Star Wars: Skeleton Crew premiered on Disney+ on December 2, 2024. The sci-fi series explores a new chapter of the galaxy far, far away, and focuses on four children from an Earth-like planet who get lost in the galaxy and have to deal with threats like pirates.
The series depicts a never-seen-before storyline, while still being tied to the overall Star Wars universe. When the show’s trailer came out, fans spotted a familiar spaceship in some scenes, which has previously been seen in animated Star Wars shows.
The ship, called Katooni, belongs to Hondo Ohnaka, a fan-favorite character who appeared in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. This left everyone wondering if Hondo Ohnaka would make his live-action debut in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.
Hondo is a pirate and smuggler, and since pirates are central to the plot of the new series, there seemed to be a possibility of the character’s appearance in the show. However, series creators have confirmed that Hondo Ohnaka will not be seen in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.
Hondo Ohnaka will not appear in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
Showrunners Christopher Ford and Jon Watts have revealed that Hondo Ohnaka will not make a live-action debut in the series. The two highlighted that they liked the character, but the story did not have a major part for him. Ford said in an interview with TVLine:
“We’ll rip off that Band-Aid and say no, we don’t have any Hondo. Honestly, we love Hondo, but there wasn’t really a part in our story that offered a good enough role for him.”
“Like, if we were trying to cast him in this, he would be like, ‘This part is not big enough for Hondo!' We would love to keep doing this and keep exploring the whole pirate side of the galaxy, and build up to that.”
Why fans thought Hondo Ohnaka could be seen in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
The speculations around Hondo Ohnaka’s potential appearance in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew started gaining momentum after the show’s official trailer was released in November 2024.
After keeping the plot details under wraps, Disney hinted at a pirate theme in the trailer. The footage showed a planet that looked like part of the galactic underworld, and fans noticed a spaceship resembling the Katooni, Hondo’s ship from the Smuggler’s Run ride at Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge theme park.
Since Star Wars: Skeleton Crew significantly involves pirates, fans thought it could be the perfect stage to launch a live-action Hondo. Hondo first appeared in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and became a fan-favorite due to his humor and sneaky behavior.
He was later seen in Star Wars Rebels as well. Over time, he went from being a tricky scoundrel to a Jedi sympathizer and earned a special place in the audience’s hearts.
As the timeline of Skeleton Crew also fitted with Hondo’s known story, viewers thought he could show up as either a friend or an enemy to the young heroes. Some even guessed that he could help the kids go back to their planet.
Meanwhile, Jim Cummings, who voiced the character in the animated shows, had also expressed his interest in playing a live-action version of Hondo, which further fueled the speculations.
However, Christopher Ford and Jon Watts have set the record straight and Hondo is not appearing in Skeleton Crew, at least in the first season. That being said, fans have other characters to look forward to in the series, from the kids Wim, Fern, KB, and Neel to the mysterious Jod Na Nawood and the droid SM-33.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew releases new episodes on Disney+ every Tuesday.