‘The Mandalorian’ Somehow Makes ‘Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back’ Even Better

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is a perfect movie. Am I biased? Definitely, because Empire has been my favorite movie of all time since I was six years old. Am I also right? Yes, I am also right. The Empire Strikes Back is perfect. Han and Leia’s banter, Artoo playing tug of war with Yoda over a lamp, the sad groan Chewbacca makes when the blast doors close, Luke acting at peak impetuousness, Lando “you old smoothie” Calrissian, Lobot, Zev Senesca, “I love you”/”I know”–! Every single minute is perfect, and there’s one minute that I’ve yet to mention that is right up there for me. It starts like this…

I’m not talking about those two Imperial officers in the foreground. I’m talking about what’s going on behind them on the bridge, that blurry lineup of far-out creatures. They’re more than creatures: they’re bounty hunters, the deadliest in the galaxy. Their names aren’t said in the film, but they’ve been made infamous by dozens of trading cards, action figures, and comics: Dengar, IG-88, Boba Fett, Bossk, 4-LOM, and Zuckuss. They’re essentially monsters, knights, and robots with guns and attitudes, so it’s no wonder they’ve spawned a fierce fandom within the fandom.

But here’s the truth: none of them do anything.

Somehow I never realized that as a kid. Aside from Boba Fett, a staff meeting with Darth Vader is the extent of their role in the entire film franchise. And real talk: Boba Fett doesn’t do much more than them! The fact that we forget that the movie introduced five other heavily-armed aliens the instant they’re off-screen is a testament to Empire’s quality. So while I would love to see Bossk and IG-88 in action, I also know I wouldn’t change a thing about the last hour of Empire.

Thankfully we now have The Mandalorian.

The Disney+ series, the first-ever live-action Star Wars TV show, actually adds a lot of tension to Empire, retroactively. That’s because for the first time ever, we get to see these bounty hunters in action. Okay, not those specific bounty hunters, but ones similar enough that we now have an idea of what Boba Fett and those five glorified extras were probably capable of doing. Fans like me have spent decades reading about IG-88 and Bossk’s expanded universe adventures, wondering how they’d actually move in live-action. Now we know, and it’s so much cooler than what we got in their few seconds of screen time. Need proof? Lets compare!

Here’s all that Bossk does in The Empire Strikes Back.

Here’s part of what a Trandoshan warrior, similar to Bossk, does in The Mandalorian.

Here’s everything that IG-88 does in Empire.

Here’s just part of what IG-11, another droid in the IG series, does in The Mandalorian.

And I can’t leave Boba Fett, a character I love, out of this. Here’s the extent of Boba Fett’s badassery in Empire.

Here’s just one badass moment from the titular bounty hunter in The Mandalorian.

Not only that, but The Mandalorian takes all the gadgets and implications from Boba Fett’s brief time on screen and puts them to work. This new character carries the rifle that Boba Fett carried in the Star Wars Holiday Special and he has a knack for disintegrations, a thing Fett was known for but we never got to see.

Now when you go back and watch Empire, these visuals can pop up in your head. You now have an idea of what these guys were capable of and an even greater sense of the danger Han, Leia, and the rest are in after Vader’s hiring spree. The Mandalorian has a whole lot of fun with the Star Wars canon, but this aspect might be the one I love the most. Now when I see this comparatively mundane shot…

… I know the kind of danger that’s implied.

Stream The Mandalorian on Disney+

Stream Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back on Disney+