Star Wars Skeleton Crew: All We Know
Star Wars is expanding on Disney+ with one of the most ambitious projects in franchise history, Skeleton Crew. The upcoming series, starring Jude Law, has been shrouded in mystery since it was first announced in 2022. Only recently have we learned about the rest of the cast, and received confirmation as to who Jude Law will be playing.
Part of Dave Filioni’s corner of the galaxy alongside The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka, Skeleton Crew will be the first series without any direct ties to either the films or The Clone Wars series….at least, no one involved has admitted it will be contacted. We have some theories about what to expect.
What Is Skeleton Crew About?
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew follows four children from a previously never-before-seen planet as they get sucked up into the upheaval and turmoil of the Galaxy in the aftermath of The Empire’s defeat at Yavin IV. The kids, presumably the “skeleton crew” of the title, will be mentored and shepherded by an older character, played by Jude Law.
Despite focusing on the series’ child stars, creator Jon Watts described the tone as “a galactic version of classic Amblin coming-of-age adventure films of the ’80s” during an interview with Screenrant.
In short, Skeleton Crew will be like nothing else in the Star Wars franchise. Though the movies were always aimed at kids and teens, none have actually featured any children stars….except that one time. But it’s been over 20 years since The Phantom Menace, so how will fans react to a series that’s closer to The Goonies than it is to Buck Rogers?
Jude Law Will Lead The Skeleton Crew Cast
The biggest name in the cast is Jude Law, with his largest sci-fi role to date coming in Disney’s Captain Marvel. This will be the first time that the British star has been part of the Star Wars universe. Joining him are a group of child stars: Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Kyriana Kratter, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, and Timothy Smith.
Only one other star has publicly mentioned they are attached to Skeleton Crew; Jaleel White, famous for playing Steve Urkel in Family Matters and voicing Sonic the Hedgehog, said he’s part of the show during an appearance on Hockey Night in Canada: White mentioned in later interviews that he had to sit for makeup each day, which likely includes prosthetics, and he’s part of a pirate crew.
Outside of Law, the child stars, and White, the only other names attached on IMDb are Tunde Adebimpe (also appearing in Twisters) and stuntman Brian Oerly as Ishi Tib. That last one is interesting as Ishi Tib is a species of lanky green aliens with eyes on angular stalks like an insect.
Bryce Howard Dallas Is Directing Star Wars Skeleton Crew
While we don’t know much about the talent in front of the camera, behind it is a very different story. Disney announced the directors for each of the episodes, and it’s a murderer’s row of talent.
First up, returning from The Mandalorian are Jurassic World star Bryce Dallas Howard and Lee Isaac Chung, and joining them are The Daniels (Everything Everywhere All At Once), David Lowery (The Green Knight), Jake Schrier (Beef), and Jon Watts (Spider-Man: No Way Home).
Skeleton Crew is executive produced by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, the same pair behind The Mandalorian. Christopher Ford, the writer of Spider-Man: Homecoming, is the lead writer for the series.
With the close involvement of Favreau and Filoni, and Skeleton Crew taking place around the same time as The Mandalorian and Ashoka, there will likely be some cross-over between the Disney+ shows in some way.
Skeleton Crew Connects To Other Star Wars Stories
Since Star Wars: Skeleton Crew takes place around the same time as Ahsoka and The Mandalorian, some crossover is to be expected. Jude Law is playing a Force-user, which means The Inquisitors from Ahsoka could be hunting him down.
Could Jacen Syndulla, introduced into the live-action Star Wars universe in Ahsoka, played by Evan Whitten, be connected to the children of Skeleton Crew?
At this point, it’s all speculation, as Disney has not made any official statements regarding how Skeleton Crew fits into the big picture being painted by Dave Filoni.
It’s possible that the series could go back even further and pull more from the Rebels and Clone Wars animated shows, or, if fans are truly lucky, some of the lost material from the now-defunct Expanded Universe novels could come back to the mainline series.
The Strike Has Caused Release Issues
The original expected release date for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew was December 2023. Since then, the studio has slowed down production on all series and has pushed back projects due to the SAG-AFTRA strike preventing Hollywood stars from promoting and marketing.
A filing with the United States Copyright Office has a projected release of January 2024. While Disney has made no public comments on a potential release date, all signs point to sometime in 2024.
Skeleton Crew Should Be Up First
Star Wars: Acolyte, another Disney+ streaming series, finished filming in June 2023, right before the SAG-AFTRA strike, and is also projected to have a release date sometime in 2024.
While the shows are, narratively, not connected, past experience with Disney’s streaming schedule makes it likely one will debut around February or March, with the second hitting streaming around July or August.
Skeleton Crew, which was completed first, is likely to be released first, but then again, stranger things have happened, and if Disney wants Jude Law to promote the series, they will wait until the strike is over.
