The Acolyte may have been canceled, but more Star Wars shows are still incoming with December’s Skeleton Crew starring Jude Law. The marketing for the series has been a slow trickle, but just in, a new photo has been dropped revealing a new faction that has grown since the fall of the Empire—pirates.
Skeleton Crew is expected to feature some more sci-fi scallywags, and a new photo reveals a familiar face from the Mandalorian—and beloved sitcom Family Matters.
Space Pirates in Skeleton Crew
Thanks to Entertainment Weekly, fans have a new look at a bunch of space pirates—one of them played by Jaleel White a.k.a. Steve Urkel from Family Matters. Check this out:
White is said to be playing the part of Gunter who is one of the few humans in this pirate crew. Another character that has been revealed is Vane (Marti Matulis) who had appeared in the last season of The Mandalorian as a lackey of pirate Gorian Shard.
On the far right of the screen, Orange is the New Black fans will recognize Dale Soules as the new character Chaelt. Interestingly enough, Soules had voiced a space ranger alongside Chris Evans and Taika Waititi in Pixar’s Lightyear.
It hasn’t been made clear exactly how the pirates will factor into the story, but seeing as the main cast of the show is a bunch of kids in a giant ship with a minimal crew; it’s possible that the pirates would take interest in the ship and want to hijack it for themselves, but it will be up to the kids and Jude Law’s former Jedi Jod Na Nawood to stop them.
New Age of Pirates
Though the Empire may have been defeated, it does look like lawlessness could be returning to the galaxy one way or another. Show co-creator Christopher Ford shared, “With the era we're in, we're kind of getting to play with that lawless thing… The Empire is gone, and so we're playing with a part of the galaxy that has a resurgence of piracy.”
Admittedly, this could be the first time that pirates are considered the main antagonist of a Star Wars series. Though they did have a presence in The Mandalorian which is also set after the fall of the Empire, the main baddies of that series were the Imperial remnant; even Thrawn can be considered a part of that faction with the Ahsoka series.
The Book of Boba Fett dealt with gangsters, but the notion of pirates probably puts an emphasis on ships. Plus, while gangsters prefer to keep their specific territories, pirates are more mobile and could be moving around the galaxy, free to pursue anyone who crosses their path.
Stranger Things in Space
With The Acolyte delving into the murder-mystery genre, Skeleton Crew is said to be embracing the kid-friendly adventure trope—not unlike Stranger Things.
Co-creator Jon Watts had already dealt with coming-of-age with Spider-Man: Homecoming, but this is the first time Star Wars is actually going to focus on a bunch of pre-teens going out on an adventure in a galaxy far far away.
Watch out for Skeleton Crew when it premieres on Disney+ on Dec. 3.