If Star Wars Renames Boba Fett’s Ship It Probably Won’t Be ‘Firespray’

Who thought a Lego set may ever trigger this a lot forwards and backwards? I assume it is the world of Star Wars we’re speaking about.

A number of months in the past, sure Star Wars followers discovered themselves up in arms that a then-upcoming Lego set depicting Boba Fett’s ship, identified in canon as Slave 1, was merely titled “Boba Fett’s Starship.” Lego’s Star Wars line has tweaked and simplified the names of units many instances earlier than in its lengthy historical past, however what triggered this set to change into such a subject of debate was accompanying commentary by Lego designers, who acknowledged that the title of the set was particularly partially as a result of an alleged mandate by Disney that Slave 1 go unmentioned in merchandise as Boba Fett returned to prominence in Star Wars storytelling.

It was the newest and most public step in a course of that had, at that time, largely passed by unnoticed by followers and even then, seemed to be scattershot at greatest in its strategy. Slave 1 wasn’t stricken from Star Wars file completely, it nonetheless appeared in latest novels, on merchandise like buying and selling playing cards, and even within the databanks of the official Star Wars web site. But these mentions co-existed alongside a rising variety of mentions that merely referred to Boba’s starship as, properly merely that. Lucasfilm remained silent on the purported coverage, and the controversy largely slipped away, till a brand new sequence of Marvel Star Wars comedian covers re-ignited it this week.

Revealed for a sequence of comics set to launch in September as a part of Marvel’s presently ongoing War of the Bounty Hunters crossover occasion, Paolo Villanelli’s six bounty hunter ship blueprint variant covers every depict an iconic bounty hunter and their spacecraft. Bossk will get the Hound’s Tooth, IG-88 the IG-2000, and so forth. But whereas the recognized covers every consult with the bounty hunters’ ships by their given names, Villanelli’s variant for Boba Fett is solely referred to in solicitations as “Boba Fett and Firespray.” Given that every one the opposite ships have been referred to with their names reasonably than their ship courses, this has lead to renewed discussion in regards to the determination to rename Slave 1, believing that Fett’s ship is now “officially” known as Firespray.

Except… properly, sure and no. But extra no than sure. Bounty searching’s a sophisticated career and apparently naming bounty hunter ships, much more so. “Firespray” as talked about in Marvel’s solicits doubtless doesn’t consult with a brand new title, however merely the category of ship the vessel belongs to: a Firespray-31-class patrol and assault craft. It’s the designation the design has held for years in each the Star Wars expanded universe continuity, in addition to Disney’s personal official canon, the place it was first recognized as such within the 2015 reference ebook Ultimate Star Wars. The Firespray-class has, like Slave 1 itself particularly, gone on to be talked about in merchandise, reference books, and different official materials since.

That may provide an evidence as to why it’s referred to in Marvel’s solicitations as such, however as as to whether or not it’s the brand new “official” title for Slave 1, Lucasfilm is remaining publicly silent. A request for remark by io9 in regards to the confusion over Villanelli’s covers made to Lucasfilm has gone unanswered, as did earlier requests for feedback concerning Lego’s claims of an alleged mandate. We’ll replace this submit if we hear again from the studio, however for now, Boba Fett’s ship most likely doesn’t have a brand new title within the galaxy far, far-off, simply but.

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