Star Wars is a rich space opera full of unique planets, galactic intrigue, and mysterious forces. But despite having more than 10 movies and multiple TV shows dedicated to this world, we don’t know much about how the ordinary citizen of the Star Wars universe lives. There may be a lot of worldbuilding, but it’s always in the extremes.
But, that’s all changing now. The trailer for the latest Star Wars show reveals a new take on a status quo that somehow we haven’t seen in the franchise so far. It may go against the vibe of the original trilogy, but in Star Wars’ new era, it’s all the more important.
Skeleton Crew is unlike any other Star Wars show. It’s a family-friendly, Goonies-esque space adventure following a rag-tag group of kids who find themselves on a mission across the galaxy that brings them face-to-face with a Jedi. But in the trailer, while we see these kids on their journey, we also see where they come from: An idyllic suburban street with manicured lawns.
When Star Wars launched in 1977, it was designed to be an escape from the familiar. But because of that, what was shown to audiences was always the most extreme. Luke lived on a moisture farm in Tatooine, so his life was incredibly rural. Anakin was a slave, with no real agency in his life. Rey was a scavenger, living in abject poverty. These hard-on-their-luck protagonists were always shown in the exact opposite: urban, lofty environments like palaces, strategy rooms, and ultra-urban cities.
So what was missing? In a word: normalcy. The closest we’ve come to seeing how the day-to-day Star Wars citizens live has been Andor, where we get glimpses of the company town planet Ferrix and the bureaucracy of living as a cog in the machine of the Empire.
In a way, this galactic suburbia is the equivalent of Dex’s 1950s-style diner in Attack of the Clones. It’s a dash of the familiar in a strange world, and while it may feel off, it makes everything else feel relatable.
This era of Star Wars, like it or not, relies heavily on nostalgia, be it nostalgia for the original trilogy like in Obi-Wan Kenobi, nostalgia for The Clone Wars like in Ahsoka or nostalgia for episodic television like in The Mandalorian. Skeleton Crew is doing that on a grander level, showing the mass nostalgia for the mythical “simpler time” when life was 2.5 kids and a white picket fence.
It may be something new for Star Wars, but that just proves how valuable it is. We know so much about the highs and lows of galactic society. Skeleton Crew will finally show us the middle.
