It’s easy to forget that the “Star Wars” we’ve seen unfolding since director George Lucas’s first entry erupted onto the big screen back in 1977 actually happened ages ago — as in “a long time ago,” — and not in some far future period, despite the futuristic spaceships and lightsabers.
That might seem perfectly obvious to most fans, but it’s worth mentioning as we delve into the timeline of Disney+’s “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” to hone in on the calendar to determine where Wim, Fern, Neel, KB and Jod Na Nawood’s misadventures with treasure and space pirates fall in the overarching “Star Wars” timeline. Considering all the prequels, sequels, and spinoffs seemingly sprouting up in theaters and on the Disney+ streaming platform, it can be disorienting trying to arrange the material in a consistent datebook that can be quickly ascertained.
For the impatient, the fast answer is that “Skeleton Crew” rolls out in a post-“Return of the Jedi” timeframe. Even though “Skeleton Crew’s” sheltered planet of At Attin seems to be in some sort of time warp after being secluded from the rest of the galaxy far, far away by a shimmering barrier, it still exists within the general framework of the fictional universe portraying in “Star Wars” movies, TV shows, novels, comics, and video games. Plus let’s remember that our starlost kids are from a throwback planet that strangely still uses golden Old Republic credits as currency.
Officially, “Skeleton Crew” takes place in the year 9 ABY (After the Battle of Yavin), and so that inserts it firmly five years following the events of “Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi.” That’s in the aftermath of the Battle of Endor when the furball Ewoks helped the Rebel Alliance defeat Imperial forces on the forest moon of Endor, Death Star 2 was demolished, and Luke played savior for his dad Darth Vader when the Emperor supposedly fell to his death.
The meticulously dull suburbs and precise bureaucratic organization of At Attin, and its recruitment of young people into its monotonous administrative fold could be a tiny seed planted by the founders of the First Order to begin to rebuild its infrastructure, but that’s yet to be seen. The answer could be even more scary!
It seems like somehow “Skeleton Crew” creators Jon Watts and Chris Ford will surely link this secret world into the sinister plans of the Emperor and his acolytes, possibly laying down a foundational element for the next iteration of the power-hungry ashes of the dismantled Galactic Empire. Or maybe we’re just way off in our speculations!
“First of all, we picked that era because it’s the best time for kids to get lost in the galaxy because it’s also the worst time for kids to get lost in the galaxy,” Watts told TechRadar. “There’s not anyone in place who can swoop in and help them. But we kept it a little bit flexible because we’re tied to the kids’ ages. So, as we look towards the future, we’re still figuring out where it fits on the exact timeline.”
That year of 9 ABY, when the New Republic was just getting its galactic footing after the Empire crumbled, is also worth looking into further as it coincides with the happenings of Disney+’s “The Mandalorian,” “The Book of Boba Fett,” and “Ahsoka,” so those characters could have fun cameos. At this time, the history-altering clashes between Jedi Knights and the Sith have obviously not been absorbed by all citizens, especially in the Outer RIm and mysterious destinations like At Attin as evidenced by Wim having a fantasy-like reverence for those epic encounters of good vs. evil.
Moving forward out of the “Skeleton Crew” time parameters to give more temporal context, it’ll be two more decades before the events of the first installment of the sequel trilogy, “Star Wars: Episode 7 – The Force Awakens,” and its story of Rey, Finn, and Poe. That 2015 J.J. Abrams feature is set in 34 ABY.
“Yeah, it’s like we’ve thrown a dart but it’s not quite landed on the board yet,” Ford noted in the same interview. “So yeah, there’ll be an answer one day and it’ll be an exact date.”
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