The latest Star Wars series is now upon us, with Skeleton Crew set to hit Disney+ very soon. If you’re wondering what you need to know before watching the show, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s a primer on what to expect going into it.
What is it about?
As the official series synopsis reads, “Skeleton Crew tells the story of four kids searching for their home planet after getting lost in the Star Wars galaxy, and the strange aliens and dangerous places they encounter on their adventure.”
To give more context to that synopsis, the show is about four kids who live on the seemingly peaceful world of At Attin, which at one point was the crown jewel of the Old Republic – it seems that there is far more than meets the eye on this idyllic, suburban-esque, earth-like world. The kids are actually a pair of best friends. There is Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) and his best friend Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), with Wim longing for excitement and adventure and Neel wanting to be safe. Then there is Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) and her best friend KB (Kyriana Kratter). Fern is adventurous, while KB is more introspective. But somehow the four of them stumble upon an ancient ship together, which jettisons them into space to get their adventure started.
Aboard the ship they find the ancient droid first-mate, SM-33 (Nick Frost), and before long they meet the mysterious Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law). The kids believe him to be a Jedi, but whether or not he actually is remains a subject very much up in the air. He promises to help the kids get home, though we aren’t quite sure what his motivations are. The kids and Jod wind up being pursued by pirates, and it seems that they have stumbled upon an ancient treasure hunt that runs afoul of these pirates and bounty hunters.
In all, the series looks to be a fun adventure focused on these kids who grow up dreaming of the adventures in the Star Wars galaxy, only to find themselves thrust into one.
When is it set in the Star Wars timeline?
Skeleton Crew is set in the New Republic era of the Star Wars timeline, meaning it takes place after Return of the Jedi and well before the events of the sequel trilogy. The timeline of this period has not been exactly clarified, given all the different shows and stories ongoing, but the first season of The Mandalorian takes place five years after Return of the Jedi. We don’t know how much time has passed between that first season and where we’re at in the current storyline, but I’m guessing that Skeleton Crew will take place after The Mandalorian season three and Ahsoka.
Is this connected to The Mandalorian?
Yes! This is part of what some fans have called the “Mandoverse”, since it takes place in the same timeline and the same creators (Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni) have been involved in the making of Skeleton Crew. That means that it joins an ever-growing list of shows, set around the same time as The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka. A movie is coming in 2026, with Favreau directing The Mandalorian & Grogu, and it’s all leading up to another movie directed by Filoni to wrap up these connected stories.
We shouldn’t expect too many major cameos in the series, but there will surely be some overlap. For instance, we have already seen the pirate Vane make appearances in the trailers for Skeleton Crew, after he first appeared in the third season of The Mandalorian as one of Gorian Shard’s top mercenaries. Just how many other connections like this are included remains to be seen.
Who was involved in making the series?
The series was created by Jon Watts (known for directing the Spider-Man trilogy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and Christopher Ford (a frequent collaborator with Watts who co-wrote Spider-Man: Homecoming with him). Watts told TV Line recently that he pitched the idea to Lucasfilm seven years ago, right after Homecoming. Because of Homecoming’s success he wound up making two more Spider-Man films, and though he had initially pitched Skeleton Crew as a movie it was later turned into a series. Once Watts finished his work on Spider-Man: No Way Home (the third in the MCU trilogy), he was finally able to make the jump to Star Wars and get to work.
Watts and Ford co-wrote six of the episodes, with Myung Joh Wesner writing the other two. Watts directed both the pilot episode and the season finale, and the rest of the episodes were directed by David Lowery (episodes 2 and 3), the Daniels (episode 4), Jake Schreier (episode 5), Bryce Dallas Howard (episode 6), and Lee Isaac Chung (episode 7). It will mark the Star Wars directorial debut for Watts, Lowery, the Daniels, and Schreier, while Howard and Chung have both directed episodes of The Mandalorian. (Howard also directed an episode of The Book of Boba Fett).
While it’s Jon Watts and Chris Ford who have really brought the show to life, they’re joined by a powerhouse team of executive producers making it happen. Both Watts and Ford serve also as executive producers, as do Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, and Colin Wilson. The Favreau and Filoni team are the creatives behind The Mandalorian and all of its connected stories, with Filoni now overseeing all of Lucasfilm’s creative direction. Kennedy, the President of Lucasfilm, and Wilson have joined the Favreau and Filoni team on every project in The Mandalorian timeline – executive producing all three seasons of that series, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and now Skeleton Crew.
How many episodes is it?
Like all of the other non-Andor live-action Star Wars shows, Skeleton Crew will run for eight episodes in this initial season. If the other shows are any kind of precedent to go by, the episode lengths will vary throughout the season.
Will there be a second season?
We don’t know yet. But, notably, earlier this summer The Hollywood Reporter suggested that Lucasfilm is actually viewing Skeleton Crew as an ongoing series, even though it was created to be a one-season limited series. The report mentioned that this will obviously be determined by the ratings for the show and how well it performs, but it does indicate that perhaps the studio has in mind more seasons to come with these characters. We shouldn’t expect an announcement any time soon, but it wouldn’t be a shock if we see this story continue in some way.
When and where can I watch it?
Skeleton Crew will be available exclusively on Disney+, beginning with a two-episode premiere on Monday, December 2. After that, new episodes will release weekly on Tuesdays, through the season finale on January 14. New episodes will release at 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time / 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
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