Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is a fascinating series. It is the latest entry in the live-action Star Wars series on Disney+ and one of the last ones for a while if reports are to be believed. The series follows a group of kids who find themselves lost in the Star Wars galaxy after finding a mysterious ship on their home planet. They soon discover there is no record of their home planet and that everyone believes it is a fable of lost treasure and riches, a contrast to what they saw as a boring suburban life.
While Star Wars fans usually love finding Easter eggs and references to the broader franchise, Skeleton Crew's lack of interest in those elements makes it great. Despite some minor ones, like an RX droid fans know from the Star Tours ride at Disney theme parks or a brief snippet of a moment from Star Wars: Holiday Special, Skeleton Crew is a relatively standalone Star Wars story with no larger connections to the wider franchise. There is no recognizable iconography like Stormtroopers or Tie-Fighters, and no established characters from other entries in the franchise apart from one minor character from The Mandalorian that most fans likely forgot about. Since Disney acquired the rights to feel new, Skeleton Crew is the first Star Wars film or television show to truly feel new.
Your changes have been saved
Email is sent
Email has already been sent
3.5 /5 Star Wars: Skeleton Crew ActionAdventure Sci-Fi
Where to Watch stream rent buy
Not available
Not available
Not available
*Availability in US Cast Jude Law , Ravi Cabot-Conyers , Ryan Kiera Armstrong , Kyriana Kratter , Robert Timothy Smith , Tunde Adebimpe , Kerry Condon , Nick Frost Seasons 1 'Star Wars' Has Become Reliant on Itself Close
Over the past decade, most Star Wars projects relied on building off what came before. The first Disney-produced Star Wars program, Rebels, did feature an original cast of characters, but the two-part premiere made sure to feature Darth Vader, and throughout the series' run, the crew would cross paths with the likes of Darth Maul, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, and Grand Admiral Thrawn made his canon debut. Star Wars: The Force Awakens also emphasized a new cast of exciting characters, but it was also very much sold on the return of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Luke, Han, and Leia, respectively. The two spin-off films, Rogue One and Solo are heavily linked to the original trilogy of movies and feature plenty of returning characters.
The Mandalorian features new characters, but Din Djarrin and Grogu are designed to resemble fan-favorite characters. Later seasons of The Mandalorian would tie it further into the Star Wars universe by bringing characters like Bo-Katan, Ahsoka, and Boba Fett. Since then, all Star Wars television series have been spin-offs of pre-established characters like Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, and Rogue One's Cassian Andor.
The only exception besides Skeleton Crew has been The Acolyte, whose most prominent character before the finale was Vernestra Rwoh, who originated in the High Republic publishing initiative. Yet the season (later series) finale featured Darth Plaguesis and Yoda in cameo roles. For all we know, this could happen with Skeleton Crew, as the series might end with a significant connection to the larger Star Wars franchise. It takes place during the New Republic era, so characters from The Mandalorian or Ahsoka could pop up.
Yet so far, Skeleton Crew has been focused on its unique corner of the Star Wars galaxy. It introduced a new, memorable cast of characters like Rebels and The Force Awakens, yet it seemed untethered in the larger story of Star Wars. The idea of the Galactic Civil War is briefly alluded to in the third episode and quickly moved past because it isn't important to the larger story. So far, no big Star Wars cameos are being used to sell audiences on the series, and instead of hoping it's Space Pirates meets Amblin, nostalgia story will be enough to draw in audiences. There is no need to go to Tattooine for the sixth time on Disney+; there are new worlds to explore with a unique mystery. Not a Skywalker, Solo, or Palpatine in sight, and that is a good thing.
Related Marvel and 'Star Wars' Just Did a Crossover with a Small 'Skeleton Crew' Cameo
'Skeleton Crew' featured a cameo by a famous Marvel voice in its third episode, which has ties to another legendary Lucasfilm franchise.
Posts 'Skeleton Crew' References Media Outside of Star Wars Close
Skeleton Crew is different. Clearly, it owes a lot to Star Wars, even sometimes indulging in a few references to the original trilogy, but it also draws heavily from two genres of stories and mashes them together: '80s family movies that audiences closely associate with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and pirate cinema. At Attin, the suburban landscape is meant to evoke beloved '80s classics like E.T. The Extraterrestrial and The Goonies, which were watched by the same young generation who was also likely watching Star Wars. While it might not "feel" like Star Wars, that is the point. This planet doesn't match the rest of the franchise and is seemingly meant to be something else, lost to time with a possible sinister underbelly.
This is where Skeleton Crew is the most referential to Star Wars as a franchise, as the lead character of Wim playing with Jedi toys and imagining a life of adventure like becoming a Jedi is very much like a young generation of kids in the 1980s, ones who are adults now, who saw Star Wars for the first time. The inciting incident of the kids going into lightspeed and being lost in the Star Wars galaxy is the closest Star Wars will likely ever come to a "character from real-world lands in a fictional world," like a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
Related 'Star Wars: Skeleton Crew' Is So Much More Than Just 'Stranger Things' in Space
Lamented by some as "Stranger Things in space," such a sentiment disregards the unique narrative the series brings to the Star Wars universe.
Posts 1
Skeleton Crew heavily emphasizes pirates, specifically in the opening scene of the series, where a band of pirates raids a ship for treasure. The show is inspired by Robert Louise Stevenson's Treasure Island, with Jude Law's character likely soon to be revealed as Captain Silvo, a reference to Captain Long John Silver, a pirate who posed as a hero working alongside kids. It also owes a lot to Treasure Planet, the Disney animated film that reimagined the classic novel as a sci-fi story, with At Attin being described as a literal treasure planet.
SM-33's memory regarding At Attin being wiped is similar to B.E.N. from Treasure Planet, who also had his memory wiped by his captain. SM-33 refers to Captain Hook's first mate, Smee, from Peter Pan. There are also many references to Disney's own Pirates of the Caribbean, as the pirate outpost is a cross between Tortuga and Shipwreck Cove. Like the original Star Wars, Skeleton Crew uses cinematic reference points to enrich its own universe and help make the world feel more lived in.
'Skeleton Crew' Stands on Its Own Close
Skeleton Crew's lack of Easter eggs is not a weakness but a strength. It has the right amount, but not enough to become distracting or the sole reason to watch. Audiences aren't tuning in to see references to other characters or find out how it will tie into The Mandalorian projects or possibly lay the foundation for the events of the sequel trilogy. Even the possible hint that Jude Law's Jod Na Nawood might be an obscure Star Wars character from the 1970s Marvel Comics might be misdirection. People are tuning in because the series has crafted a compelling mystery around At Attin and, more importantly, made audiences care about this crew of kids and want them to find their way home.
There also isn't a need for Luke Skywalker to save the day or for Jod Na Nawood to have a past with The Mandalorian. Audiences hope that Wim, Fern, KB, and Neel will do it independently. It is making a compelling story with fun new characters that happen to be part of the Star Wars universe. It isn't using the franchise as a crutch the way series like The Book of Boba Fett or Ahsoka did, but instead adding to it. Fans watching Skeleton Crew are likely doing it because they are invested in the story and not its place in the larger franchise, which is a refreshing change of pace.