Hardcore Star Wars fans are mad after Disney and Lego changed the name of iconic starship Slave I to Boba Fett’s Starship. While the erasure of the slave outfit made sense as Disney pivots against sexual objectification of women, Slave I ship according to fans, never offended anyone.
DIEHARD fans are questioning the reason for Disney to change the name of a popular ship from the Star Wars franchise from ‘Slave I’ to simply, ‘Boba Fett’s Starship.’
Boba Fett’s Starship photo from Brik set
As fans checked the Lego listing for Star Wars sets, they noticed that Lego had changed the ship’s name. Lego designer Michael Lee Stockwell said the toymaker was no longer using the Slave I name.
According to them, “It’s probably not something which has been announced publicly but it is just something that Disney doesn’t want to use any more.”
Disney, on the other hand, has not released a statement regarding the matter despite the topic gaining traction online with a Boba Fett actor leading the outcry.
Mark Anthony Austin, who appeared uncredited as Fett in the 1997 updated version of Star Wars: A New Hope wrote his disdain for the name change on Twitter.
“My ship will forever be Slave1. Nothing. Not even #disney can or will change that. This is the way.”
Fans speculated that the move was due to Disney trying to be “woke” or politically correct.
To this, Austin replied, “WARS. Sounds harsh says #disney. Let's change the franchise name to: STAR DISPUTES."
The ship in question has been part of Star Wars from the very introduction of Boba Fett in 1978. He inherited the unique ship from his father, Jango.
According to the official StarWars.com site, Slave I was originally a police craft to transport criminals until the holding area was remodeled into prisoner cages matching Fett’s occupation as a bounty hunter.
Back in 2015, Disney also made another “slave” erasure when they officially phased out the Slave Leia bikini merchandise and marketing.
The controversial costume was worn by Princess Leia actress Carrie Fisher in Star Wars: Episode VIII - Return of the Jedi when the character was captured by Jabba the Hutt.
It is known that Fisher was uncomfortable in the outfit and warned new Star Wars actor Daisy Ridley:
“Don’t be a slave like I was… You keep fighting against that slave outfit.”
While the erasure of the slave outfit made sense as Disney’s new stance against sexual objectification of women, Boba Fett’s ship, according to fans, “never offended anyone.”
Disney has an upcoming spinoff titled, The Book of Boba Fett with Temuera Morrison reprising his role as Jango Fett, scheduled to premiere on Disney+ this December.
Other fans took the name in stride noting that the ship was never actually referred to as ‘Slave I’ onscreen. A few others are simply saying Lego changed the name to easily sell more Boba Fett merchandise.
Tags: #StarWars, #Disney, #Lego, #Slave1, #politicalcorrectness