Summary
- Star Wars: Skeleton Crew delivers on major nostalgia for older fans with an obscure prop callback.
- The showrunner's dedication shines by creating a hologram circus show reminiscent of The Star Wars Holiday Special.
- Skeleton Crew aims to embrace both new and old fans with iconic elements and a story that promises to elevate the Star Wars streaming era.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew has finally hit screens, and the show has wasted no time proving that the cast and crew took the showrunner’s promise of delivering on some major nostalgia for older fans of the franchise quite seriously.
The Star Wars franchise has done a lot of different things since it made the move to live-action shows on Disney+, and even amongst that mixed bag of characters, concepts and ideas, Skeleton Crew was clearly distinct from the very first look. Taking a much less serious and mature approach to the franchise than anything that’s been done in live-action and even in recent animation, the show promised fans a family-friendly adventure with Jude Law in the lead and a group of intriguing young stars along for the ride. However, the showrunners insisted during the leadup to the show’s release that it would have a ton of callbacks and appeal beyond the new, young fans that would be drawn to its light tone and age-appropriate main cast, leading to a lot of interest and speculation surrounding the series as fans waited for the Disney+ premiere.
Now that Skeleton Crew’s slightly modified premiere date has come and gone, fans and critics can start to see how the show holds up to the promises made by the cast and crew during the show’s marketing run. While there’s still a lot to wait and see, one thing that’s been settled beyond any doubt is the show’s dedication to giving older fans some love even as its young cast finds a place in the hearts of younger generations. Inverse confirms that the series, which has now made its Disney+ debut, features a callback to an obscure Star Wars prop. In the very first episode of Skeleton Crew, eagle-eyed viewers can see character Neel’s siblings watching a hologram circus show, a sight that was last seen in the widely ridiculed TV project The Star Wars Holiday Special.
The Star Wars Holiday Special was released in 1978 and has been the target of endless jokes within the fandom since. However, the years have always proven to be kind to Star Wars media, and many fans who watched it at the time find that it’s a cherished, if embarrassing, part of their love for the franchise. One such prominent fan is showrunner Jon Watts, who admitted to going as far as trying to use the original footage in the first episode scene. However, this wasn’t possible due to the original being a TV special with terrible quality even by the standards of the time. Instead, fans got the episode one version cast, choreographed and filmed from scratch for their reminsicing pleasure. Putting this in the very first episode was a masterful move by Watts, showing just how deep into the bag of tricks the team is willing to reach to put a smile on the faces of older viewers. Some fans even thought the show was going further back in the Legends timeline for a callback, with Star Wars: Skeleton Crew's showrunner having to clarify the confusion surrounding the Old Republic after the term (which now refers to two different eras) was used in a trailer.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew has a lot going for it if the show can live up to the hype it built up, and it seems that they’re giving it a proper shot. Bringing back iconic parts of the franchise alongside a trusted Star Wars VFX guru from the past really might go a long way to granting older fans the embrace that was promised. From that point on, it’s all on the story being told to cement the show as one of the better parts of the Star Wars streaming show era.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is available to stream on Disney+.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2024 - 2025-00-00
WHERE TO WATCH
- Cast
- Jude Law, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Kyriana Kratter, Robert Timothy Smith, Nick Frost, Fred Tatasciore, Jaleel White, Dale Soules, Geoffrey Lower, Marti Matulis, Sisa Grey, Dominic Burgess, Vivienne Sachs, Esai Daniel Cross, Shane Almagor, Paloma Garcia-Lee, Alan Resnick, Anthony Atamanuik, John Gemberling, Tunde Adebimpe, Kerry Condon, Alia Shawkat, Cass Buggé, Geneva Carr
- Showrunner
- Jon Watts, Christopher Ford
- Directors
- David Lowery, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jake Schreier, Lee Isaac Chung, Daniel Scheinert
- Writers
- Jon Watts, Christopher Ford
- Franchise(s)
- Star Wars
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
- Seasons
- 1
- Streaming Service(s)
- Dis
Source: Inverse