This Is the Best New Star Wars Character Since Baby Yoda (And It’s Not Even Close)

Star Wars has a long, proud, history of introducing characters who go on to become beloved icons of the fandom. There was a long stretch where Star Wars failed to give fans characters that could rival the likes of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca – or even those cuddly Ewoks – then came The Mandalorian in 2019, which gave Star Wars its biggest breakout hit character in decades with Grogu (aka “Baby Yoda”). Now, there’s another new Star Wars character who is quickly gaining fans and generating big buzz – and it’s all thanks to the new Star Wars: Skeleton Crew series on Disney+!

Skeleton Crew’s Neel is Star Wars’ New MVP

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew tells the story of a group of kids from the mysteriously isolated planet of At Attin. Through a series of bumbling circumstances, the kids find an old crashed pirate ship and re-activate it, taking an unexpected hyperspace jump into the far sectors of the galaxy, with no clear path home. One member of that group of youngsters is a kindly blue-skinned, elephant-like alien named “Neel,” who has quickly become the symbol of a pure-hearted return to what made Star Wars such a milestone in so many kids’ lives.

The great thing about Neel is that he’s the kind of character Star Wars has lacked for a long time: the noble everyman. Star Wars: A New Hope will always be the definitive film in the franchise because it takes a seemingly normal kid (Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker) and reveals to him that he has a great heroic destiny to fulfill in the galaxy. It’s a quintessential hero’s journey story unweighted by any concerns of canon or lore (for the most part). Ever since then, Star Wars has had to carry that franchise weight, and almost every new character we meet (including Grogu) is either a product of that lore, or is in some way beholden to it.

Not Neel though!

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew‘s cast of main characters are almost all coded to echo some other aspect of the franchise: Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) is a wannabe Jedi; Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) is a wannabe Han Solo; KB (Kyriana Kratter) is a human-droid hybrid character, meant to represent certain non-neurotypical communities. Neel is, truly, the first Star Wars character – possibly since Luke – who is a perfect slate for the audience to grasp onto – no special powers, agenda, or faith – just a normal kid lost in a crazy galaxy, trying to get home to his family.

Granted, at the time of writing this, Skeleton Crew‘s back half episodes could expand further on Neel’s character, revealing some kind of thematic echo with characters or storylines we’ve seen before. But after Episode 4, “Can’t Say I Remember No At Attin”, many fans are charmed and delighted with the fact that there’s a lovable Star Wars character they don’t have to see a handful of movies or watch/read a bunch of other content to appreciate – a character that any and everyone can love, as a “good” person worth rooting for.

Who Plays Neel In Star Wars: Skeleton Crew?

Neel may come off as a simple everyman character – but he’s actually quite a tricky feat of production!

Actress Kacie Borrowman provides the physical performance art to create Neel. Borrowman uses a combination of on-set performance wearing a costume that includes a fully animatronic headpiece, as well as facial motion capture to heighten the character’s performance mannerisms and expressiveness. Actor Robert Timothy Smith then records the vocal performance of Neel, giving the character his quirky, childlike voice.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew streams on Disney+.