Long before the idea of Star Wars spin-offs became synonymous with Beskar armour and adorable, little green foundlings, family adventure films were the flavour of the day. Fifteen years before audiences had even heard the name Jar Jar Binks, Warwick Davis’ beloved Wicket and his fellow Ewoks would come to befriend a young group of children stranded on the forest moon of Endor. While 1984’s Caravan of Courage and 1985’s Battle for Endor would never live up to the acclaim of the movies from which they had sprung, the Ewok Adventure movies dared to expand upon that very famous fictional universe from a galaxy far, far away.
Now, 40 years on, Star Wars once again finds itself returning to the world of family adventure, this time courtesy of a new Disney+ series created by Spider-Man: Homecoming writing and directorial team Christopher Ford and Jon Watts. Set in the time of The Mandalorian, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew follows a new group of intrepid young adventurers whose quest to uncover a mysterious secret on their otherwise idyllic world ultimately finds themselves lost in space, hounded by space pirates and reliant on the aid of a mysterious Force-user with questionable motives.
Ahead of Skeleton Crew’s launch today on Disney+, we caught up with Ford and Watts, as well as series lead Jude Law, to talk classic adventure movies and Star Wars’ long-awaited return to children-centric tales.
A new Starport
No stranger to paying homage to the classic family films of yesteryear, Watts and Ford’s approach to 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming was lauded for its links to the classic John Hughes movies of the 1980s, and Skeleton Crew is no different. Describing their approach to crafting their new Star Wars show as “a big stew of ’80s movies”, Watts suggested that so many of the adventure movies from that era “are just sort of in our DNA”.
“There’s so many,” Watts says of Skeleton Crew’s influences. “But the funny thing is that we never sat down and said, ‘Oh, these are the influences we want to draw from.’ Because, first of all, we’ve known each other forever, since we were like 18. So, we have kind of all the same frame of reference of the films that we watched… and so everything we write is going to be influenced by the movies that we grew up with.”
Of course, Star Wars is itself a cinematic institution that also helped define so many childhoods, and this is a fact that is not lost on Skeleton Crew star Jude Law. Having already worked on other major franchises such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Fantastic Beasts and Sherlock Holmes, Law relishes the opportunity that Skeleton Crew has provided him in “peeking behind the Wizard’s curtain” to learn the subtle nuances of Star Wars’ unique approach to storytelling.
“Certainly, on Star Wars,” Law explains with relish, “there are certain rules that have to be adhered to in order to make it. A Star Wars film or a Star Wars show has a certain aesthetic, certain shots. A certain mood, you know. So being able to peek behind the curtain and see how they did that was really interesting.
“The little details that, even though I knew the films and the shows pretty well, I’d never really noticed. Some of it is subconscious, and when someone says it to you, you go, ‘Oh yeah.’ For example, there are no buttons in Star Wars – you never see people with buttons. It’s always ties or belts, but no paper. Little details like that, I just loved it. It was lovely.”
Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), SM-33 (voiced by Nick Frost), KB (Kyrianna Kratter), Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law), Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), and Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers)
And if audiences are keen on attention to detail, Skeleton Crew is going to treat them like few other shows have. Drawing not only from the wealth of canonical Star Wars lore, this next chapter also pays direct homage to parts of the franchise’s history that even George Lucas would have rather forgotten. Bursting with hidden Easter eggs and deep-cut references, don’t be surprised when even the infamous 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special gets a special nod.
Then, of course, there are the references to the Ewok Adventure movies, which sees the return of Teek, another indigenous resident of Star Wars’ infamous forest moon who has only ever appeared in Battle for Endor.
“I think once we set the tone for some of those things, a lot of the designers were excited to go in that same direction,” Ford explains. “We had made a few references to the Ewok Adventures and then suddenly were like, ‘We could use Teek.’”
“Yeah, as soon as you say that you’re okay with referencing the Ewok movies,” Watts chimes in, “then suddenly the floodgates are open for a bunch of stuff.”
Ford continues, “I’m really happy about it too, because I remember when we started, I wanted to rewatch the Ewok movies and they weren’t available. They were going to give me, like, an internal copy on their super highly protected, proprietary website thing. And then while we’re making it, those movies are suddenly available on Disney+ for everyone to enjoy.”
For Law, however, it is the classic Star Wars trilogy that he credits for helping to craft his character. Playing the mysterious Jod Na Nawood, a Force user with a shady past, it was to the franchise’s original, lovable rogues that he drew upon to help develop his character.
Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law), KB (Kyriana Kratter), Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), and Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong). Photo by Matt Kennedy
“I always loved Han and Lando,” Law explains. “I don’t know what that says about me as a kid, but the sort of slightly cynical, slightly scoundrelish quality and swagger that those two had, I really thought sat quite well with Jod.”
“You know,” he continues, “he’s a survivalist. He has to put himself first and that reminded me of that world those two [characters came from] way back.”
Yet, as richly detailed and packed with Star Wars references this new show is, it is by no means necessary for audiences to be familiar with the franchise’s complete history to enjoy.
Watts explains, “The interesting thing about the show, is that it’s this unique perspective, which is four 10-year-old kids and they’re essentially seeing Star Wars for the first time because they don’t really know that much about the larger galaxy where they live.
“We’re experiencing it through their eyes. Everyone has the first time that they saw Star Wars, you know, and the most intense fan, I’m sure, absolutely remembers the first time they saw Star Wars. Our show is kind of about that moment for these kids.
“So, if you’re watching it and you know nothing about Star Wars, you get to watch it through the kids’ eyes and you don’t have to have any prior knowledge. But if you do know a lot about Star Wars, you can watch it and hopefully remember that feeling of the first time you saw this magical, incredible creation by George Lucas.”
Practically guaranteed to make even the most seasoned Star Wars fan or casual viewer feel like a 10-year-old kid again, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is now streaming exclusively on Disney+.
