‘Star Wars’ Boba Fett Actor Fuming Over Slave-1 Name Change

One of the actors who played Boba Fett in the Star Wars franchise is lashing out at Disney for apparently changing the name of the bounty hunter’s ship. A recent release from Lego indicates that Boba Fett’s ship may not be called “Slave-1” anymore, but instead simply “Boba Fett’s Starship.” Mark Austin, who played Fett in the special edition of Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope was not pleased.

Like many other fans, Austin took aim at Disney by pointing out all the other invocations of imperialism, slavery and violence in the Star Wars franchise. He posted a photo of Carrie Fisher in the outfit she wore while she was enslaved by Jabba the Hutt in Episode VI, writing: “Starfighter Leia – according to Disney” with a laughing emoji. He went on: “WARS. Sounds harsh says Disney. Let’s change the franchise name to STAR DISPUTES.” If the laughing emojis made it seem like he was not serious, however, he soon clarified, writing: “Dear Disney, in regards to the Star Wars franchise. If you DON’T like it. DON’T buy it. Simple.”

Austin made other posts about the supposed change, sparking conversations among fans and followers. He even revealed that he applied for “personalized plates for my car” but “the DMV would not allow ‘Slave1.’ Okay I understand. Had to try. But I get it. This [is] Disney idiocy, however. Not buying it. Not conforming to the Mouse, no siree. Not gonna happen. When I was growing up I loved Disney. No more.”

The whole controversy stems from a new LEGO set of Boba Fett’s ship and a comment from the company given to Jedi News. When asked about the name of the set, LEGO’s Michael Lee Stockwell said: “We’re not calling it ‘Slave I’ anymore. 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.”

As straightforward as that sounds, Disney and Lucasfilm have not commented on these reports yet, so the news remains unverified. On top of that, there’s the complication that the name “Slave-1” was never actually used in a Star Wars movie — only in other mediums within the franchise. That has some fans feeling like it is not worth getting furious about, even if there are other parts of the Disney acquisition they don’t care for.

Still, if Disney really did ask LEGO not to use the name “Slave-1” anymore, fans have rightly pointed out that it’s a bit hypocritical considering the hero of the franchise starts out as a child slave in Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace. Some have joined Austin in wondering whether Star Wars and Disney are really a good fit at all.