Summary
Star Wars: Skeleton Crewis drawing closer to its release and has fans abuzz with some of its promotional material, but an overwhelmingly authoritative source has put to bed one of the more interesting theories stemming from the trailers.
TheStar Warsfranchise’s growth to include streaming content in the Disney era has been a bit of a mixed bag, with massive successes likeStar Wars: Andorsharing space with far more divisive works likeThe Acolyteand critically inconsistent series likeThe Mandalorian.While the franchise’s most recent showing wasn’t its best, there’s a good amount of excitement building forSkeleton Crew,the next installment of the Disney+Star Warsprogram. With the show’s release less than a month away, fans have come a long way from when they gotfirst glimpses of Star Wars:Skeleton Crewand now have a much more enticing array of promo material to get everyone geared up for the coming show.
Adding to the excitement about the series is the idea thatSkeleton Crew’spromos could be hinting at more expansive story threads than originally expected, but at least one of those hints has been dismissed. A recent trailer shows two of the show’s young protagonists present a street vendor with some currency as part of a purchase, to which the vendor incredulously wonders where the kids found an Old Republic credit, sparking a debate on what era of Star Wars was being referenced.Skeleton Crewshowrunner Jon Watts settled the issue with a recent statement on the matter given toInverse. “Most of the time when we’re saying Old Republic, we’re using it in the same way that Obi-Wan uses it in A New Hope when he talks about the Old Republic,” Watts clarified. “That just meant he was familiar with part of that Republic, and that Republic continued back thousands and thousands and thousands of years.”
The confusion initially stemmed from Legends, where an era several millennia before any canonStar Warsstories take place was referred to as the Old Republic. Meanwhile, in canon, the government that rose up in the wake of Palpatine’s defeat and the dissolution of the Empire is referred to as the New Republic, retroactively marking the Galactic Republic of the prequel trilogy as the “old” Republic. This overlap in terms shared between Disney’s canon and Legends might have received more attention becauseSkeleton Crewhas promised to have tons of easter eggs for older fans, which isa clear departure from the approachStar Wars: Andortook. While the callbacks and easter eggs will certainly be present, older fans will have to limit their expectations to things within the current canon.
Despite the difference in approach,Star Wars: Skeleton Crewcould be theAndorfor a younger audience, and keeping any confusing non-canon references out of the equation seems to be the best move. Exposing younger fans and new viewers to prequel-era ideas while telling a sequel-era story is impressive coverage and will go a long way to ensure that the franchise garners a fanbase with the next generation the way it has since the first films released. With just weeks left until the show premiere, fans will be able to see for themselves just how well the show handles the integration of canon callbacks and easter eggs themselves soon enough.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crewis set to release for streaming on Disney+ on July 20, 2025.
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise originally created by George Lucas and Lucasfilm Ltd with the 1977 motion picture. The science fiction franchise follows the adventures of characters (both humanoid and alien) in outer space including those who can wield a mystical power known as the Force. Since the release of the original trilogy of movies, the franchise has expanded to include multiple films and branched out to other media like comics, video games, tv shows, theme park attractions, and more. The IP and Lucasfilm were sold to Disney in 2012.
