Holy Sh*t, I Just Met Boba Fett — Highlights from Daniel Logan: Spotlight Panel on Indonesia Comic Con 2017

Disclaimer: This article is written based on memory and no recorded material, hence all the verbatim you read is a result of paraphrasing. Daniel, if you’re reading this, feel free to contact us and have us change it if you so wish.

Boba Fett came to Indonesia Comic Con this year. Yes, Daniel Logan, who portrayed Fett’s younger incarnation in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, is one of the guests invited to the convention this year after being called from his shoot in the Philippines (on a movie with Jason David Frank, no less). Earlier today, Daniel Logan shared his stories about his life during and after Star Wars in his panel.

Auditioning for the role of Boba Fett at the age of thirteen—Fett, in the story, is eight—Daniel had to lie in the audition process. “I was with my mother and grandmother,” he said, “but they were like, ‘You can’t come in.’ So I went into the lobby and the audition alone.

“They didn’t have a script for us back then. I had no lines to say, so I pretty much had to sell myself to them.”

They asked him, Daniel said, if he had any special talents. “There was this spear-like thing in New Zealand called a taiaha, used in—this.” He proceeded to demonstrate his version of a New Zealandish haka, drawing laughter from the audience as he added, “Yeah, that’s us New Zealanders. We’re crazy.”

He told the story of how he proceeded to pretend like he knew what it was all about after asking (and knowing, gleefully) that he wouldn’t get “a stick or a broom” in exchange for the taiaha. “It was a fancy hotel. They don’t just hand you those when you ask.”

That was the first lie. Then, they asked him what he would do with a lightsaber. Daniel, who had never seen any Star Wars film when he’d auditioned, did what he’d done before—pretend and imagine and act, like the excited boy he was.

Listening to Daniel tell all these stories (driving a golf cart with Ewan McGregor in full Jedi robes at five in the morning? Why not), it wasn’t hard to imagine how he was as a young boy on the set on Star Wars. He still had a lot of that boyish energy, walking and galloping all over the stage during the course of the panel, which he closed by sitting at the edge of the stage as he answered the question of a young boy.

Witty, lighthearted stories aside, Daniel Logan certainly had a lot of passion in him. He talked about how he’d dropped out of school at the age of 17, as he got busier and busier doing his jobs, but encouraged other children not to do the same. He emphasized the importance of education and doing the things that you love.

“When you get to that age, you know, twenties, thirties, forties… I think working hard from a young age is the best thing to do. If you don’t get to learning and doing what you love from now, it only gets harder.”

Daniel also dished on what it felt like to get directions from George Lucas himself (pretty much the god of Star Wars) and having his green card approved in less than a day after he wrote to Lucas and Ewan McGregor. “You know, it’s crazy. It usually takes six months for it to be approved, and to have it done like that—it was a record. Nobody had ever had that before.”

It’s clear, from the panel, that Daniel Logan is still as passionate about Star Wars and Boba Fett as he was years ago. If anything, the passion had only grown; when asked if he would return in a rumored Boba Fett film, he said, “I haven’t heard anything about it. But if they call me to do it, I’ll do it in a heartbeat. I’ll do it for free.”

Amen to that, Daniel. Here’s to hoping to see you soon on the big screens as Boba Fett, continuing your legacy.

You can find Daniel Logan on Twitter, @Daniel_Logan, and on Instagram, @instadaniellogan. He posts a lot of Boba-related stuff and much more interesting things in his life, so you wouldn’t wanna miss out. You know, in case that Boba movie is gonna be done for real.

One Last Time, Bub-Logan Review

After 17 years, Hugh Jackman’s run on an iconic role finally comes to an end. In the pop culture consciousness, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine is up there with the likes of the original Star Wars trio of Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and the late, great Carrie Fisher in being so attached to their roles. And what a sendoff to give our favourite grumpy Canadian, too.

The aptly-titled Logan is just that, a deeply personal story about Logan and his struggles coming to terms with what he’s done in the past and dealing with the demons it summoned that plague him even now. Taking place in a not-so-far future where mutantkind is all but eliminated, Logan, now a limo driver reluctantly takes care of a senile Professor X with the help of Caliban. But when a girl with suspiciously similar powers to him, Logan is forced to go on the run with them to evade the forces who mean to do them harm.

Pierce and the Reavers, about to drop the hottest album of 2024

As befitting a last outing, Hugh Jackman gave it his all as Logan. Time hasn’t been kind to this old dog, and he’s more jaded, more cynical, and more world-weary than before, so much so you just can’t help but feel bad for him. Patrick Stewart, regretfully also in his last outing as Professor Xavier, is nothing like the Xavier we’ve grown to know and love throughout the years. This Professor X is senile, a bit loopy, and is more like that cheeky old grandpa who refuses to take his medicine and messes with his caretakers all the time. But still, shades of the old Xavier is there somewhere, buried in regret and a whole lotta meds. The showstealer, and arguably the emotional heart of this movie, though, is newcomer Dafne Keen’s Laura, also known as X-23. Despite not speaking for most of the movie, her expression and movements are all that it takes, not to mention that she clicks right into the dynamic between Xavier and Logan as the ‘child’ of the trio.

The years haven’t been kind

The R-rating of this movie is well-earned. For the first (and sadly last) time, we finally get to see what those claws are capable of doing, in full bloody glory. Slicing up limbs, going through faces and everything in between, it’s all fair game. Which lends well to its intense fight scenes, some of the most brutal and most violent in the X-movies. Despite the abundance of violence, this story is very much an emotional one, ‘family’ being the word of the day. Three people, broken in their own ways, managing to find a way to function together even through the hardest of situations. Logan has equal parts of laughs, tears, and heartwarming moments that all hit really, really well.

I’d warn him about putting someone’s eye out, but I think that’s what he’s going for

Logan isn’t a superhero movie. It’s not about people in spandex trying to save the world. Instead, it’s a story of Logan, as the title implies, and how he embraces his ‘family’, dysfunctional as they are. And in that, a movie that I dare say is the best X-movie is born. Logan is the perfect sendoff for a truly iconic character.

The Magical and The Bat-Justice League Dark Review

DC hasn’t had too much luck with adapting the occult into other media. With the dearly departed Constantine TV series and the long-rumored Justice League Dark/Dark Universe movie still in development hell, there isn’t much success in adapting the more…magical fare onto the screen. Which is why the Justice League Dark animated movie is a pleasant surprise.

Alternate title: Batman and His Magical Bitches

Helmed by Jay Oliva, Justice League Dark is the first outing for DC’s titular team (stretching the word a bit) of mystically-inclined heroes (again, stretching). Consisting of John Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman, Swamp Thing, and Etrigan, alongside Batman as the ‘outsider’, the team must face an ancient evil threatening to destroy both life and afterlife alike.

Say hello to the new Robin

The plot isn’t exactly anything new, but boy, does the cast make it a fun trip. Matt Ryan absolutely steals the show in his return as John Constantine. John is every bit the loveable bastard we’ve grown to love from the show, and his lines are sharp as ever. Jason O’Mara provides the straight man to the rest of the craziness as Batman, Camilla Luddington brings a balance to the team as backwards-talking magician Zatanna, Nicholas Turturro is annoyingly yet endearingly chipper Deadman, Ray Chase plays both man and rhyming demon Jason Blood and Etrigan, and Roger Cross rounds up the main cast as the protector of the Green, Swamp Thing. Jeremy Davies also makes a return as John’s long-suffering friend Ritchie Simpson, and Alfred Molina is Destiny, the main villain of the piece and live-action Skeletor lookalike.

Toldja

Justice League Dark’s strongest suit is its characters. Most of the main cast play very well off of each other, but what surprised me pleasantly was the inclusion of Batman, who I thought would likely be shoved in there for marketing purposes, to turn out pretty good. He wasn’t overused and hogging the spotlight, but conversely he isn’t just /there/ either. He strikes a good balance between being the perspective ‘everyman’ character and the major source of snark and the occasional grunt. John Constantine is easily the best part about this movie, which is exactly what most of us came here for. If this is the direction for John we’re going for in the CW Seed series, then this is going to be fun.

Even seeing his name caused Batman to cut himself shaving

Deadman is an unexpected favorite, playing comic relief for most of the movie, and both Etrigan/Blood and Swamp Thing’s albeit brief appearances, they made a sizable impact in the movie. Especially Etrigan and his mad rhyming skills. It’s a bit of a shame Zatanna’s spotlight seems to dim a bit compared to the other team members, but she still proves interesting in her backwards magic and reining John in.

I’m sure he gets this a lot

What I loved about this movie is that it doesn’t exactly shy away from the dark, the creepy, and the strange. The intro builds the sense of dread well enough, and sets the scene that what they’re facing this time is something else. And one of the more fun set pieces is around the middle, when the thing made of shit comes along. It was wholly unexpected, and to be frank, I loved it. The climax leading up and all the way to the ending was also quite the highlight, and kept me at the edge of my seat along the way.

And now the literal shit has hit the proverbial fan

While I liked most of the movie, I do have several gripes regarding it. One of the major ones is that John doesn’t even so much as gets near a cigarette during the whole thing. Even the NBC series, when he ostensibly can’t be shown smoking, he’s still shown holding a cigarette and in some of the last episodes he’s seen outright smoking. While this may look like a minor thing to some, cigarettes are part of his iconic look, and not even teasing that feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. Black Orchid and Felix Faust were also sort-of wasted in their roles. While Black Orchid had one great exchange with Batman, Felix Faust felt like just another speedbump in our heroes’ journeys.

With all that said, I enjoyed Justice League Dark very much. A fun, solid ride that did what it set out to do, despite several points of contention. But nothing’s perfect, right?