In the third episode of Lucasfilm’s new live-action series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, released earlier this evening on Disney+, the new character named Kh’ymm calls Jude Law’s character– who we’ve previously known as both Jod Na Nawood and Captain Silvo– “Crimson Jack.” Longtime Star Wars fans will recognize this as a reference dating all the way back to 1977, so let’s explore Crimson Jack’s origins in the Expanded Universe.
The character of Crimson Jack was a space pirate who first appeared in the seventh issue of Marvel Comics’ original Star Wars run from 1977. But what’s really notable about Star Wars #7 is that it’s the first-ever Expanded Universe story told outside of adaptations of the original film, which makes Crimson Jack one of the very first (if not definitively the first) characters created for Star Wars for material that wasn’t the movies. From issues 7 through 15, Crimson Jack served as a recurring antagonist to Han Solo until the latter killed the former in a heated battle. During those appearances, Jack once kidnapped Princess Leia and even stole the reward money that Han was given by the Rebel Alliance at the end of A New Hope.
When a Legends-timeline character is brought over into the current Star Wars canon, there usually isn’t a conflict because the slate has been wiped clean, but in the case of Crimson Jack it’s a different story, as the character had already shown up in the 2022 Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser – Halcyon Legacy miniseries from Marvel Comics. There his appearance roughly matches what we saw in the older Star Wars comics, and it’s tough to imagine Jude Law growing out his facial hair and beefing up to fit that depiction (which takes place about 25 years later in the timeline). But as long as Crimson Jack survives the events of Skeleton Crew, I suppose anything’s possible… otherwise we may have to consider it just another moniker used by the pirate.
Now that we’ve gotten Crimson Jack out of the way, let’s go through some of the other fun Easter Eggs coming out of episode 3 of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.
In the brig at Port Borgo, we see tentacles reaching out of one of the cells, much like the one that wraps itself around poor C-3PO in the dungeon of Jabba’s Palace in Return of the Jedi.
Jod Na Nawood appears to use the Force to distract the guards by making a noise, just like Obi-Wan Kenobi does in the after disabling the Death Star’s tractor beam in the original Star Wars film, AKA Episode IV – A New Hope.
Wim says that the Jedi “are the defenders of justice and keepers of peace in the galaxy,” which is a paraphrase of how Obi-Wan describes them to Luke in A New Hope. Of course, if the planet At Attin has truly been sequestered away from the rest of the galaxy for decades, its residents may not know that the Jedi were almost entirely wiped out when the Republic was reorganized into the Empire. That might be why Wim uses “are” instead of “were.”
The hovering security droid seen patrolling the bridge makes similar noises to the Imperial Probe Droid from The Empire Strikes Back.
In Port Borgo we see some Jawas hanging out. This species has appeared frequently enough that I wouldn’t necessarily call them an Easter Egg, but it’s still cool to see them pop up here and there.
Jod’s disgusted reaction to seeing the Onyx Cinder for the first time is similar to how both Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia reacted when they first saw the Millennium Falcon in A New Hope.
“You’ll be recaptured and back in the brig before you can say ‘parsec’.” Later on, Benjar Pranic says the line, “That’s the real trick, then, innit?” which is another callback to the same scene between Han Solo and his new acquaintances from A New Hope.
The man searching for Captain Silvo in port Borgo has a similarly deformed nose and facial scarring to Dr. Evazan, also from A New Hope.
The first droid that Jod activates in the droid workshop is a CZ-series model like CZ-1 from– you guessed it– A New Hope.
I believe the second droid is an RA-7 protocol droid, which can first be seen in the Jawa Sandcrawler in A New Hope, though he is mostly shown from the back here.
The third one is, of course, a Trade Federation battle droid from the Star Wars prequel trilogy. He wonders aloud if the Separatists won the war.
The character of Benjar Pranic is a member of the Ishi Tib species, first seen in Return of the Jedi. “There’s a good Tib,” says Jod.
Benjar is voiced by actor Alfred Molina, who has a Lucasfilm connection in that he played Satipo in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
In the background of the droid shop you can also see a deactivated GNK power droid (or simply “Gonk” droid), which have appeared in countless Star Wars media since A New Hope.
“Dataries” is another word for credits or currency in the Star Wars galaxy. Qui-Gon Jinn uses this term with Watto in Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
Fern calls out that there are ways to fake use of the Force such as magnets, like the character Haja Estree used in the Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series. Another method she suggests is “really thin string,” which is in fact how the effect was handled on-set, according to recent interviews with actor Jude Law.
KB’s desire to calculate the odds vs. Jod’s tendency to trust his gut is a similar dynamic to that between C-3PO and Han Solo from the Original Trilogy.
Kh’ymm uses multiple TT-8L/Y7 gatekeeper droids as security, first seen at Jabba’s Palace in Return of the Jedi. This is another droid that has popped up all over the place in recent Star Wars content.
The character of Kh’ymm (and her enormous rotating observatory) reminds me a lot of Aughra from Jim Henson’s 1982 fantasy film The Dark Crystal.
The kids know about the existence of the planets of Coruscant and Alderaan, but seem unaware that the latter has been destroyed. They’re also unaware of any war having happened. Hmm…
The Aurebesh lettering on Fern’s badge reads “Prefect,” but Kh’ymm’s chart of the Jewels of the Old Republic is going to take a lot more time to decipher.
The New Republic sends out X-wing starfighters in response to Kh’ymm’s distress call, much like the ones we have seen in the original Star Wars trilogy and The Mandalorian, though their pilots are unfamiliar.
The first three episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew are streaming now, exclusively via Disney+.