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.
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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
They are not changing the name of the Slave-1. It’s just LEGO calling the ship “Boba Fett’s Starship” on the packaging to make the set more accessible to casuals who aren’t familiar with the name. It’s the same with other sets.
โ HenryLouis21 He/Him (@HenryLouis21) June 28, 2021
Right. LEGO has an image. They wonโt make sets that depict war. Some sets have fantasy battles and some sets have guns, but not outright war.
โ I Like Turtles (@turtlesruleall) June 28, 2021
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
People act like this is some big political move or something, but it’s just Disney trying to get themselves brownie points. Changing the ship’s name doesn’t affect Canon or anything, and I’m sure most casuals didn’t even know the ship had a name to begin with. I sure didn’t.
โ Liam #FinishInfinityTrain (@Kenshi917) June 29, 2021
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
This is so funny ๐ #slave1 #Starwarsmeme pic.twitter.com/Jlv1b5LBIS
โ Han Talks First: A Star Wars Show๐ (@hantalksfirst) June 29, 2021
It doesnโt make sense to me. If Disney doesnโt like the word slave being in the name of the ship, then why would they include a plot point about slave trafficking in bad batch? Thereโs no straightforward logic here. Just backtracking on George Lucasโs creativity from years ago
โ Freddie (@Freduccini02) June 28, 2021
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
Interesting how many people are upset at the name change of a ship named Slave 1. Like, the slave ship correlation NEVER hit y’all because slavery was never something that was deeply entwined with how your people are depicted in America.
โ OG FacelessKing (@OGFacelessKing) June 29, 2021
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
If they think that’s offensive just wait until they hear about who the Imperial Army is based off.
โ Iแดษดโ (@The_MegaMan) June 28, 2021
Slavery aside, other themes of Star Wars made this change seem silly to some fans โ including imperialism and fascism. George Lucas was very clear in referencing the real-world German Nazis in his creation of the Empire.
Memes
Not “Slave-1” or “Boba Fett’s ship”. This is just the thing I use to iron my clothes. pic.twitter.com/U6oO8iChA9
โ Flilis Skywalker ๐ง๐ท ๐โค๐ #RestoreTheSnyderVerse (@flilisoffexegol) June 28, 2021
As always, Star Wars memes abounded in this discussion.
Anti-Disney
The last #Disney movie was The Little Mermaid. After that, it wasn’t really Disney anymore. Just a soulless corporation living off of brand energy created by better people.
โ Preston Park (@pjparkjd) June 28, 2021
Like Apple.
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.
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Nate Bargatze (Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
