Still malding about Star Wars: The Acolyte? Skeleton Crew is ready to give you all the ’80s nostalgia you want
Star Wars: The Acolyte took a good while to get truly going, but it ended up being a fresh new take on Jedi vs. Sith lore that we want to see more of. Now, Disney and Lucasfilm are starting to promote Skeleton Crew, a return to the New Republic era (The Mandalorian-adjacent) of the Star Wars galaxy, but this adventure will be a far more lighthearted affair.
Created by the director of the recent Spider-Man trilogy, Jon Watts, and his frequent collaborator Christopher Ford, Skeleton Crew has always been described as a coming-of-age story with heavy 1980s influences that simply takes place in the huge Star Wars universe. Just think of The Goonies or Stranger Things (it’s been said things get spooky too) but set in a galaxy far, far away. Now, People’s first look at the series has confirmed all that and given us fresh new details.
“It is a fun place to be, the universe of Star Wars… And there are great references to old films and recent episodes and series. There’s a lot of originality and I hope that will bring the feeling of fun to those who watch it,” said Jude Law, who plays the mysterious new character named Jod Na Nawood. Word on rumour street is that Skeleton Crew does have ties to The Mandalorian beyond sharing the same time period, and the Nikto pirate Vane, a side baddie in season 3 of Lucasfilm’s flagship series, has been confirmed to show up, but one has to wonder whether we’ll see Din Djarin and Grogu too.
For the most part, Jude Law had to act among a much younger cast which includes Ravi Cabot-Conyers (Wim), Kyriana Kratter (KB), Robert Timothy Smith (Neel), and Ryan Kiera Armstrong (Fern). It’s also been confirmed that British treasure Nick Frost will be voicing the droid SM 33. “He’s like a rusty old, cranky droid that sort of reluctantly helps the kids along the way… The other thing about him is that he’s the first mate of a mysterious ship,” Watts explained. While we haven’t seen a publicly released trailer yet (which may change soon) nor learned more about the actual plot of the show, leaked materials suggest (space) pirates and a hidden treasure might be a big part of the adventure those kids suddenly find themselves in. So yeah, this one will be an uncomplicated nostalgic romp for sure.
Up next for Star Wars, however, there’s the huge launch later this month of Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft Massive’s ambitious open-world game, a first-ever for the franchise somehow. It’ll take us to the galaxy’s seedy underworld during the time between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, so we’re kind of already wandering into Star Wars’ more treacherous, ground-level elements with this AAA release ahead of Skeleton Crew.
