Summary
It’s a new dawn for the galaxy far, far away asStar Wars: Skeleton Crewhopes to capture the childlike whimsy of Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment heyday. Billed as a mix betweenThe GooniesandE.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial,Star Wars: Skeleton Crewfeatures a much younger cast than fans are used to.
Aside from the focus onAnakin Skywalker inThe Phantom Menace,Skeleton Crewhas the youngest cast yet, comprised of Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), KB (Kyriana Kratter), and Neel (Robert Timothy Smith). One of them has quickly become a standout addition to the franchise, although Neel’s fan-favorite status is already facing some controversy due to his potential origin story.
Everyone Loves Skeleton Crew’s Neel
Despite only two episodes ofSkeleton Crewhaving aired so far, the blue-skinned Neel is stealing hearts as the bumbling and cautious sidekick to Wim. While the rest of the kids seem to be human in origin, Neel is an elephant-inspired alien who now calls At Attin his home. Despite fans thinking they’ve identified Neel as the underratedOrtolan species, there’s more to the story.
Speaking toTV Line, showrunners Jon Watts and Christopher Ford have confirmed a divisive change: Neel isn’t an Ortolan. When asked whether Neel is the same species as the beloved Max Rebo, Watts explained:
People really want to know, and we don’t mind going on record saying that he is not.
Despite only appearing fleetingly in the original trilogy, Max Rebo has become something of a fan-favorite. Even if fans don’t know his name, most will remember the ‘blue elephant’ playing the keyboard atJabba the Hutt’s Palace inReturn of the Jedi. Chiming in with his own tease of Neel’s origin story, Ford said the pair have driven “right into that controversy.” He doesn’t explain why Neel isn’t an Ortolan, instead saying:
“We just went right in there and did it.”
Suggesting that there’s been some profiling among the fandom, eagle-eyed viewers will notice that Neel has four limbs as opposed to Rebo only having two – he played the keyboard with his feet. As Watts reminds fans:
“It’s a big galaxy. There’s a lot of blue, trunked, elephant creatures out there.”
Adding there are a lot of similar-lookingStar Warsspeciesout there, Ford concluded:
“There’s a lot of human-looking people that have no trunks that come in different colors and shapes, and we don’t blink our eye at that. So, it’s very human-centric to have a problem with this, I have to say.”
There’s been a recent boom inStar Warstrying to create adorable side characters, withThe Mandalorian’s Grogubeing the best example. With that in mind, it’s easy to see the merchandising potential of Neel ahead of the Christmas 2024 rush.
AlthoughSkeleton Crewhas already featured a wide array of weird and wonderful aliens ranging from new species like Roona’s Vazooan to the deep cut of the Shistavanen, Neel’s species is featured more prominently as a core member. It’s clear to see the influences ofE.T., but according to Watts, Neel could be closer in origin to Hooter fromCaptain EOthan Max Rebo. Still, the Ortolans only appear fleetingly in live-action, and it seems peculiar to create a brand-new species that fans are so easily mistaking for Max Rebo.
Justice for the Ortolans
Star Warshas never been particularly good at handling the Ortolans. So far, the franchise has only revealed that they come from the icy planet calledOrto in the Outer Rim– hence their rotund appearance. The Legends canon expands them a little further, but adds inconsistencies about how many limbs they should have. “The High Tower” ofStar Wars Resistanceeven includes an Ortolan doll with arms and legs that’s described as “an Ortolan doll (with extra limbs).” The same issues caused the Rebo minifig in the Star Wars Legends-era LEGO Classic Star Wars set 75020Jabba’s Sail Bargeto have arms and legs.
Similar to the sudden obsession with Jedi Wookiees, Nem Bees was an Ortolan Jedi Knight from Legends. Featuring during the Clone Wars, Bees was sadly slain during Order 66 by Commander Deviss during a fight known as the Battle of Orto. This was depicted inStar Wars: Clone Wars"Chapter 22", but as the original series is no longer considered canon, the idea of an Ortolan Jedi Knight can no longer be seen as such either. This means the only notable canon Ortolan is Max Rebo, and even then, he tends to only be remembered because he’s a Jizz-wailer. At least Max Rebo was immortalized asa character in 2022’sLEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagavideo game.
Rebo was one of the increasingly many who survived Jabba’s Sail Barge inReturn of the Jedi, but appearing in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene during thecontroversialThe Book of Boba Fett, there were worries that the series went full Admiral Ackbar and killed off Max Rebo when the Pykes bombed Garsa Fwip’s Sanctuary. The writers don’t seem to care about Max, with an article called “Hit It, Max!” inStar Wars Insider#224 interviewing the actors behind the Max Rebo Band and casually confirming Max survived. Making Neel an Ortolan would have marked the first major Ortolan in the franchise, but it wasn’t meant to be.
At least Rebo has a lucky streak in him, and technically could appear inSkeleton Crewfor a comedic joke about how Neel isn’t the same species. Having Rebo appear as Neel’s Cool Uncle Max would have been a neat way to connectSkeleton Crewto the wider galaxy while also confirming his survival. However, with this being one of the few projects to truly strike out likeAndor and away from the Skywalker Sagawhere the same characters that constantly get recycled, it’s easy to see why the writers wanted to avoid this. As for Neel’s mystery species, fans should prepare to add yet another alien species to theirStar Warsencyclopedia.
