Skeleton Crew has arrived, and Star Wars fans are all united on one thing – Neel is everyone’s new favorite little guy.
Neel, who looks very much like a tiny blue elephant, is one of the group of kids who end up stranded in space after investigating a mysterious object in the forest. Now, he’s stuck on a pirate outpost with the others, though it looks like Jude Law’s mysterious character could be helping to set them free.
“Neel was made for me, I love him so much,” says one fan, while another says: “I would kill and die for Neel. Protect him at all costs.”
“The way they absolutely ate up Grogu !!! Baby Neel’s species marketable plushies when,” another person says, in reference to Neel’s younger siblings.
Another viewer says: “If Neel has one million fans, then I’m one of them. If Neel has ten fans, then I’m one of them. If Neel has one fan, then that is me. If Neel has no fans, then I’m dead.”
Neel is played by Robert Timothy Smith, one of the show’s child actors. “I got this advice from [The Goonies and Superman director] Richard Donner, who I was lucky enough to hang out with shortly before he died,” co-creator Jon Watts told us recently of casting the show. “He was talking about casting The Goonies and he said that you don’t cast kids to play a role, you cast kids because of who they are.”
He added: “So that was always in the back of our mind when we were casting. It stops being a highwire act when you are patient enough to wait for the actual kids that embody our character perfectly to walk into the room. Because you see a lot of great actors, but what you’re really looking for is a kid who is the character.”
Skeleton Crew drops a new episode on Disney Plus weekly, and you can keep up to date with our Skeleton Crew release schedule.
In the meantime, check out our Skeleton Crew review for our spoiler-free verdict, or our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows for everything else the galaxy far, far away has in store.