At the time of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Jango Fett was one of the most feared warriors in the galaxy. Widely considered to be the cream of the crop when it came to bounty hunting, the movie saw him go one-on-one with Obi-Wan Kenobi in his prime and walk away unscathed. That’s an almost superhuman feat for someone that’s not Force-sensitive, so it’s no surprise he was chosen to be the genetic father of the Clone Army.
Jango clearly had impeccable combat and tactical skills, together with having mastered a deadly suite of weaponry. So, why did he leap into a gigantic ground battle on Geonosis and literally lose his head courtesy of Mace Windu? Star Wars fans are debating what on earth he was thinking by not simply jetting away to live another day:
Responses indicate that Jango may have overestimated his skills against Jedi after his previous victories over them:
It’s also worth mentioning that the Jedi he dispatched – Coleman Trebor – was even a member of the Jedi Council:
It’s also pointed out that there’s a deleted scene indicating that Jango put up more of a fight against Mace than we saw in theaters:
In addition, Jango did actually try to escape, though his jetpack let him down:
Even after his death, Jango continued to have an outsize impact on the mythology for decades to come. The Clone Army changed the face of the galaxy, eventually executing Order 66 and practically wiping out the Jedi, while his son Boba Fett took up the armor and matched his father as a supremely talented bounty hunter (though he was a bit rubbish as a crime lord in The Book of Boba Fett).
We can’t help but wonder what Star Wars might have looked like if Jango hadn’t leapt into battle against Mace Windu, as a specialist Jedi-killing mercenary allied with Count Dooku may have single-handedly changed the course of the Clone Wars.
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones is available to stream on Disney Plus.