Skeleton Crew Brings Back A Star Wars Villain From The Mandalorian

Spoilers ahead for “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” season 1, episode 2.

“Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” episode 1 begins with an unfortunate space pirate raid, but soon moves away from the action. The majority of the episode is spent introducing the central quartet of youngsters and the secluded world they live in, only sending them into hyperspace at the very end. 

Episode 2, on the other hand, fills the kids’ and the viewers’ eyes and ears with the wonders and horrors of the galaxy. it focuses on Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), KB (Kyriana Kratter), and Neel (Robert Timothy Smith) adjusting to their new situation, meeting new characters, and exploring new places. From the mysterious Onyx Cinder spaceship and its irritable droid first mate SM-33 (voiced by Nick Frost) to the sordid space station they all end up on, the main characters get to experience new corners of the “Star Wars” galaxy along with the viewer. However, the station does offer a familiar face for the most devoted fans.

One of the pirates harassing the kids for Wim’s mysterious credits at the space station is none other than Vane (Marti Matulis), the spike-faced Nikto who’s previously ran with Gorian Shard’s (Nonzo Anozie) group of pirates and attempted to shake down Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) and Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) in “The Mandalorian” season 3. He’s not a major character by any means, but he’s still a familiar(ish) face who’s been around the block a few times. Time will tell whether his “Skeleton Crew” appearance is just a fun little cameo, or if he’s being set up as a crossover character like Paul Sun-Hyung Lee’s Carson Teva, who’s played a supporting role in several different Disney+ shows.

Vane’s villainy isn’t exactly at what you’d call Darth Vader levels. His showdown with Greef Karga and Din Djarin on “The Mandalorian” in the season 3 opener “Chapter 17: The Apostate” goes about as well as you’d expect. His return in “Chapter 21: The Pirate” continues his hapless minion status, as Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) and Din’s Mandalorian tribe deal Shard’s forces a sound defeat. However, Vane does seem to be a survivor, as he abandons the losing battle and goes rogue.  

The character’s re-emergence on “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” episode 2 seems to continue his role as a designated hapless minion. As Vane attempts to intimidate the children for their credits, SM-33 arrives on the scene and promptly beats him up. However, Vane now seems to be affiliated with the pirate crew led by Brutus (voiced by Fred Tatasciore), and might just prove to be an important link to the grander schemes of the galaxy far, far away. He’s also a perfect henchman type villain for “Skeleton Crew,” a show particularly suitable for younger “Star Wars” fans. Like the Fratelli family in “The Goonies,” Vane is suitably inefficient to provide moments of levity, yet intimidating enough to pose a viable threat to the heroes. 

The characters of “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” are largely new, but the show also brings back the Teek alien race from the old non-canon movie “Ewoks: The Battle for Endor.” Vane’s presence fits well to this mix of new and comparatively obscure, and it will be interesting to see whether he remains the only familiar character we see before “Skeleton Crew” season 1 is over.