It’s hard to remember that speeder bikes didn’t even exist in Star Wars until the last installment of the trilogy, 1983’s Return of the Jedi. Yes, while it’s true you can see a swoop bike in Mos Eisley in A New Hope, that was created for the 1997 special edition re-release and was certainly not part of the original 1977 release of Star Wars. When Luke and Leia hopped on those stolen speeder bikes in Return of the Jedi, one of the greatest (if not the greatest) chase scenes in all of Star Wars was born.
And now, that magic is returning in a brand-new form. In the next major Star Wars TV series — Skeleton Crew — the eponymous crew will be rocking their own versions of the iconic speeder bikes. And, according to an early preview of the series, these bikes were essential to the story.
Meet the Skeleton Crew
Jude Law will lead the cast of Skeleton Crew.
As reiterated in a new exclusive from People, the new series Skeleton Crew will focus on “four kids” who “make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet.” These four kids are Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), KB (Kyriana Kratter), Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), and Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) who will be joined by resident grown-up Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law). Jude Law has called the series “joyful,” while everything about the vibes of the show sounds a lot like an all-ages Star Wars romp, probably a little closer to the vibes of Rebels, rather than Acolyte or Mandalorian.
“It is a fun place to be, the universe of Star Wars,” Law said. “And there are great references to old films and recent episodes and series.” And one of those references might cause some fans to raise their eyebrows a bit. In addition to whatever spaceships will be featured on the show, we’re also getting a return to that very popular mode of transportation from Return of the Jedi.
The crew on Star Wars “hover bikes”
A classic Imperial speeder bike in Return of the Jedi.
Because Skeleton Crew takes place in the post-Return of the Jedi timeline (which is the same as The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka) having the tech look and feel very close to the classic movie trilogy makes sense. And that includes one type of vehicle that People call “hover bikes” which was “integral to telling the story of childhood adventure — not only for the audience tuning in but also for the child actors involved.”
Presumably, People means “speeder bikes” or “swoop bikes” rather than “hover bikes,” since the latter term is somewhat non-canon. The new image (seen below) shows at least one of these bikes has a sidecar, which is giving off big Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade vibes. But more importantly, these are the first new speeder bikes we’ve had in live-action Star Wars since Sabine’s speeder bike in the Ahsoka debut episode in 2023. The Mandalorian also had some speeder bikes, and of course, there was a whole mod gang riding swoop bikes and speeder bikes in The Book of Boba Fett in 2022.
The speeder bikes in Skeleton Crew.
However, the bikes in Skeleton Crew look appropriately retro, but also brand new at the same time. Unlike the overly colorful designs of the bikes from Boba Fett, these feel right at home in this specific era of Star Wars. On top of that, the bikes look like they’re the perfect size for the kids on the show, which should remind a lot of grown-up kids — of any generation — of what it was like to pretend to ride speeder bikes on a regular bike.
Can Skeleton Crew top the speeder bike chases of Return of the Jedi? That remains to be seen. But for now, one classic element of Star Wars is back. We just gotta get those kids some helmets!
