Why Boba Fett's New Ship Name Has Star Wars Fans Fuming
If you're even remotely familiar with the "Star Wars" franchise, you know that there is a very vocal minority of fans who have been pushing against progress in recent years. Fans made a huge stink when news broke in 2015 that Disney was retiring its "Slave Leia" merchandise (via Screen Crush). And no matter what type of social media account you have, you've probably seen a lot of people grumbling about how the newer movies are becoming more racially and gender diverse (via the Courier & Press). The newest culture-war controversy surrounding "Star Wars," though, has to do with the name of bounty hunter Boba Fett's ship.
It all started back in June when LEGO rebranded its starship playset as "Boba Fett's Starship," per Pirates and Princesses. This ignited a controversy where Mark Austin, who played Boba Fett in the special edition of "Star Wars: A New Hope," took to Twitter to brazenly shame Disney for changing the name. But that was just a placeholder name while Disney executives quietly debated what the iconic ship's name should be for those parts of the franchise that are marketed toward adults. And, according to MovieWeb, we now know the new, inoffensive, and downright awesome name for Fett's ship.
Slave I will now be officially known as Firespray
Instead of sticking with the controversial nickname which sets this custom ship apart from many others like it in the "Star Wars" universe, Disney fell back on referring to the ship by its model name, reports IGN. Originally known as Slave I (via the Star Wars website), it is now called "Firespray," which apparently is the name of the particular model of craft in "Star Wars." And if you think about it, this seems like a fair compromise. The name "Firespray" conjures visions of old "Rambo" movies where fire and bullets are raining down on wave after wave of deadly enemies. If this doesn't reflect the spirit of Fett as a dangerous, sly bounty hunter, we don't know what does.
The name "Firespray" is also well-established in the "Star Wars" canon, which fans on Twitter are more than excited to point out. Will there still be super-fans of the original films who will push back against the change? Yes. Some angry fans have taken to twitter to rhetorically tweet if anyone "has a problem with Slave I" and insist that they "will decide what's canon, we're the ones paying for this stuff anyway." While purchasing power does matter, enough people these days do have a problem with microaggressions and casual racism and are happy to see such a popular franchise change with the times. Others are in denial (at least on Twitter), claiming that calling it by its model name doesn't erase its Slave I nickname. Many of those impassioned gatekeepers will always hate change, even if it's one for the better. But we think "Firespray" sounds like an entirely appropriate compromise.