Skeleton Crew’s Death Star-sized Achievement With Episode 3 Puts the Show in Star Wars Hall of Fame For 1 Sole Reason

Directed by Jon Watts and Christopher Ford, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, taking place in the same time frame as The Mandalorian, is a science fiction adventure series following the adventures of four children. The four kids are finding a way back to their home, as after discovering their home planet, they get lost in the galaxy.

The show stars Jude Law, Ravi-Cabot-Conyers, Nick Frost, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, and more. The coming-of-age series has been received well by the ardent fans of Star Wars, along with the critics, especially praising the performances of the kids. The recent episode of the show has reportedly achieved the highest status amongst the episodes for one special reason.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew makers praise the work of the special effects team

In a recently released two-minute-long video on Star Wars’ official channel, showrunner Jon Watts, along with The Daniels and Bryce Dallas Howard, shared that the best part about Star Wars for them is practical effects play, which are very fascinating.

One such mind-boggling special effect was seen in the third episode of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew with ‘the crab monster.’ Jon Watts in the video shared that he suggested that they should do it in ‘stop motion,’ and everyone thought that it was insane. But further, he added and praised Phil Tippet and his team for building the puppet, which he said that each shot takes two weeks.

In one of his early interviews, the showrunner had shared that they got Phil Tippett, the puppet master who’d do stop-motion. He is known for his work on Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and was hired for the show. While speaking to IndieWire, Jon Watts shared that when Tippett and his team created a Ray Harryhausen-like alien creator, it blew their minds. He said,

That was one of those things where we were completely encouraged to follow all of those crazy, old-school, expensive impulses. I think it’s because the creature was so good for the stop-motion technology and felt right.

Jude Law, who plays Jod Na Nawood on the show, mentioned in the 2-minute video released by Star Wars that he loved working with puppeteers, droids, and creatures. The actor noted that he had a blast on the set. The Star Wars franchise is known for its use of practical effects, which have reportedly facilitated further development of special effects in the industry.

Using a stop motion for a crab monster is one of the significant highlights since the franchise has never seen anything like that before. Other practical effects used in Star Wars include extras donning the high-density polyethylene armor and the matte painting that showcases The Stormtrooper’s presence. (via CBR)

The droids that are known as Star Wars mascots had their essences captured via actors’ performances and physical props. The infamous Death Star was created with a combination of detailed oil matte paintings, set pieces for perspective, and physical scale models. These are just a few examples of how convincing Star Wars’ practical effects have been, but maybe now the Crab Monster sits atop.

Jude Law reacts to character reveal on Star Wars: Skeleton Crew

In a recent conversation with EW, Jude Law acknowledged that his character on Star Wars: Skeleton Crew goes by various names, but he is the one chaperoning the kids on their journey back to their home planet, At Attin. He mentioned during the interview,

I knew I was going to have to be cagey anyway. And what I loved about him was he was full of contradictions. You don’t ever quite know who he is or what he’s capable of because he’s sort of got all these facets and faces and names, and I mean if I would’ve used one word, I would say he’s a survivor, right?

Jude Law added that Jod Na Nawood, or Captain Silvo or Crimson Jack, is someone who’s kind of had his childhood snatched away from him, and that’s why he looks at the kids sort of with disdain. The actor mentioned that his character has no real concept of innocence.

When the publication compared Jod Na Nawood to Han Solo, Law mentioned that it was a huge compliment for him, adding that there was a definite spirit to Han that he loved in the first three movies.

But he is not sure if his character on Star Wars: Skeleton Crew has similar qualities because he says Jod’s complicated. The actor mentioned that they needed to have Jod not just heroics but also humor and certain courageousness, especially because four 10-year-old kids are now seeing this world.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is streaming on Disney+.