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This article contains spoilers for “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” season 1, episode 3.
There are a lot of interesting aliens in “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.” In fact, some of them are so interesting that you may not even realize the full extent of their impact until the end credits. One such figure is Benjar Pranic, a former member of Jod Na Nawood’s (Jude Law) team. Pranic casually enters when Jod attempts to retrieve SM-33 (voiced by Nick Frost) at the behest of Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), KB (Kyriana Kratter), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) and Neel (Robert Timothy Smith). . Fully knowing that Jod should be imprisoned in the brig, the alien strikes up a friendly conversation… which soon gives way to the very unfriendly revelation that Jod now has Brutus’ (Fred Tatasciore) entire crew chasing him. Turns out, retired or not, you really can’t trust a pirate.
Pranic gets quite a few lines for what may or may not turn out to be a throwaway character, doesn’t he? This may be because he is voiced by a very familiar actor from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The man behind Pranic’s faux-pleasant voice is none other than Alfred Molina, who played Otto “Doctor Octopus” Octavius in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 2,” and reprized the role in Marvel’s all-star multiverse film of 2021 “Spider-Man: There is no way home.” Since Law himself plays Yon-Rogg in “Captain Marvel,” this makes the scene a conversation between two veterans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s villain game.
A versatile actor, Molina’s best films include “Frida,” “Boogie Nights” and “Promising Young Woman.” By the way, “Skeleton Crew” is not his first rodeo in a George Lucas-adjacent franchise. In 1981, Molina played Indiana Jones’s treacherous guide (Harrison Ford) in the iconic opening sequence of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
Star Wars and the art of unrecognizable cameos
As seasoned, eagle-eyed “Star Wars” enthusiasts know, Alfred Molina isn’t the first familiar face to make a stealthy cameo in a galaxy far, far away. Rather, the actor is simply the latest in a long line of famous names that the franchise seems to delight in making as unrecognizable as possible.
Arguably the best-known case of such hard-to-spot cameos is the time when Simon Pegg was in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” hiding deep in the disguise of Jakku’s ruthless trash boss, Unkar Plutt. Another major creature cameo comes in “The Last Jedi,” where Joseph Gordon-Levitt voices the magnificently named Slowen Lo. However, in reality, almost every installment of the Skywalker saga and several other live-action “Star Wars” works feature tons of fun little cameos from well-known industry figures from both sides of the camera. Even George Lucas himself appears in “Revenge of the Sith” as a minor political figure named Notluwiski Papanoida.
Another favorite “Star Wars” tactic for obscuring the identity of a distractingly famous cameo is simply dressing him up as a Stormtrooper. Whenever one of these cannon fodder characters has a passing moment of levity that seems to stand out from their usual activities, there’s a good chance that the helmet is hiding someone like Daniel Craig (in “The Force Awakens”), Tom Hardy (in “The Last Jedi”), Karl Urban (in “The Rise of Skywalker”) or Jason Sudeikis (who plays a scout soldier in season 1 of “The Mandalorian”). In other words, Molina is in good company. Since “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” is clearly intended to continue the franchise’s long tradition of cameos, fans may want to keep an eye out for the next big name in the credits.
