Since buying the rights from Geroge Lucas, Disney has made many not-so-popular changes to the canon of the stellar saga. Now another has appeared on the horizon, and it concerns one of the most iconic spacecraft.
There have been reports online that Disney wants to ditch the name of Boba Fett’s Slave I ship. The information first appeared at LEGO Fan Media Days last month. The lead designer behind the LEGO Star Wars designs – Michael Lee Stockwell – has revealed that the name Slave I is no longer used by them. Now they just call it Boba Fett’s ship. This information was confirmed by another representative of the same LEGO department, Jens Kronvold Frederiksen.
Disney has not yet commented on these reports. We do not know whether the name change will be limited to gadgets and toys, or whether it will also be used in the upcoming series Book of Boba Fett , which is to be released on the Disney + platform this year. Certainly many people are wondering what could be behind changing the name of such a cult vehicle. There are several possible causes, one of which may be last year’s protests by the Black Lives Matter movement. As a result, representatives of various industries in the United States decided to eliminate the terms “slave” and “master” from their campaigns and products. It is true that the activities of the aforementioned movement were mainly related to American history, but it is possible that Disney prefers to be safe than sorry.
Another possible reason for not using the Slave I name could be simply product recognition. Not every Star Wars fan needs to know or remember the name of this ship, but hardly anyone will have a problem linking it with the character of Boba Fett. Regardless of how motivated, this decision has already divided fans and not only them. Mark Anthony Austin, who donned the armor of the famous bounty hunter for the 1997 special edition of New Hope , expressed his displeasure on Twitter.
What do you think about these reports? Do you think this is a change for the better, or maybe an unnecessary interference with the Star Wars canon ?