Star Wars Fans Launch Petition to Not Change Name of Boba Fett's Ship

Some Star Wars fans are registering their displeasure with Disney's rebranding of Boba Fett's starship in the form of an online position. News broke earlier this week that Lego will releases a new Lego set allowing collector's to build the ship known as the Slave I in Star Wars canon up until now. However, the set isn't called Slave I. Instead, it's referred to as "Boba Fett's Starship." The Lego designers behind the set confirmed the name and suggested that this kind of avoidance of the Slave I designation is going to be widespread across the Disney franchise as Boba Fett reemerges in upcoming episodes of The Book of Boba Fett, The Mandalorian, and maybe even Star Wars: The Bad Batch.

A fan, Cody Pirkle, launched a digital petition via Change.org. The petition, titled "Change the Slave-1's name back to the Slave-1," has over 1,000 e-signatures at the time of writing. Here's the petition's purpose, pe the website:

"Recently it has been revealed by jedinews.com that the iconic space-ship that Boba flys around in Star Wars will no longer be using the name 'Slave-1' for unknown reasons. Disney has requested all companies including Legos and Topps trading cards to stop using the name. We want you to sign this petition showing that you still want the name to be the Slave-1 not and 'Boba's Star Ship'."

As originally reported, LEGO Star Wars Lead Designer Michael Lee Stockwell stated that "We're not calling it Slave I anymore. This is Boba Fett's Starship."

LEGO Star Wars Design Director Jens Kronvold Frederiksen added, "Everybody is [dropping the Slave I name]. It's probably not something which has been announced publicly but it is just something that Disney doesn't want to use anymore."

This statement seems to suggest that an internal decision was made at Disney to avoid using the Slave I name. If that's the case, the "Boba Fett's Starship" designation should appear consistently across products released by Star Wars licensees.

Mark Anthony Smith, the digital effects artist who stood in for Boba Fett during the creation of the Star Wars: A New Hope Special Edition, is opposed to this change. He voiced his opposition on Monday via social media.

"When applying for personalized plates for my car the DMV would not allow 'Slave1'," Smith tweeted. "Okay I understand. Had to try. But I get it. This #disney idiocy however. Not buying it. Not conforming to the Mouse, no siree. Not gonna happen. When I was growing up I loved #disney. No more."

It is worth noting that the official StarWars.com databank still refers to Boba Fett's ship by the Slave I name. However, this could change in the future.