Last week, in an exchange on Twitter with Tatooine Sons: A Star Wars Podcast, Hamill confirmed that he often pitched George Lucas all sorts of outrageous plot-twists that could happen in Return of the Jedi. One idea was that Luke’s mother was a double-agent, spying for the Rebellion, and another idea was that Boba Fett was secretly…Luke Skywalker’s mother! Now, before anyone scoffs at this or even mentions Attack of the Clones or the canceled Boba Fett movie, let’s pause for a second and try to remember that in the early eighties nothing was known about Boba Fett’s “real” identity. Even George Lucas himself didn’t have any developed backstory for the infamous bounty hunter. More importantly, when Boba Fett was just a person behind a cool mask, the person underneath could have been anybody. Furthermore, even after Return of the Jedi, no one really knew what Boba Fett looked like, even though several Star Wars comic books published by Dark Horse played fast-and-loose with this idea. And here’s the thing: it was better when Boba Fett was like this. It was better when he didn’t have a complicated backstory. In short, it was better when, sure, why not, he could have secretly been a she and been Luke’s mom. (In fact, even in 1997, some people were pissed that Boba Fett flirted with Jabba’s dancers in the special edition of Return of the Jedi, since it sort of made the character heteronormative and a little boring.) Had Mark Hamill’s “bad idea” about Luke’s mom being Boba Fett actually happened, consider this: it would not be the weirdest Star Wars plot twist (or a recycled plot twist) by a longshot. In fact, you could argue, the spirit of this idea actually happens in Solo: A Star Wars Story, when the Boba Fett-esque criminal villain Enfys Nest (Erin Kellyman) turns out to be a woman who is…wait for it…a double agent and one the founders of the Rebellion! If you squint through the setting Tatooine sun and turn your head sideways, this idea isn’t that different thematically to what Hamill was pitching two decades ago. These days it’s in vogue to complain about the Star Wars saga being dominated by too much family drama, but because the vast majority of the movies are about family drama, making Boba Fett related to the Skywalkers actually sounds pretty cool. That is if you can stop for a second and forget all the Star Wars movies that have happened since 1999.
