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Jude Law's true identity in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew has been revealed, and he's actually a pirate master from the old Star Wars Expanded Universe. It's long been clear that Jude Law's mysterious character in Skeleton Crew was hiding a secret; although the trailers teased him as a Jedi, Law openly acknowledged that he was known by many other names, and he uses a blaster rather than a lightsaber. Few expected the secret to be revealed quite so quickly in Skeleton Crew, though - revealed in episode 3.
It's currently unclear whether Law's character is a Force-sensitive or just a trickster. Whatever the truth may be, he's also known by many other names; he's the Captain Silvo imprisoned at the beginning of episode 1, and he's also known as Crimson Jack. That name is a deep cut in Star Wars lore, one that is sure to delight viewers. Modern canon has always loved to draw inspiration from the old Star Wars Expanded Universe (now called Legends), and this is the deepest cut yet.
Jude Law Is Crimson Jack
It wasn't hard to guess that Jude Law's "Jod Na Nawood" was actually Captain Silvo. The Crimson Jack name-drop was rather more surprising, though; this seems to be another alias, one known to the New Republic. The name is introduced by the delightful new character Kh'ymm, who refers to Jod by this name, and her call to the New Republic swiftly brings in X-Wings to attempt to bring Crimson Jack down. Clearly this criminal has something of a reputation; but who is he really?
In one of the earliest story arcs in Marvel’s Star Wars comics, Crimson Jack is introduced as a dangerous pirate leader with an established history as one of Han Solo’s underworld rivals. Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, Crimson Jack’s flagship ambushes and captures the Millennium Falcon with its tractor beam. Crimson Jack and his crew rob Han Solo and Chewbacca of their monetary reward from the Rebel Alliance, preventing them from paying off their debt to Jabba the Hutt. Crimson Jack and his ship – a commandeered Imperial Star Destroyer – have a fascinating backstory.
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In the Legends continuity, the Rebels stole the amalgamated Death Star plans during their victory at the Battle of Toprawa. In the early stages of the space battle over Toprawa, a damaged Star Destroyer attempted to flee, but its reactor powered down, leaving it aimlessly floating off into deep space. Crimson Jack and his crew eventually discovered the vessel and attacked it with their DP20 Corellian gunship. After boarding the Imperial vessel, Crimson Jack and his pirates killed the surviving crew and made the Star Destroyer their new flagship, adding appropriated TIE Fighters and TIE Bombers to their fighter squadrons.
The DP20 Corellian gunship and the TIE Bomber both debuted in Marvel’s classic Star Wars comics.
Crimson Jack's Vendetta With Han Solo
While the origin of Crimson Jack and Han Solo’s rivalry was never revealed, their encounters after A New Hope certainly exacerbated their animosity. Rather than executing Solo and Chewbacca after robbing them, Crimson Jack let them go, but he planted a tracker on the Millennium Falcon, hoping to rob them again another time. After Crimson Jack recaptured both the Millennium Falcon and Princess Leia later on, Solo tricked him into traveling to the hazardous aquatic world of Drexel, convincing the pirate leader that the Rebellion kept a cache of riches on the Outer Rim world.
Crimson Jack may have believed in High Human Culture, as he thought little of Wookiees and exclusively employed humans in his pirate crew.
After Han Solo and Chewbacca nearly stranded Crimson Jack’s Star Destroyer in the Drexel system, thanks to Chewbacca wiping his vessel’s navicomputer, he and Solo agreed to trade materials to repair the Millennium Falcon in exchange for a copy of the Falcon’s star chart data. The two met in space, requiring minimal survival gear due to an energy field projected by Crimson Jack’s Star Destroyer. The deal quickly degraded into a blaster duel, however, with the quicker Han Solo blasting Crimson Jack, putting an end to their rivalry.
Crimson Jack Made His Star Wars Canon Debut 2 Years Ago
A new iteration of Crimson Jack debuted in 2022, via the modern canon’s Star Wars: Halcyon Legacy comic series by Ethan Sacks and Will Sliney. Although the current incarnation of Crimson Jack is still a pirate leader, he survived the original trilogy era and was active during the sequel era. In the comic, Crimson Jack attacks the Halcyon while searching for a Resistance spy. Crimson Jack’s flagship is a new vessel, so it is unknown if he commandeered a damaged Imperial vessel in the aftermath of the Battle of Scarif in the modern Star Wars canon.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is set earlier on in the timeline, meaning these events have yet to happen for Crimson Jack. It's even possible these are actually two different characters, because Jude Law's iteration doesn't resemble the one seen in the comics; Crimson Jack's legend could have become so well-known that another pirate claimed it. No doubt more will be revealed over the next few weeks.
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Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
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