Star Wars: Skeleton Crew brings something new to Star Wars as the series takes audiences on an Amblin-esque adventure across the galaxy.

Press had the opportunity to watch the first three episodes of the eight-episode series. Episode runtimes are rather inconsistent once again with the first three episodes running 46, 29, and 37 minutes, respectively. It would be nice to see some consistency on the TV side of things. Lucasfilm–Marvel, too, for this matter–needs to decide early on if a show will be an hour-long series or a half-hour series! I can tell you from watching episodes that they are ending at the right point as far as storytelling is concerned. It’s just I’d prefer some consistency in the long-term.

Anyone that’s watched any of the Star Wars series will know that pirates are veterans of the Star Wars galaxy. They’ve been around for quite some time. Just go to Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland or Walt Disney World and you’ll find Hondo Ohnaka and R5-P8 explaining what Smugglers Run is about. All that is to say that Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is quite the treat. I’m curious as to exactly where it sits in the saga’s timeline and how it intersects with The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, The Book of Boba Fett, and The Mandalorian and Grogu.

I’ll have a whole lot more to say below the photo. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew injects a much-needed breath of fresh air into the franchise at a time when it needs it the most–think Star Wars meets The Goonies.

Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), KB (Kyriana Kratter), and Neel (Robert Timothy Smith) are all characters that do not feel remotely home in the Star Wars galaxy. Hell, their entire planet does not feel at home in the galaxy. We know from watching The Mandalorian that the idea of education exists beyond the Imperial Academy. However, Skeleton Crew is the first to really show the idea of students going to school. It’s more than a glimpse, too. But when we’re on the planet, it feels like the closest thing that Star Wars has to a planet like Earth. Instead, it’s a planet called At Attin. Shockingly, the entire Skywalker is something of a mystery to them, aside from learning about Alderaan and Coruscant at school. Wim knows about the Jedi, of course, because he wants to become one.

Wim, Fern, KB, and Neel are in for an adventure when what they discover on their planet turns out to be the Onyx Cinder. Unfortunately, it’s on autopilot and they soon find themselves somewhere else in a galaxy and no way of getting home without help. The ship’s droid, SM-77 (Nick Frost), is the pirate type and does pirate things. But once they get to a space port, the four kids have a run-in with Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law) aka Crimson Jack. He’s as much of a mystery as the kids are. Will he help them or is he a pirate in search of a bigger treasure? When we first meet him, he’s more or less dressed like a Jedi. Maybe he’s only Force-sensitive or, at worst, a Sith–one released still shows him reading the Sith language. I hope the series answers my questions during the remaining five episodes.

It’s not all CGI as the series utilizes stagecraft, practical sets and locations. There are 3200 VFX shots in the series. The Onyx Cinder is fully practical as far as technology is concerned. Can you imagine if they had today’s technology back in 1976 during the filming of Star Wars: A New Hope? You’ll be hearing about this series come Emmy season next year. Well, obviously, I want to see if it’s able to nail the landing. But as of now, it’s a contender in my book.

Mick Giacchino does a solid job with the score. He finds the right balance between coming-of-age story and Star Wars. I also love how Giacchino pays homage to earlier work from John Williams. It doesn’t happen much but when it does, it’s beautiful. You just want to rewatch and listen to the score again. The apple does not fall far from the tree–Michael Giacchino should be proud. The sound team, led by supervising sound editor Matthew Wood, does brilliant work as usual in bridging the 80s with the Star Wars universe.

I’m excited to watch the remaining five episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. After all, creators Jon Watts and Christopher Ford draw inspiration from the classic Amblin Entertainment movies. Honestly, it more than makes up for Watts moving on from the upcoming Fantastic Four film. Obviously, neither Watts nor Ford are strangers to Marvel but I’m loving what they’re bringing to the Star Wars universe. In the pilot episode alone, they’re showing us that Star Wars is bigger than the Skywalkers. No mention of Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Darth Vader, Lando, the Emperor, C-3PO, or R2-D2. You certainly wouldn’t even know that it were set in the New Republic were it not for the sight of X-Wings, let alone the basic text.

As much fun as some previous Star Wars shows have been, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is the series that I’ve been waiting for all my life. It’s a throwback to the classic Amblin movies that I grew up watching. There’s this sense of awe and wonder and it’s something we really need right now.

CREATORS/HEAD WRITERS: Jon Watts and Christopher Ford
DIRECTORS: Jon Watts (101, 108), David Lowery (102-103), the Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) (104), Jake Schreier (105), Bryce Dallas Howard (106), Lee Isaac Chung (107)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Christopher Ford, Jon Watts, Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, Colin Wilson
CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Chris Buongiorno, Karen Gilchrist, Carrie Beck
PRODUCERS: Susan McNamara, John Bartnicki
CAST: Jude Law, Kyriana Kratter, Robert Timothy Smith, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Nick Frost, Tunde Adebimpe, Kerry Condon

Disney+ will premiere the first two episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew on December 2, 2024. New episodes will premiere weekly through January 14, 2025. Grade: 4/5

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