The Mandalorian executive producer Jon Favreau was part of the recent ATX Television Festival At Home, and explained that Boba Fett did indeed serve as inspiration for Din Djarin. Initially, there were rumours that Fett would be the lead of the Disney+ series, but the decision was made to go with an original character instead.
After sharing this, Favreau went on to explain how Fett's limited screentime ultimately inspired the decision to put the spotlight on a Mandalorian bounty hunter.
"We all loved Boba Fett, but we never got as much of him as we all wanted," he said (via ComicBook.com). "He came to an unceremonious end in ‘Return of the Jedi.’ We wanted somebody that could kind of live up to what we had hoped to see when we were younger."
There's already speculation that the mention of Fett's "unceremonious end" is a hint from Favreau about the character's rumoured return in season two of The Mandalorian, especially as it appears the filmmaker is unhappy with how things ended for the bounty hunter in Return of the Jedi.
With any luck, we will get to see Din Djarin and Boba Fett come face to face when the show returns, as that's definitely something fans are excited for. The question in, who wins if they fight?
That's something we may find out later this year...