Star Wars Finally Remembers Its Target Audience

For a long time, the Star Wars fandom has been almost exclusively made up of grown-ups.

All the online bickering over The Last Jedi, the countless TikToks about how The Acolyte ruined the franchise, and even the majority of toy sales—all adults. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew could change all that.

The trailer starts out in a suburban setting that is very reminiscent of E.T. or, for the younger readers, Stranger Things. It’s weird seeing a street with sidewalks and rows of tract houses on either side in a Star Wars show like Skeleton Crew.

The rural “Anytown USA” neighborhood resembles the housing development from Poltergeist more than it does, say, Tatooine.

I’m pretty sure that’s by design. If I’m going overboard with the Speilberg references, it’s only because the trailer for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is trying hard to evoke an early Speilbergian tone.

Show the trailer to anyone born in the ’80s and they’ll recognize Skeleton Crew‘s aesthetic in a heartbeat.

Ironically, I’ve already seen complaints that the show looks childish. The throngs of petulant adult fans who complain about anything Disney puts out have somehow hypnotized themselves into thinking that Star Wars was never a kid’s franchise.

Sarcastic comments like “Limbs cut off, decapitation, oh yeah, Star Wars is totally for kids,” litter several comment sections online.

At some point, we lost the ability to differentiate a show targeted towards kids from a show made for kids. The Muppet Show is a show targeted towards kids. Sesame Street is a show made for kids. See the difference?

If we apply it to Star Wars, Young Jedi Adventures is a show made for kids, while Skeleton Crew looks to be an adventure series made with them in mind. It may not seem like it, but it’s a big distinction.

The original Star Wars Trilogy, as well as the Prequels, were made to appeal to kids even if they aren’t specifically “kids movies.”

E.T., Goonies, and even Gremlins were movies made with kids in mind. They still had guns, death, and the occasional swear word, but they also had quick pacing, exciting thrills, and an overall sense of adventure.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew already featured a skeleton in its trailer, which gives me hope that it will have a similar tone.

It’s a tone Star Wars has been lacking for a while. Rogue One and Andor are great, but how much fun are they for kids?

Likewise, the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy. Lucasfilm’s goal with The Force Awakens was obviously to cater to adult nostalgia for the original trilogy.

And it’s not just Disney, either. The only people who ever talk about The Clone Wars animated series are adults. Probably because the show feels like it was made to help adult fans appreciate the Prequels more.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is the first project in a long time that doesn’t feel like you need to have seen anything else to enjoy it. I really hope that’s the case because the key to the franchise’s survival doesn’t lie with the cranky fanboys.

The future of Star Wars is new fans. Kids glued to the screen with giant saucer eyes itching to grab a stick and swing it around, making “Vwooosh!” noises.

So far, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew feels like a step toward making Star Wars a kid-friendly franchise again. Now we just need to pray that Disney doesn’t screw it up.