Jude Law’s Skeleton Crew Character Is Modeled on Two Star Wars Icons

Lucasfilm is taking another big swing this year with Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. Co-created by Christopher Ford and Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts, the forthcoming Disney+ series promises to be an unexpected riff on classic 1980s coming-of-age adventure films like The Goonies. The show will also mark the Star Wars debut of actor Jude Law, who is set to play a mysterious Force-user named Jod Na Nawood. Very little has so far been shared publicly about Law’s character, but in an interview with ComicBook, the actor revealed the two Star Wars legends that he modeled his performance after the most.

Contrary to what certain fans might expect, Law wasn’t particularly influenced by any of the Star Wars franchise’s past Jedi characters, either. “[Jod] is multifaceted and contradictory, so I wanted to be able to show different sides [and] different moods. I wanted him to, hopefully, come over as a coward at times, sometimes a scoundrel, sometimes a hero,” Law explained. “There was definitely an energy to what Harrison Ford delivered [as Han Solo] in those first three [films] that I loved so much. A world-weary, a little bit like begrudging, ‘I’m just looking out for myself’ [energy]. [He’s] a little cynical, and I really hoped to bring some of that to Jod.”

The two-time Oscar nominee added that he also pulled from Han Solo’s lovable, sometimes not-so-friendly rival. “I always loved the sort of panache of Lando Calrissian. There was just something so flamboyant and hilarious about him by the time we got to Cloud City,” the actor confessed. “Those are the two that really jumped to me and, obviously, you [also] want to make him as original as possible because he’s your input.”

Who Is Jod Na Nawood?

In Skeleton Crew, Law’s Jod partners with the show’s four young leads to help them find their way home after they end up lost in space. Along the way, Jod’s Force-sensitive abilities are revealed, but the character’s origins remain a mystery for the time being. That said, it’s worth noting that Skeleton Crew is set after the events of Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. Its close proximity to the Galactic Empire’s tyrannical reign, therefore, raises some interesting possibilities about Jod’s past and his potential relationship to Force-oriented Orders like the Jedi and the Sith.

Predictably, Law is hesitant to reveal too much about his character too early. While speaking with ComicBook, though, the actor did promise that viewers will learn about Jod’s past at some point throughout Skeleton Crew‘s eight episodes. “What is revealed eventually is his childhood and how and why he might be Force-sensitive,” Law teased. “And that’s all I’m going to say.”

When they tune into Skeleton Crew, viewers can, in other words, look forward to not only plenty of swashbuckling, space-set hijinks and adventures, but also some substantial insights into one of the most intriguing and enigmatic new Force users to debut in the past few years.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew premieres December 3rd on Disney+.