It may seem strange to admit, but in the 47 years since it came to dominate the pop culture landscape, Star Wars has never really recaptured the magic of its first movie.
A New Hope was about a whiny teenager who realized his quiet life was keeping him from his true identity as a Jedi, but we knew he was always destined to be a hero. The prequel trilogy was built around the dramatic irony of the audience knowing who Anakin Skywalker would grow up to be, so there wasn’t any of that wonder — we knew where it was headed. The Force Awakens attempted to bring back the “plucked from obscurity” trope, but even that was often called just a retread of A New Hope.
“The real nostalgia here is... for being a kid and wanting to go on an adventure.”
Star Wars’ latest series, Skeleton Crew, seeks to bring back that original feeling. Even though the franchise has garnered criticism for “running out of ways to create nostalgia,” Skeleton Crew tries something new: It doesn’t bring back familiar faces or places; it brings back the feeling of watching Star Wars for the first time.
“The real nostalgia here is just nostalgia for being a kid and wanting to go on an adventure, wanting something more in your life,” Skeleton Crew writer Christopher Ford tells Inverse.
That Amblin Feeling
The series follows four children living a quiet suburban life on the mysterious planet of At Attin as they encounter a strange structure buried under a hill. Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) believes it’s a Jedi temple and is accompanied by his nervous sidekick Neel (Robert Timothy Smith). But whatever is there is also being scouted by the headstrong Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) and her tech-savvy friend KB (Kyriana Kratter). But they haven’t found a Jedi temple — they’ve found an abandoned ship that quickly sets off into hyperspace, leaving them stuck trying to find their way home.
If that sounds like a familiar premise, that’s another attempt to recapture the childlike wonder of Star Wars’ past: The series takes many cues from classic Amblin Entertainment films like The Goonies and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. “We did watch E.T. and Goonies all together in preparation,” Ravi Cabot-Conyers tells Inverse. “We had multiple Skeleton Crew movie nights, and it was so much fun,” Ryan Kiera Armstrong adds. “We were in our school room; we all had beanbags; [it was] a little bonding experience before the shoot.”
“We did watch E.T. and Goonies all together in preparation.”
When Skeleton Crew was first teased, it gained a reputation as “Star Wars Stranger Things.” The similarities are pretty hard to deny: They’re both ’80s-influenced series following four kids as they try to solve a mystery. It’s not a comparison Ford is trying to deny, either. In fact, he takes it as a compliment.
“I think they were doing the same thing. They were just telling a story that just made sense to their imaginations and went in a crazy direction, and it blew everyone’s minds,” he says. “To me, it’s just like saying ‘I hear it’s going to be good,’ so bring it on.”
But for Skeleton Crew’s biggest star, and the one major nonkid character of the main cast, the young protagonists are the show’s secret weapon. Jude Law, who plays Jod Na Nawood, a character who is a Force-user but not necessarily a Jedi, it’s clear why Skeleton Crew works: “I thought it was so clear and simple and effective to make the protagonist children,” he tells Inverse. “It harkened back to my own experience in the late ’70s being a kid, being taken to the first film and introduced to this world for the first time.”
Part of a Larger Star Wars Story
Though it takes place in its own little corner of the galaxy, Skeleton Crew still has the legacy of almost a half-century of lore behind it. But the rest of the Star Wars story isn’t shown through flashback or even mentioned: Instead, tales of Jedi and Sith are shown in a storybook (more like a futuristic iPad) read by Wim as he dreams of a bigger life. It’s the perfect microcosm of Skeleton Crew’s ethos: What normally would be the subject of a Star Wars TV series is now the stuff of legends.
“It’s like reading about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table,” showrunner Jon Watts tells Inverse. “We wanted the Jedi to have that mythological feeling.”
“We wanted the Jedi to have that mythological feeling.”
Watts and Ford worked closely with Dave Filoni, the mind behind the “Mando-verse” TV series, to ask about certain choices — and make sure they didn’t mess too heavily with Star Wars canon. “We were constantly calling Dave and asking him very, very hyperspecific Star Wars questions,” Watts says. “Are there tassels for a speeder bike? Are there tassels in Star Wars?”
Fueled by a carefully crafted kind of nostalgia and a brand-new influence, Skeleton Crew could redefine Star Wars television as we know it. But for now, the focus is just shining light on a previously unseen corner of the galaxy, and even that is evidence of how it’s recapturing the tone of A New Hope.
“It's in the spirit of Star Wars from the beginning that this is just one episode in a larger story,” Ford says. “You could stop there or you could keep going.”
