The upcoming Star Wars live-action TV series, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, has been described as not being a show for kids, which is a huge mistake, given the franchise’s history. The Star Wars franchise has evolved quite a bit in its 45 years of existence, yet there are certain elements of Star Wars stories that must remain constant. One such element is telling simple, engaging, stories with complex characters, meant to appeal to audiences of any age. Star Wars is often thought of as a franchise for children, yet its installments have nearly always treated their viewers with enough respect that adults can and do appreciate them just as much.
The Star Wars franchise has recently seen incredible success in the realm of live-action television shows, with The Mandalorian in particular arguably superseding Lucasfilm’s recent slate of live-action films as the franchise’s new figurehead. The Mandalorian, along with The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi, deals with dark subject matter at times and have plenty of violent action scenes, but they’re ultimately not any less “kid-friendly” than the live-action Star Wars films, which feature bloodless violence and uplifting tales of redemption and personal growth. This will likely be the case for upcoming shows like Andor and Ahsoka as well, but Star Wars: Skeleton Crew will seemingly break the mold.
Skeleton Crew will be set five years after Return of the Jedi, around the same time as The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, and its premise will include a group of children lost in the Star Wars galaxy and searching for a way back home. This storyline seems tailor-made for the Star Wars franchise’s typical family-friendly approach, with a premise vaguely reminiscent of the Legends continuity’s Ewok movies, but the show’s creator, Jon Watts, described the series as “not a kid’s show” in 2022’s Star Wars Celebration Anaheim. This is an odd statement that contradicts a fundamental quality of the Star Wars franchise and indicates that Skeleton Crew will be a darker or more violent series than Star Wars viewers might be used to. This suggests that the franchise might, unfortunately, be losing sight of Star Wars’ fundamental appeal and its ideal target audience.
Star Wars Is Ignoring Its Own Key Audience
The original six Star Wars films and the subsequent material in the franchise’s two continuities have nearly always struck a balance between various age groups. While all Star Wars films have plenty of action scenes, the violence is typically bloodless and intentionally exaggerated. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith was a first for the franchise, earning a PG-13 rating for its graphic depiction of Darth Vader burning alive (necessitating his iconic armored survival suit), yet the film still avoided showing arguably darker moments, like Vader murdering Jedi younglings during Order 66. The few times that the Star Wars franchise truly ventured into subject matter too dark for children was in novels and comic books, with only the most recent video games getting age ratings higher than 12 years with Star Wars: Fallen Order.
Despite its history of generally appealing to all-ages audiences, the Star Wars franchise does seem to be moving away from this in recent years. The Star Wars sequel trilogy, spinoff films like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and live-action shows like The Mandalorian, while ultimately retaining a degree of the franchise’s family-friendly qualities, are darker and more violent than the previous two trilogies. Animated shows like Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, and Star Wars: The Bad Batch, which do cater to younger audiences, have noticeably taken a backseat to these live-action productions, for the most part, further proving that Star Wars is gradually becoming less geared towards family-friendly stories and thus moving on from a key portion of its target audience.
The Long-Term Future Of Star Wars Needs New Generations
It’s prudent for Star Wars properties to continue the franchise’s tradition of catering to younger and older viewers, as each movie or TV show has the potential to be someone’s first exposure to the franchise. The original and prequel Star Wars trilogies and the current canon’s version of The Clone Wars each helped introduce a different generation to the Star Wars universe, so the general trend of increasingly-dark live-action TV shows, coupled with a decreasing focus on animation may have an adverse effect on its lasting appeal. As an individual production, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew consciously not being for kids is not a problem, but the Star Wars franchise must not lose sight of its general audience appeal by focusing too much on properties for older viewers.