Star Wars: Jon Favreau Explains How Skeleton Crew’s Tone Connects to the Franchise

Every Star Wars fans connects with different elements of the franchise, thanks to the ways in which various concepts and themes have been interwoven into each adventure over the years, with the upcoming Star Wars: Skeleton Crew being the first live-action project that focuses mainly on younger characters. Producer Jon Favreau recently explored how the tone of the series, which might seem unexpected for some audiences, connects to the franchise as a whole and what made these filmmakers such a good fit for bringing the concept to life. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is expected to premiere on Disney+ later this year.

“One of the things we really like about what the shows that we’ve been working on have turned into is that it the tone of each episode — and in certain cases each series — really reflects the storyteller of the filmmaker,” Favreau shared with Entertainment Weekly‘s Dagobah Dispatch podcast. “So in The Mandalorian you could have many different tones. Even though the writing is consistent across them, different filmmakers will bring different perspectives. And so each episode hopefully feels different, though they should sit alongside one another.”

He added, “With Skeleton Crew, I would go even further there because it’s [Jon] Watts and [Chris] Ford and a whole array of wonderful directors — some have worked with us before, some who haven’t. And so each episode has its own feel to it.”

Skeleton Crew is described, “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, set in the New Republic era, is about a group of kids lost in the Star Wars galaxy trying to find their way home.”

Favreau went on to note how the visual language of a Star Wars project is what helps unify the vibe, though it also allows room for experimentation.

“As long as you adhere to a certain aesthetic, and we all agree that it feels like it’s Star Wars, there’s a lot of room for how you can move around,” the filmmaker pointed out. “It’s interesting too, as you see at the [Star Wars Celebration] panel and these great trailers, how different they all are. But they all sit together. You would never group them together, but thanks to the world that George created, they all feel like they share a common underlying aesthetic.”

With the new adventure meant to channel the adventure vibes of Amblin projects from the ’80s, having Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy involved in Skeleton Crew ensured that tone would be authentically honored.

“With Kathy Kennedy running Lucasfilm, when John Watts and Chris Ford come in and talked about wanting to do something that feels like an Amblin movie and has that tone, it’s like you’re speaking right to the person who was there and knows the 11 herbs and spices that go into it,” Favreau confessed. “So it’s interesting hearing them pitch it and how she reacts to that.”

He added, “When people think of Star Wars as a genre, it really is a number of subgenres within the Star Wars genre. Because those were [George Lucas’] influences, so it could feel like a Western, it could feel like a World War II film, it could feel like a samurai film. And so you could push limits.”

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is expected to hit Disney+ later this year.

Are you looking forward to the new series? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!