Disney Is Killing Star Wars Characters Fans Have Loved For Decades

When it comes to Disney killing off Star Wars characters in a more covert way, Boba Fett is one of the best examples. When The Book of Boba Fett came out, it disappointed fans and critics alike despite putting up decent numbers for Disney+ (especially compared to, say, The Acolyte). Recently, Temuera Morrison confirmed that he was originally going to appear in the fourth season of The Mandalorian, but after the poor reception of The Book of Boba Fett, he hasn’t been called and also won’t be appearing in The Mandalorian & Grogu feature film.

As of this writing, that means that we may never see Boba Fett onscreen again, which is ironically far worse than tossing him into the Sarlacc Pit back in Return of the Jedi. Both earlier Expanded Universe authors and modern Disney writers have shown how easy it is to rescue that legendary Star Wars character from seemingly certain death.

However, giving the character a shoddily written and amateurish show has left such a bad taste in the fandom’s mouth that it made them despise this once-beloved character while jeopardizing his future in the franchise, killing his chance of returning a second time.

While Boba Fett is the most obvious (and outrageous) example of Disney effectively killing great Star Wars characters through awful stories, he is not the only one. Yoda, for example, was once considered one of the greatest Star Wars characters of all time, someone whose timeless wisdom can guide fans as surely as it guides characters like Luke Skywalker. But Disney keeps bringing Yoda back in either terrible ways or terrible shows, diluting the character to the point that he no longer seems special. 

For example, Disney brought this Star Wars character back for The Last Jedi, a controversial film that, for the record, I liked despite its flaws. Yoda first appears in this movie as a dancing, gibbering fool, but in his first appearance, he only puts on a silly mask in order to test Luke Skywalker.

It made no sense for him to act that way again in the Sequel Trilogy, and having the Jedi Master act like an out-of-character idiot in such a controversial movie arguably ruins his iconic characterization in The Empire Strikes Back.

When Disney isn’t bringing that particular Star Wars character back in a terrible way, they bring him back in a terrible show. The Acolyte generated controversies that tore through the fandom quicker than Anakin tore through some younglings. However, even the biggest fans of that show can’t defend the Jedi icon Yoda, who is now being used as nothing more than a Member Berries cameo because the writers couldn’t find a better way to memorably end the season.

With Disney’s track record, none of your favorite Star Wars characters are safe…we may never see Grand Admiral Thrawn again if Ahsoka Season 2 craps the bed, and even if he does come back later, it will likely be like Yoda in The Acolyte: a hollow cameo to prop up another failing show. Sabine, Ezra, even Ahsoka herself…everyone is just another bad season of writing away from getting future appearances axed like Boba Fett.

And if that is what the franchise has come to, then maybe it deserves to rot in the Sarlacc pit right alongside the once-sterling reputation of Star Wars.