Star Wars: Skeleton Crew

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew was an early holiday gift from Lucasfilm on Disney+. Not since The Mandalorian has Star Wars been so much fun on the House of Mouse's streamer.

After a swashbuckling start in the warm glow of Christmas, does Skeleton Crew stick the landing in the dark days of January?

Nick Smith, our US-based stellar scribe, goes on a Goonies-inspired treasure hunt in a galaxy far, far away...

Guest post by Nick Smith

At last, someone knows how to do Star Wars right!

That someone is Christopher Ford, one of Spider-Man: Homecoming’s six screenwriters. Ford smuggles a very down-to-earth story of friendship into the laser-brained world of Star Wars via Skeleton Crew, a family-oriented series streaming on Disney+.

Skeleton Crew concerns a motley bunch of kids, led by Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong, who lit up the screen in 2022’s Firestarter), as they try to get home in a galaxy far, far away. Meanwhile, the children get mixed up with pirates, a space dogfight, exotic aliens, a mysterious Force wielder, hyperspace travel, and plenty more elements reminiscent of the Star Wars movies.

We live in a cynical realm of algorithm-driven entertainment, where screenwriters follow a formula, dealing in absolutes, and filmmakers recycle scenes from old movies without a hint of originality. Fortunately, Skeleton Crew balances ‘80s-era movie tropes with a modern sensibility, and it’s all done with a big heap of charm.

The show appeals to children – the heroes scream a lot, and the comedy is broad – and it appeals to misty-eyed adults who grew up watching Amblin and Lucasfilm movies as well, with cleverly developed antagonists, richly detailed interstellar cities, and resonant themes: for example, the societal value of iconoclasts, balancing work and home life, and the lengths we go to keep our family safe.

There are plenty of Easter eggs for fans, too, such as a character who calls himself Crimson Jack (a pirate in Marvel Comics), the return of a character from The Mandalorian (Vane), and holographic entertainment straight out of the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special.

Armstrong is accompanied by Robert Timothy Smith (Liam in Dear Santa), who voices the sweet, elephantine Neel; Kyriana Kratter as KB, cool as a cucumber but loathe to admit she’s not as capable as her bestie (poignantly addressing the issue of disability), Fern; and Ravi Cabot-Conyers (Antonio in Encanto) as naïve dreamer Wim, whose ambitions outweigh his abilities. His head is in the clouds, he is fascinated by fanciful Jedi legends, and he’s getting a little too old to play with action figures or hear bedtime stories. He reminds me of me, not so long ago.

All these characters are sympathetic and worth rooting for, while SM-33 (a twist on the name of Smee from Peter Pan) provides muscles and chuckles, voice courtesy of Nick Frost, who played a dear Santa in Doctor Who. Jude Law’s Jod is even shadier than Yon-Rogg, the character he portrayed in Captain Marvel.

We’ve seen treasure hunts many times in films and TV shows; the spin here is that the booty is on the kids’ planet, and their real quest is to find their way home. With buccaneers, alien monsters, and (ugh) grownup rules in their path, the ride is a bumpy one for the crew, but never too dull for the audience. The epic only drags during a sojourn on At Achrann, where the crew meets a space-age version of World War II’s French Resistance, in a spot of bother solved by paying off some bad guys.

Otherwise, Skeleton Crew does an excellent job walking the gangplank of pleasing fans and the general public as well. The acting, meticulous visual designs, Mick Giacchino’s cinematic music score, and the colourful assortment of villains help to keep the story vivid and exciting, topped off with a chef’s kiss ending.

Disney+ can tick all its demographic boxes with its Star Wars shows: Forces of Destiny and LEGO Star Wars spoofs for tots, Andor and The Acolyte for Goths who like watching a good massacre, Ahsoka for the prequel appreciators and young adults who grew up on the animated series. Skeleton Crew fills the gap in between. George Lucas’ movies always included Disney-friendly elements that were never too heavy-handed to nub-snub.

Skeleton Crew is Star Wars at its Disneyest, and it works.

Have you seen Star Wars: Skeleton Crew? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Nick Smith's new audiobook, Undead on Arrival, is available from Amazon (affiliate link).

Daredevil: Born Again this March

Marvel Television has dropped an official trailer for the long-awaited Daredevil: Born Again.



Read the official synopsis:

"In Marvel Television’s “Daredevil: Born Again,” Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind lawyer with heightened abilities is fighting for justice through his bustling law firm, while former mob boss Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) pursues his own political endeavors in New York. When their past identities begin to emerge, both men find themselves on an inevitable collision course."

Daredevil was a fan-favourite spin-off series on Netflix and the gritty gang are back on Disney+ after being teased in Hawkeye and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Personally, I really enjoyed Daredevil when it debuted a decade ago in 2015 and was quoted in publicity for a superhero series that championed diversity. Marvel's live-action spin-off series on Netflix were all cancelled by the streamer in 2018 ahead of Disney+.

The series also stars Margarita Levieva, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Zabryna Guevara, Nikki James, Genneya Walton, Arty Froushan, Clark Johnson, Michael Gandolfini, with Ayelet Zurer and Jon Bernthal. Dario Scardapane is showrunner. Episodes are directed by Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead, Michael Cuesta, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, and David Boyd; and executive producers are Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Sana Amanat, Chris Gary, Dario Scardapane, Christopher Ord & Matthew Corman, and Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead.

Daredevil: Born Again will premiere on 4th March on Disney+.

Are you looking forward to Daredevil: Born Again? What did you think of the trailer? Let me know in the comments below.

Micronauts coming soon from Super7

Exciting news for Micronauts fans (myself included): Hasbro has licensed Mego's beloved seventies toy line to the fine folks at Super7. The Micronauts attained a cult following and were briefly resurrected by Palisades Toys in 2002.

“The return of Micronauts really represents what Hasbro and our licensing business are all about – bringing unique interactive fun and collectible experiences for fans across multiple generations,” Marianne James, Senior Vice President, Global Licensing at Hasbro, tells IGN. “The team at Super7 have done an incredible job reintroducing the line for a new generation while capturing what made the original 1970s lineup so special. We look forward to exploring even more licensing opportunities with world-class partners like Super7 to give fans unique offerings from the brand like never before.”

The Micronauts, Mego’s rebranded name for Microman in the US, was a storied interchangeable toy line from Takara (the Japanese toy company that would go on to create Transformers).

The 3½ inch action figures and accessories scaled perfectly with Kenner’s Star Wars toys, so they inhabited a shared universe in my childhood bedroom. Ironic, as Mego infamously passed on Star Wars. Incidentally, Mego reused Microman tooling for Disney’s The Black Hole and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century toys, which I also collected.

Super7 co-founder and CEO Brian Flynn says, "As kids, Micronauts were undeniably some of the coolest action figures ever made. Their clear bodies and interchangeable pieces were like nothing else, and their fantastical designs were out of this world (in space!) and ignited imaginations everywhere. From the colossal Biotron and the magnetic Baron Karza to the dynamic Microtron and the translucent Time Travellers, Micronauts had it all - from aliens to robots to heroes! Being able to revisit the fantastical world of Micronauts with the same childhood excitement is nothing short of a dream come true for all of us here at Super7."

Marvel Comics released a tie-in comic (reprinted in Star Wars Weekly and Future Tense) following the adventures of Commander Rann (my Xbox Gamertag) and his battle with the evil Baron Karza. The latter, a Darth Vader lookalike, was a cherished holiday gift in 1978.

The original comic book series is being reprinted in partnership between Marvel Comics and Hasbro. The omnibus editions are available here (affiliate link).

In June 2016, Hasbro announced a limited edition Micronauts Classic Collection toy set. The San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) exclusive included three Micronauts: Galactic Warrior, Pharoid and Orbital Defender, and featured packaging artwork by artist Ken Kelly.

The first wave of Micronauts action figures from Super7's ReAction+ line features the villainous Baron Karza and heroic Biotron with 12 points of articulation and an O-Ring construction. In the future, I'd like to see Acroyear and Force Commander.

Will you be collecting these Micronauts action figures? Which Micronauts would you like to see re-released by Super7? The fate of the Microverse is literally in your hands. Let me know in the comments below.

Alien: Romulus to terrorise on Disney+

Alien: Romulus is finally bursting onto Disney+ in the UK!

During the holidays, I finally found time to watch the latest instalment in the Alien franchise from Fede Álvarez (Don't Breathe). I was impressed with its cast, stunning cinematography, Benjamin Wallfisch's stirring soundtrack (replete with callbacks to Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Elliot Goldenthal and Harry Gregson-Williams) and ingenious use of sound design.

In his review, our US-based film and television critic Nick Smith wrote, "Alien: Romulus is really aimed at 18 to 25-year-old moviegoers who haven’t seen those creaky old Alien movies and want to take a ghost train trip to the future."

In the wake of Alien: Romulus' $350 million box office success, not too shabby for an originally straight-to-streaming movie on Hulu on Disney+, I'm hopeful the sequel will see Álvarez fully unleashed.

Alien fans (myself included) can look forward to Alien: Earth this summer on Disney+. Noah Hawley's (Fargo) live-action spin-off series is set two years before Alien.

Alien: Romulus starts streaming on 15th January on Disney+.

Have you seen Alien: Romulus? Are you looking forward to seeing it on Disney+? Let me know in the comments below.

The Last of Us at CES

A new teaser trailer for season two of The Last of Us dropped during Sony's presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.



Read the official synopsis:

“After five years of peace following the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie’s collective past catches up to them, drawing them into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.”

Bella Ramsey, Pedro Pascal and Gabriel Luna are back and we also see Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, Isabela Merced as Dina, Young Mazino as Jesse, Ariela Barer as Mel, Tati Gabrielle as Nora, Spencer Lord as Owen, Danny Ramirez as Manny, and Jeffrey Wright as Isaac. Catherine O’Hara also guest stars.

In related news, Sony showcased its Future Immersive Entertainment Concept. According to Sony, it combines Crystal LED panels, audio, haptics, scent, and atmospherics with a PlayStation game like The Last of Us to create an interactive experience. For now, this is only a proof-of-concept.

The Last of Us returns this April on HBO and Sky Atlantic.

Are you looking forward to the second season of The Last of Us? Let me know in the comments below.

Doctor Who: Joy to the World

Christmas Day wouldn't be the same for Whovians (myself included) without Doctor Who!

Last year's The Church on Ruby Road re-established the fan-favourite timey-wimey tradition. Following Boom, Steven Moffat returns with a festive special.

Does Nick Smith, our US-based veteran Whovian, find joy in Joy to the World?

Guest post by Nick Smith

It’s difficult to capture the joy inherent in the winter holidays in fiction without sounding corny. Charles Dickens met the challenge by cloaking his best-known story, A Christmas Carol, in bittersweet dusk cloth and unforgettable characterisation. Readers have to bite through dark chocolate to get to the sweet centre. Other, more recent attempts have used cynicism to connect to modern sensibilities, as if to say, ‘look at us, aren’t we ridiculous, taking the time to stop our busy lives and care about others?’

Although this is the ninth Christmas special written by Steven Moffat, it shows no sign of writer fatigue; his break from the show, from 2017’s Twice Upon a Time up until 2024’s Boom, did him some good.

The eponymous character Joy (Nicola Coughlan from Bridgerton and Derry Girls) does not dominate her story; she spends part of it possessed, and another large chunk separated from the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa), who is stranded in our time, poor guy. Joy is there to state the obvious like a classic companion - albeit, a dumbed-down version - and in one scene, the Doctor is mean to her in a manner that echoes the Fourth Doctor's (Tom Baker) treatment of Sarah-Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) when he goads her out of a tight squeeze in The Ark in Space.

15’s badgering of Joy leads to a revelation that she couldn’t be with her mother when she died, developing a theme of loneliness that is as relevant to Christmas as carols and figgy pudding. The holidays are a tough time to be alone, and as the year draws to a close, we are reminded of friends and family who can’t be with us. It’s up to us whether we choose to pull up a chair and make new friends, or shut ourselves in a room and wait for the thaw of a new year.

Steph de Whalley’s character, Anita Benn (named after her father no doubt) is a standout character, connecting emotionally with 15 in a way that his previous companion, Ruby (Millie Gibson), never did. She listens to the Doctor’s crazy talk and encourages us to care about her, partly because of her loneliness. Another solitary character, Sylvia Trench (Niamh Marie Smith), is found on a train, doubtless fresh from an adventure with James Bond since she is 007’s original movie girlfriend.

The Doctor also bumps into Edmund Hillary (Phil Baxter) at a Mount Everest base camp, accessed by a portal from a Time Hotel where any room – or tent – can be entered via the locked door you find in many suites.

Who cares about the laws of time when there’s humour to be derived from the Doctor popping up with ham and cheese toast?

Luckily, locations like the Everest camp are reused, so they don’t feel like they’re just thrown in because the Disney+ budget can withstand their inclusion. The Doctor has a mystery to solve, goes undercover and does his best to save the day – but the real danger here, the one the Doctor can really help us with, is the threat of being alone at Christmas.

Thanks to Moffat, locked hotel doors will never be seen the same way again, just like statues, shadows and snowmen. Thanks to him, less and less everyday things are safe in the universe. I applaud him for sharing his imaginative, occasionally disturbing, ideas with us and creating the Time Hotel. It’s the perfect place to take a break from cynicism, pull up a chair, have a pumpkin latte, and relish a slice of new Who.

Moffat’s 2024 Doctor Who Christmas special, Joy to the World, offers us many gifts: adventure, drama, time travel trickery, a dinosaur, and jokes worthy of a Christmas cracker. It’s like a seasonal feast without the sour brussel sprouts of disparagement. Lacking in cynicism, Joy to the World might seem old-fashioned to some, but to me, it is a shining light in a gloomy time of war and polarised thinking.

Have you seen Joy to the World? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Nick Smith's new audiobook, Undead on Arrival, is available from Amazon (affiliate link).

Apple TV+ free to stream this weekend

To celebrate the start of 2025, Apple TV+ is free this weekend (3rd January through 5th January) on any compatible device! All you need is an Apple ID to see what all the buzz is about.

As I've written previously, Apple TV+ has become a home for prestige sci-fi series from For All Mankind to Silo. Now you can binge-watch these series and much more as you finish eating any leftover snacks from the holiday season.

What will you be watching on Apple TV+? Let me know in the comments below.

Nosferatu

Christmas is as much a time for ghost stories as Halloween with Gremlins and Krampus creating chaos in the shadow of Santa Claus. Not to be outdone. Nosferatu wants in on the festive fun, too.

Nick Smith, our US-based veteran vampire hunter, seeks out a ravishing remake of Nosferatu originally inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Guest post by Nick Smith

For those of us who feel an affinity to darkness…

For those of us who lose our senses when the world becomes too much…

For those of us who feel ignored or misunderstood…

For those of us who give too much to someone else with evil in return…

This is our story.

Director Robert Eggers’ greatest gift is to place his audience in a different, believable world. He did it in 2015’s The VVitch, where we were transported to New England in the 1630s, a land of isolation, superstition, creepy goats and short lifespans. In The Lighthouse, two 19th century men went bonkers in black and white. And in The Northman, the adventures of Amleth the Viking are dark, nasty, brutish and weird, set against an authentic 10th century backdrop. Eggers knows the devil is in the details.

In Nosferatu, those details include asylum accessories; authentic Christmas tree ornaments, as used to decorate the homes of Germans in the 1830s; and symbols on the documents of Herr Knock (Simon McBurney), who sends his employee Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult – young Beast in the X-Men movies) to Transylvania.

Unfortunately for Thomas, Knock is a Renfield-like agent of Count Orlok, a vampire who covets Thomas’ wife, Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp, daughter of Johnny and Vanessa Paradis). Orlok’s spirit has been driving Ellen around the bend, and only Thomas’ love can save her sanity… or is she stronger than she thinks?

Nosferatu oozes with atmosphere.

Eggers has spent ten years preparing this film, feeding on a fascination that he’s harboured longer still. At times he doubted his ability to do justice to the original, F. W. Murnau’s 1922 knock-off of Dracula. He need not have worried. His attention to the trappings of pre-industrial Germany, his affinity for Hammer films, and his $50 million budget all help to make this movie a memorable experience.

At times, so much colour is sucked from the film that it seems almost monochrome, like its inspiration; at others, the screams and sloughing skin are nightmarishly real.

Fortunately, Willem Dafoe is present as the Van Helsing-like Professor Albin Eberhart von Franz. Dafoe reminds us that he is a top-tier actor, responding to his grand guignol surroundings with just the right amount of passion and panache. He helps to keep the movie flowing; when he is not around, particularly in the first act, Nosferatu drags like a bloated corpse, expanding its 80-minute source movie to over two hours. There’s an awful lot of talk, too, considering it’s based on a silent movie!

If you are willing to ignore the critics who pick at these faults like toothless rats, there’s plenty to savour in Nosferatu: Romance, tragedy, obsession, the corruption of disease, the decay of death, and the fear of the unknown that helped to make Dracula so popular in the first place.

Have you seen Nosferatu? Let me know in the comments below.

Nick Smith's new audiobook, Undead on Arrival, is available from Amazon (affiliate link).

50 years of the Fourth Doctor

50 years ago, Robot was the first story of the twelfth season of Doctor Who, beginning Tom Baker's iconic era as the Fourth Doctor.

Following on from Jon Pertwee's action-orientated Third Doctor, Baker's eccentric and enigmatic tenure at the controls of the TARDIS would witness an unprecedented level of popularity for the BBC's beloved sci-fi series both in the UK and overseas, and the launch of Marvel UK's Doctor Who Weekly. The fan-favourite publication went monthly and continues to this day.

Dad was a fan of Pertwee's Third Doctor, and the Sonic Screwdriver was passed from generation to generation.

My earliest memory of watching Doctor Who is The Sontaran Experiment and the Fourth Doctor is my favourite incarnation. From shapeshifting Zygons to an android Sarah Jane Smith (Lis Sladen) to the bubbling brain of Morbius, Doctor Who was a Saturday teatime staple watched with my dad.

This was an era before the widespread adoption of home video recorders. If we missed an episode, there was little chance of seeing it unless there was an omnibus edition repeat. Revenge of the Cybermen was the first VHS tape I owned in 1983.

When I was hospitalised in the wake of an unreported head injury in primary school, vintage annuals, Denys Fisher's Fourth Doctor, Cyberman and Giant Robot action figures gifted by family, and eating Jelly Babies, took my mind off of a life-changing childhood trauma as I began years of rehabilitation having undergone a regeneration - the ingenious key to the sci-fi series’ longevity - of my own.

On Christmas Day 1979, Santa Claus completed my collection by leaving a much-wished-for Denys Fisher TARDIS and K9 under the tree.

Considered by many fans (myself included) as one of the greatest seasons of Doctor Who, Season Twelve is available on Blu-ray from Amazon (affiliate link).

What are your memories of watching the Fourth Doctor? Let me know in the comments below.

Doctor Who teaser trailer for 2025

A teaser trailer for Doctor Who season two dropped following Joy to the World on Christmas Day. The holiday special saw the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) aid Joy (Nicola Coughlan) in an emotionally resonant Steven Moffat-penned seasonal story.



Read the official synopsis:

"There are forces beyond this universe... It's all a game to them!"

The teaser trailer teases the return of Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) and the introduction of a new TARDIS companion, Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu). Sethu first appeared as Mundy Flynn in season one's Boom!

Doctor Who returns in 2025 on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and Disney+ outside the UK and Ireland.

Have you watched the teaser trailer? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.