Brutus of the Skeleton Crew continues the sad tradition of Star Wars

Brutus is a stunning feat of character design. As Shystavanen, he basically looks like a goofy werewolf, his race originating from a background character in the famous cantina sequence in A New Hope (which itself was just a regular Halloween makeup effects legend Rick Baker used for this scene) . Since Skeleton Crew only features the character in small doses and mostly in the dark, it’s the combination of the wolf mask and the many guns strapped to his chest that makes Brutus’ design a difficult task. He doesn’t look like a standard Halloween mask, he looks like a real alien pirate wolf worthy of the brutality that the name Brutus inspires.

However, the character of Brutus doesn’t really do much in Skeleton Crew and mostly exists to look cool as the leader of a ruthless gang of pirates who rob, pillage and sings space pirate shacks. Otherwise, Brutus is not a very good villain; after all, he outwitted and outwitted a bunch of kids a few times before he was mercilessly killed by his former captain when he was trapped under a faucet.

However, this should not come as a surprise. In fact, the character of Brutus is part of a long-standing Star Wars practice where the franchise introduces a radically quirky and intriguing character with a murderous design, who is then almost immediately killed off without doing anything. I mean characters like Boba Fett, Darth Maul, Captain Phasma, Grievous, and Dexter the Jetster (come on, you know he definitely bit the dust). Granted, some of those deaths were revisited later, but the point still stands: Star Wars is just as much about the characters at the center of their stories as it is about the one-off characters who show up briefly, look awesome, and then disappear. .

In fact, in the very episode where Brutus is killed, his successor appears to have appeared. I’m talking about Neal’s father, Nol, one of the most popular new Star Wars characters in years (Tymir notwithstanding), with those huge tusks and his loving family. If he is killed, we will riot.

Star Wars: The Crew of Skeletons season 1 finale airs on January 14, 2025. at 6:00 PM PT on Disney+.