With Lucasfilm’s new live-action series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew having made its debut on Disney+, I’ve noticed that this series is chock-full of Easter Egg references to other Star Wars media and 1980s-era popular culture in general. Below you’ll find my list of 25+ nods to other content I found in the first episode of the show from A Galaxy Far, Far Away and right back here on Earth.
1 – The opening shot is fairly reminiscent of the beginning of the original Star Wars film, with a pan down to a planet and then a ship appearing from off-camera, though this has been echoed in numerous Star Wars projects since 1977. The New Republic soldiers awaiting the pirates as they prepare to board also feels like a nod to the opening scene of A New Hope.
2- The species of the invading pirates include Ishi Tib (which first appeared in Return of the Jedi), Gran (Return of the Jedi), and Trandoshan (The Empire Strikes Back), and Snivvian (A New Hope), among others. The wolfman-like pirate Brutus is a Shistavanen, one of which was originally seen in the Mos Eisley Cantina in A New Hope, though his shots were removed for the Star Wars Special Edition in 1997. We also see Vane, a character who has carried over to Skeleton Crew from The Mandalorian. His species is Nikto (Return of the Jedi).
3 – Captain Silvo’s line “If this is a bulk freighter, why is your vault magnetically sealed?” is an echo of Darth Vader’s line “If this is a Consulor ship, where is the ambassador?” from A New Hope.
4 – On the planet At Attin, Wim plays with crude Jedi and Sith action figures, complete with lightsabers. Kenner’s famous Star Wars action figures have historically been some of the most popular merchandise associated with the franchise.
5 – We see Wim preparing a bowl of cereal for breakfast. We previously saw the character of Syril Karn eating a different-colored cereal in Star Wars: Andor. The accompanying blue milk goes back to the original Star Wars film, of course. Notably, Syril also collected action figures, so he had a lot in common with Wim.
6 – When Wim rushes off to school, he passes an Ithorian (A New Hope) named Mrs. Ikk walking a frog-dog (Return of the Jedi) down the sidewalk.
7 – The name of Neel’s species has not been identified, but the blue elephantine child does resemble both Max Rebo– though Ortolans do not have arms– and Hooter from Disney Parks’ “Captain EO.”
8 – Neel and Wim’s mock lightsaber battle echoes a number of famous fights from the Star Wars franchise in which a character loses a limb, including Luke Skywalker’s duel vs. Darth Vader from The Empire Strikes Back. Similarly, we can see Wim learning about Jedi and their exploits via images on his datapad. Wim also talks about how some Jedi temples can lower themselves underground, which we’ve actually seen happen in the animated series Star Wars Rebels and other materials.
9 – The kids’ hover-bus driver is an RX-series pilot droid like the one that used to captain Star Tours at Disney Parks.
10 – Speeder bikes first showed up in Return of the Jedi and have been present in plenty of Star Wars media since 1983, but the hoverbikes on At Attin are of a more kid-friendly variety. And while taking a shortcut through the forest, Wim drives his hoverbike under a fallen log, much like Luke Skywalker and his sister Princess Leia Organa do on the forest moon of Endor.
11 – The cyborg character of KB wears an electronic visor connected to implants on her temples similar to the ones sported by Lobot in The Empire Strikes Back. The visor also reminds me a bit of Geordi La Forge’s eyewear in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
12 – The Aurebesh lettering on one of the buildings in At Attin’s city reads “Comm Center.” On the front of the school it reads, “At Attin Middle School.” In the hallway later on when Wim is in detention it reads “Proctor’s Office.”
13 – Among the species of Wim and Neel’s schoolmates are multiple Rodians (A New Hope) and a younger Ithorian.
14 – Undersecretary Fara’s mention of a “Great Work” could be a reference to Republic Chancellor Lina Soh’s Great Works from Star Wars: The High Republic. These included the space station Starlight Beacon, the Republic Fair, and construction of communication relays throughout the galaxy. There’s also a mural in Fern’s house that could depict Lina Soh herself.
15 – In the background of one of the scenes at the school, some kids play a hackeysack-like game with a training remote that looks similar to the one used by Luke Skywalker in A New Hope.
16 – KB says that she and Fern “gotta get a new power converter,” which is the same thing Luke wanted to pick up at Tosche Station in A New Hope.
17 – The bike-racing character named Bonjj Phalfa is a reference to actor Harrison Ford’s hot-rod-racing character in Star Wars creator George Lucas’s acclaimed 1973 feature film American Graffiti– Bob Falfa.
18 – Fern’s line of “I care” echoes Luke Skywalker saying the same line of dialogue in A New Hope.
19 – The entrance to Fern’s upper-class community definitely reminds me of Lyon Estates from Back to the Future. (I’ve seen other fans point out that the shape of the Onyx Cinder ship that shows up later in the episode is also reminiscent of an upside-down DeLorean).
20 – Wim’s starship mobile and toys bring to mind the hand-made items sold in the Toydarian Toymaker shop at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disney Parks.
21 – The big creature we see a Jedi fighting in one of Wim’s datapad images could be a rancor, but it reminded me more of Oggdo Bogdo from Star Wars: Jedi – Fallen Order.
22 – The term “refresher” being used in reference to a bathroom goes back to the old Expanded Universe (now Legends-continuity) Star Wars stories.
23 – Wim uses the term “wizard” as an exclamation, just like Anakin Skywalker’s friend Kitster in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. In The High Republic novels, it has been established that the character of Ram Jomaram came up with this expression.
24 – Composer Mick Giacchino’s musical score when Wim discovers the hatch in the ground sounds like an homage to the 1985 kids’ adventure film The Goonies, which we know is a major influence on Skeleton Crew. Some of Fern’s dialogue later on also reminded me of Mouth and Brand’s more ominous lines in The Goonies, and the use of walkie-talkies is also a tribute to kid-focused 80s movies like E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. The kids being trapped inside the spaceship and whisked away at the end of the episode is similar to Joe Dante’s 1985 film Explorers and Disney’s 1986 movie Flight of the Navigator.
25 – Neel’s younger siblings watch a hologram circus that’s re-created moment-for-moment from the infamous 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special, along with the music that accompanies it.
BONUS: The character of KB (played by Kyriana Kratter) is indeed named after the now-defunct American retail chain K·B Toys. I wasn’t 100% sure about this one but I had the chance to ask series cocreator Chris Ford about it in person and he confirmed it for me.
The first two episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew are now available to stream, exclusively via Disney+.