Disney Just Scrapped Boba Fett's (Dumb) Ship Name

As far as distractions from the fact that we're all living on a spinning rock in the middle of a seemingly endless black abyss devoid of meaning and purpose go, you can't beat a good old-fashioned pointless Star Wars controversy. The latest involves the branding of a literal toy; LEGO is releasing a new version of Boba Fett's starship, and some fans are livid that they're calling it ... "Boba Fett's Starship." 

Why the hate? Because Fett's ride has traditionally been known as the Slave 1 -- but seemingly Disney and LEGO have now realized that invoking the horrors of slavery isn't the best way to sell multicolored hunks of plastic to children. Apparently, it's not just the LEGO set; Disney is moving away from using the name altogether, which hasn't just enraged fans but also the actor who played Boba Fett! No, not the original guy … or the dude from The Mandalorian … and it's not even the little kid from Attack of the Clones; it's the Lucasfilm employee who happened to dress up like Boba Fett for the Special Edition reshoots for A New Hope in the '90s.

Wait, why does anyone care what this guy thinks? If we want an opinion on the scene where Han Solo tramples on Jabba's tail, sure, but this "actor" didn't even have a scene with the ship in question; it didn't show up until The Empire Strikes Back. 

And is this really such a big deal? It's not as though the ship's name was a key part of the franchise, no one ever referred to it by name in the movies. In the screenplay for Empire, it's just referred to as, you guessed it, "Boba's ship."

From what we can tell, it wasn't actually given a name until the merchandising came along; it's referred to as Slave 1 in the film's novelization and in the Kenner toy line -- meaning that it was probably named by either a frustrated writer or toy executive who was struggling to come up with unique designations for a towering pile of plastic knick-knacks and alien weirdos.

You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter! And check out the podcast Rewatchability.

Top Image: Lucasfilm