The galaxy far, far away is about to add another starry member to its ranks.
Oscar-nominee Jude Law was on hand in Anaheim, California on Friday night at D23 – Disney’s massive fan expo that drew a crowd of 12,000 – to present “Skeleton Crew,” a new “Star Wars” series set to premiere on Disney+ in December.
Ahead of unveiling the first-look trailer, Law billed the new series as “a timeless adventure story in the spirit of the Amblin coming-of-age films from the ’80s,” mentioning 1985’s “The Goonies” and “E.T.” from 1982 as examples.
Law also described how he “fell in love with ‘Star Wars’ when I was a ten-year-old boy,” and said what he loves most about “Skeleton Crew” – about a group of children who “accidentally blast off their home planet” into the “vastness of the galaxy” – is how the story is told through the perspective of the kids.
The trailer teased a series that looks to be returning to some old-school and trusted formulas, with glimpses of space suburbia and earthy childhood staples from intergalactic school busses and classrooms to front lawns and kids riding around the neighborhood on bikes (hovercraft style bikes, but still).
Things take a decidedly “Goonies”-style turn when the band of misfit youths stumble on a hidden fortress in the forest, where water slides, skeletons and adventure await.
Soon, the group is launched through hyperspace into cosmos unknown, where they encounter exploding spaceships, Jawas and other creatures, and eventually find themselves locked in a cage.
They watch in awe as the key promising their freedom suddenly floats off its hook and toward them, as one of the kids marvels to a hooded figure, “You’re a Jedi!”
Cue the hooded figure – played by Law – to reveal himself.
“Skeleton Crew” will stream with a two-episode premiere on December 3 on Disney+.