The Mandalorian returns for a second season later this month on Disney+, and it's bringing new mysteries with it. Fortunately, fans won't have to wait long for answers as a newly released sneak peek puts one of those mysteries front and center: the location of the rest of the Mandalorians. Casting announcements have provided some clues as to how the group will come into play, but one announcement may be the most tantalizing of all. Temuera Morrison is confirmed to appear as Boba Fett, paving the way for the character to play a crucial role in Season 2.
Boba's fate is still one of the most argued bits of Star Wars lore. During the opening of Return of the Jedi, the attempt to rescue Han Solo leads to a brawl on Jabba the Hutt's sand-skiff. A half-blind Han accidentally knocks the bounty hunter into the Sarlacc Pit's waiting belly during the conflict, leaving the bounty hunter presumed dead.
In the Expanded Universe, Boba became the only person to survive the Sarlacc's implacably digestive fate. He was originally brought back in the popular Dark Horse Comics arc Star Wars: Dark Empire, and shortly after, a trilogy of novels called The Bounty Hunter Wars, written by K.W. Jeter, went on to explain how he'd pulled off the escape. Unfortunately, with much of the EU struck from canon, the story of how the infamous bounty hunter survived has become a legend, too.
However, with the casting of Temuera and the fate of the Mandalorians at stake, there may be more Boba stories to tell. And along with finally deciding if the bounty hunter did cheat death on Tatooine, it feels like it's necessary for the show to tackle whether Boba ever was recognized as a Mandalorian, or if he was just merely a bounty hunter who claimed an unearned legacy for himself.
While George Lucas originally conceived of the Mandalorians as a race, and before the Empire's final assault they often stayed close to home as a tightly knit society of clans, The Mandalorian has made its stance on the issue clear. Sometime before the Great Purge, the Mandalorians staked their claim firmly as a creed, rather than a race. The protection of the next generation has become central to the group's survival, meaning there is room for someone like Boba to join the ranks.
After the Empire's attack on Mandalore, allies for the displaced warriors would be crucial and far-between. Whatever Boba once was, he did attempt to carry himself like a Mandalorian. In their hour of need, there might have been a clan ready to give him a chance to prove himself, in exchange for the warrior capability he would provide them.
In the end, Boba Fett carries with him a gigantic legacy for fans of Star Wars. If he's still around for Din to find, that legacy comes with him. His infamy as a bounty hunter, his knowledge of the Sith, his personal face-off with one of the last remaining Jedi in the galaxy, Luke Skywalker -- all of this alone would be a boon for Din Djarin, or, yes, even a possible threat. However, it's also equally possible, in a series that often talks about choices and redemption, that it will be Boba that hands Din the key to finding the child's Jedi family.