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It’s been a long time coming, but Star Wars: Skeleton Crew finally has an arrival date on Disney+. The launch date for the much-anticipated new series, set in the time period of The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, was revealed without much fanfare by Lucasfilm on social media last week, and it appears to confirm earlier rumors about the show’s seasonal flavor: Skeleton Crew is coming this December, meaning that maybe it is the closest thing we’ll get to a proper holiday epic from a a galaxy far, far away after all.

Described by series co-creator Jon Watts (Marvel’s Spider-Man movies) as being “about a group of kids that find a buried spaceship on their boring planet,” it’s designed as a show to bring newcomers of all-ages into the Star Wars franchise. The kids “accidentally turn [the spaceship] on, get blasted off into the galaxy, and [Skeleton Crew is] the story about them trying to find their way back home,” Watts explained. “You don’t need to have any prior Star Wars knowledge to enjoy it, but if you do, you can enjoy it on many levels.”

The show was originally announced back in 2022, and before the recently completed The Acolyte, leading many people to assume it would be released in late 2023… and then, when that date passed, in early 2024. As shows like The Acolyte, Young Jedi Adventures, and Ahsoka came and went without any update on the status of Skeleton Crew, many people started wondering if the show had been quietly shelved… or coming up with alternate release plans.

Somewhat surprisingly, the announcement on X (formerly Twitter) that Skeleton Crew would be airing December 3 on Disney+ came without any great fanfare — and, somewhat confusingly, between two high-profile conventions where the news would have made headlines. (San Diego Comic-Con, which ended just days before the announcement, and D23, which takes place this weekend.) Perhaps we should expect more information — and maybe even a trailer — about the show as part of a bigger rollout soon, or perhaps Skeleton Crew is going to continue to break the Star Wars mold with a very low key pre-release strategy.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew will begin on Disney+ December 3. Maybe we’ll learn more about it across the upcoming weeks.

Not done with Star Wars yet? Dive into the films and TV shows with our Star Wars watch order, or debate on which was the best with our ranked list of the best (and worst) Star Wars movies. And since it's now upon us, follow along with Popverse's coverage of The Acolyte.