire.

During this time, Boba has his "first meeting" with Darth Vader, as the Sith is looking for a bounty hunter to capture Han Solo. This happens during the first issue of the Darth Vader comic, where we also meet the bounty hunter Black Krrsantan--a giant, imposing Wookie. This is really where Vader and Boba's relationship begins.

Once again, Boba is working for Vader during Empire Strikes Back and the two capture Han Solo and put him in carbonite. Then in Return of the Jedi, Boba meets his end in a Sarlacc pit, being bumped in by a blinded Solo. From there, Boba's journey is unknown, at least as far as Star Wars canon goes up until we see him on The Mandalorian.

Two stories from the books Tales of the Bounty Hunters and Tales from Jabba's Palace detail what happened to Boba after we saw him fall into the Sarcacc pit to be digested over a long period of time. However, neither of these two stories are canon anymore, but we'll briefly go over them anyway. After Boba was knocked into the pit, he knew it would be a challenge to climb out as no one had ever escaped the Sarlacc pit before. However, Boba used his strength and will to escape and was found by Jawas, who thought he was a cyborg. Eventually, Boba escaped that fate as well and was nursed back to health by fellow bounty hunter Dengar--Boba later served as Dengar's best man at his wedding. From there, Boba's story gets completely wiped out by the new Star Wars canon.

So at this time, we don't truly know how Boba escaped the Sarlacc pit. However, we do know that he was separated from his armor, Jawas got a hold of it, and then Cobb Vanth came into possession of it--before later giving it to The Mandalorian, who eventually returned it to Boba. Although, seeing Boba as the best man at a wedding would be quite the treat, but until then, we'll just have to guess.