The Reason Why Boba Fett's New Ship Name Actually Makes Sense

There's A Bit More To This

By Culture SlatePublished 3 years ago • 3 min read

Boba Fett is, without a doubt, one of the coolest characters in Star Wars. He has been a fan favorite since his debut even though he was inevitably defeated by a blind Han Solo. With his appearance in The Mandalorian and upcoming series The Book of Boba Fett, it seems like his character is finally getting the justice he deserves. However, like most things in Star Wars, he is not without some form of controversy. In this situation, the controversy surrounds Boba Fett’s ship rather than the character himself.

Recently, a Lego set of Boba Fett’s ship was shown to feature the title of the ship as “Boba Fett’s Starship” instead of the ship’s actual name Slave I. This led some fans to speculate that Disney maybe renaming the ship or dropping the name entirely. While this was written off as merely rumors at first, it would appear that Marvel’s War of the Bounty Hunters comic event seemingly confirms a name change. However, this name change may make more sense than fans initially thought, and it is deep-rooted in Star Wars lore.

The variant covers of the comic will feature blueprints of each bounty hunter's ship including characters like IG-88 and Dengar. It is shown that Boba Fett’s ship is under the title of the Firespray. This may sound like a random choice for the name, but it is actually a reference to the model of the ship. The ship is classified as the Firespray-31-class patrol and attack craft. The ship was originally created by Kuat Systems Engineering, and it was previously used, as the name classification would suggest, as a patrol ship for the prison moon of Oovo IV. That is where Jango stole the ship from. It is understandable why Jango would want to use that ship for bounty hunting considering it used to chasing and hunting down prisoners that tried to escape. While this may be more of a name reversion rather than a change, it has still managed to upset a good number of Star Wars fans, but this is hardly breaking news.

In a sci-fi epic such as Star Wars, the ships featured throughout the series are characters in their own right in the same way that the world is a character in a fantasy series. Fans can find themselves growing attached to certain ships as much as the people in the stories. This is part of the reason why fans kind find themselves excited when a famous ship makes an appearance in a series or movie and why fans mourn when one of the legendary ships is destroyed in battle. They serve as extensions and tools of the pilot, but they become members of the cast all the same. This is also why it can anger fans when changes are made, seemingly randomly, to things they are passionate about.

That being said, it is important to note that there hasn’t been any official word from Disney or Lucasfilm confirming or denying that this will replace the Slave I moniker. This also doesn’t seem to be a name change, since it is only referring to the ship as its original ship classification. It is kind of like referring to the X-wing as such rather than a nickname given by a pilot. The name has also remained Slave I on the official Star Wars website, so that could imply the name will remain the same, or someone at Disney or Lucasfilm is behind on updating the site. They may not even know if the change should be made or not. Nevertheless, it has upset Star Wars fans, so it is just another day for the Star Wars fandom. Perhaps more light will be shed during the War of the Bounty Hunters event or in The Book of Boba Fett series.

Written By Alex Lenzini

Source(s): CBR

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