Disney Renames Controversial 'Star Wars' Ship, and Some Fans Are Lashing Out

Michael Hein

07/03/2021 04:50 pm EDT

Star Wars fans are in a fresh outrage this week after realizing that Disney has quietly changed the name of Boba Fett's ship. The cruiser was previously known as "Slave-1," but the latest LEGO set release lists it only as "Boba Fett's Starship." Representatives from LEGO now indicate that the name change is official, although Disney has not confirmed this news.

"We're not calling it 'Slave I' anymore," LEGO's Michael Lee Stockwell told Jedi News. "Everybody is [dropping the name.] It's probably not something which has been announced publicly, but it is just something that Disney doesn't want to use anymore." Stockwell is the leade designer on LEGO's Star Wars projects, including the new 478-piece set depicting Boba Fett's Starship in fine detail.

Disney has not commented on the reports of this name change, nor have any representatives from the company responded to other outlets' requests for further comment. In the meantime, fans on social media are lashing out at what some see as a pointless change to the franchise's canon.

Disney is known for being extremely careful about potentially offensive material, especially on its streaming service Disney+, where most of its Star Wars content is now held. According to a report by The Daily Mail, Disney has held regular meetings with several different advocacy groups since 2019 to flag any potentially offensive material in its content.

For what it's worth, the name change seems to be taking effect slowly. A version of the LEGO set is currently for sale on stores like Amazon with the name "Slave-1" firmly in place. However, that has not stopped defensive fans from raging against Disney and extrapolating more political reasons for the change, as well. Scroll down for a look at what they're saying.

Not Official

Many fans simply stuck to their hope that the name change was not official and would not be applied broadly across the whole Star Wars franchise.

Obscure

Some also argued that this change was too subtle to get upset over. They advised outraged fans to calm down, reasoning that "Slave-1" had never even been called by name in any of the movies.

Star Wars Slavery

Many fans argued that changing the name from "Slave-1" was absurd in a franchise with so much prevalent slavery. If impressionable viewers could be offended by the name, they argued, they could certainly be offended by the fact that Anakin Skywalker and his mother were literal slaves when the saga began.

Misplaced Feelings

On the other hand, fans argued that many of those outraged by this change had their focus in the wrong place. They thought that people who understood the generational trauma of real-world slavery should be the ones to comment authoritatively on this issue.

Star Wars Themes

Slavery aside, other themes of Star Wars made this change seem silly to some fans — including imperialism and fascism. George Lucas was very clear in referencing the real-world German Nazis in his creation of the Empire.

Memes

As always, Star Wars memes abounded in this discussion.

Anti-Disney

Finally, for some fans this was the last straw with Disney. They were furious that the company had succeeded in acquiring the Star Wars franchise and taken so many creative liberties with it.

Disclosure: PopCulture. is owned by Paramount. Sign up for Paramount+ by clicking here.