Disney appears to have dropped the traditional name of Boba Fett's ship in Star Wars, but why is Slave I getting a rebrand? When Boba Fett made his movie debut in 1980's The Empire Strikes Back, everything about the bounty hunter was dripping in cool. The battered armor, the calm demeanor, the "no disintegrations" - and the unique, innovative design of his personal spacecraft. With a gyroscope interior, Boba's ship was visually striking and ruthlessly efficient in pursuit, and would later appear in Attack of the Clones, The Clone Wars, The Mandalorian, and more. Throughout its service, the vessel has always been officially known as Slave I.
That may no longer be the case, however, as LEGO's Star Wars merchandise is now being directed to call Slave I "Boba Fett's Starship." Additionally, LEGO Star Wars design director, Jens Kronvold Frederiksen, claims Disney are intentionally phasing out the Slave I title. This isn't the first instance of renaming the ship, as the Ultimate Star Wars reference book (released in 2015 shortly after Disney acquired Lucasfilm) lists Boba's ride as "Clone I." Predictably, the news hasn't been well-received by Star Wars fans online, but what could be motivating the change?
One explanation is that "Boba Fett's Starship" simply reads better from a marketing point of view. The original name isn't as well established as, for example, the Millennium Falcon, especially among newer audiences, and consumers are far more likely to Google "Boba Fett ship" than "Slave I."
In the original interview with JediNews, however, Frederiksen claims that Slave I is a name "Disney doesn't want to use anymore," which suggests a wider-reaching directive. Although Disney hasn't officially explained the decision (or even confirmed such a decision has been made), the shift could be due to negative connotations of the word "Slave." Compared to 1980 when Slave I first roared into theaters, the world is far more attuned to racial issues, and the world "slave" is, understandably, not used as casually in fictional media. Despite the acquisition of action-based franchises such as Star Wars and Marvel, Disney remains a family-friendly company, traditionally eschewing any potential for controversy or offence - more so than another studio might. This likely played at least some part in Slave I being renamed "Boba Fett's Starship."
Another potential reason for the Slave I change is to soften the Boba Fett character ahead of The Book of Boba Fett on Disney+. The Slave I title obviously evokes images of violence, oppression, and evil, but upon returning in The Mandalorian season 2, Boba Fett was very much a hero, helping Din Djarin rescue Grogu. Should Boba continue down this redemptive path, removing his ship's dark title could be part of the transformation process. Disney has already given performed a similar moral retcon on Darth Vader, with new canon keen to separate Anakin and Vader into two separate people, rather than acknowledge the dark deeds Anakin committed.
It's important to acknowledge that while Disney's Star Wars might be dropping "slave" from its marketing, the topic of slavery still holds a strong presence in the franchise. The Last Jedi, The Mandalorian and The Bad Batch have all touched upon slavery in one form or another, proving that Disney isn't wholesale sanitizing the Star Wars galaxy altogether, but perhaps trying to keep potentially offensive and/or commercially inferior terms out of its marketing - LEGO boxes especially.
