‘Star Wars’ nerds are furious after Lego set isn’t explicitly named ‘Slave 1’

Star Wars nerds are furious after a recently announced Lego set failed to refer to a character’s ship by its original name, Slave 1.

Lego announced nine new Star Wars sets on Tuesday, all slated for release just ahead of May the 4th, a date known to many as Star Wars Day. They include several helmets, the Star Wars logo, an Astromech Droid, Kylo Ren’s Command Shuttle, and “Jango Fett’s Firespray-Class Starship.”

It’s the last one of these that has a specific subset of Star Wars fans—presumably the same ones that are always getting angry about things—up in arms. Historically, the ship has been referred to as Slave 1. And if there’s one thing these fans hate, it seems to be any kind of change.

Star Wars fans rage against the Lego machine

As soon as the announcement dropped, fans were taking a bold stand against Disney for making toys that didn’t include the word “slave” in them. They began “correcting” anyone who utilized the name Lego put forth and making complaints that sometimes seemed so outrageous, it’s hard to determine whether they were genuinely upset or just mocking the fans taking this so seriously.

“Say its name. SAY. ITS. NAME,” wrote one X user.

You mean Slave One? pic.twitter.com/Rc5qSMPxO9

— The Uber Geek ✠ ✝️🇻🇦 (@JoeTheUberGeek) April 15, 2025

https://t.co/sTAEKawZxV pic.twitter.com/gvJnXMiZSm

— Michael F Kane (@MichaelFKane) April 15, 2025

When did Disney change the name of Jango Fett’s ship?

Technically, the ship flown by Jango Fett (and later, Boba Fett) may still be called Slave 1 in canon. There hasn’t been any sort of retcon that actively seeks to change the name of the ship itself, although it has sometimes been referred to as Firespray (the class of ship) in recent years.

That said, Disney quietly stopped referring to the ship as Slave 1 circa 2021. It came to the public’s attention in the exact same manner currently causing an outcry—due to a Lego set.

“It’s probably not something which has been announced publicly but it is just something that Disney doesn’t want to use any more,” Lego designer Jens Kronvold Frederiksen told Jedi News at the time.

Back then, the toy was being released as a nod to the Disney+ series, The Mandalorian. Despite being marketed towards children, the Lego set caused such an uproar among grown Star Wars fans that even Mark Anthony Austin, who played Boba Fett in the first Star Wars film, denounced the change.

My ship will forever be Slave1.

Nothing. Not even #disney can or will change that.

This is the way. pic.twitter.com/Qt99Yo8dEz

— Mark Anthony Austin (@BobaFettANHSE) June 28, 2021

Why did Disney change the name?

As Disney never released a statement announcing the name change, there’s no official reason on record as to why it happened. Many have speculated it’s because Disney didn’t want to market toys with the word “slave” in them, while the more cynical have insisted it’s because they’re capitulating to the “woke mob” or whatever. (There is nothing to suggest anyone demanded Disney rename the ship.)

But others have suggested it may not even be that deep. While 50-year-old Star Wars fans who have devoted their lives to developing an encyclopedic knowledge of the franchise may know the names of every individual starship, kids (and their parents) are much more likely to recognize the names of the characters they love.

Regardless of the details, the outcome was predictable. But no matter how upset these Star Wars fans get at the shifting branding of Jango Fett’s ship for the purpose of selling Legos to children, there will always be people around who are more than happy to make fun of them for it.

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