Disney Renames Star Wars 'Slave 1' Ship

For 40 years Star Wars bounty hunter Boba Fett’s starship has been known as "Slave 1" but now it appears Disney has dumped that name in anticipation of backlash over the use of the word "slave."

There has been no massive backlash over the name of the starship, which first appeared in 1980's "The Empire Strikes Back," but in June rumblings of a complete name change began. This was based on Disney's order to Lego to stop selling its model of the ship as "Slave 1," Breitbart News reported. The ship model was later sold as "Boba Fett Starship."

No official explanation had been offered but insiders speculated that Disney planned to completely obliterate the use of "Slave 1" and was preparing for this move by alerting vendors.

Now new promotional materials are showing Boba Fett's ship is being referred to as "Firespray," Bounding Into Comics revealed, further noting that Disney had put out a notice that fans will see several spaceships in an upcoming comic book series, "Star Wars: War of The Bounty Hunters."

One of those ships is "Boba Fett and Firespray."

Disney has not officially explained the name change, but Lego Star Wars Design Director Jens Kronvold Frederiksengiven said "it is just something that Disney doesn’t want to use any more."

Actor Mark Anthony Austin, who played Boba Fett in the 1997 Star Wars Special Edition film, has spoken out against the decision.

"Not buying. not conforming to the Mouse, no siree. Not gonna happen,” he wrote on Twitter in June, according to Bounding Into Comics. "When I was growing up I loved Disney. No more."

In a separate tweet, Austin wrote, "I cannot put into words how much I love this spaceship. It’s like Han has Chewie. I’ve always had Slave 1. You cannot just change that."

The "Star Wars" franchise has been making a notable move towards being more inclusive. Earlier this year Lucasfilm revealed a comic book that featured two "trans non-binary" characters for International Transgender Day of Visibility, which took place on March 31.

"In honor of #TransDayOfVisibility we're proud to unveil an exclusive cover highlighting Terec and Ceret, trans non-binary Jedi, currently featured in Marvel's The High Republic comic," the Star Wars official Facebook account announced. "We support trans lives and we are passionate and committed to broadening our representation in a galaxy far far way #TDOV"

The characters made their first appearance in the second issue of "Star Wars: The High Republic." The Jedi bond-twins from the planet Kotab "have a linked consciousness and frequently finish each other’s sentences, even when they aren’t in the same room" according to Variety. 

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