Exclusive new data reveals how Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is performing, drawing a particularly powerful comparison with Obi-Wan Kenobi – Lucasfilm’s most successful show. There’s a lot of talk about “Star Wars fatigue,” with some evidence suggesting Lucasfilm is seeing diminishing returns from their Disney+ TV shows. But is that really the case?

Screen Rant has spoken exclusively to Diesel Labs, a third-party analytics company who analyze the performance of streaming shows. Their data reveals how engaged viewers have been with Star Wars shows, including Skeleton Crew, and they point to an undeniable truth: It’s no surprise there’s talk of Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen coming back again…

Obi-Wan Kenobi Was Lucasfilm’s Most Engaging Show… & Skeleton Crew Is Nowhere Close

Let’s start with the high-level data discussing engagement with Star Wars TV shows. Obi-Wan Kenobi was the clear leader in terms of audience engagement, while Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is trailing the other titles in terms of launch engagement. It’s performing similarly to The Book of Boba Fett post launch.

Titles with engagement spikes on day 0 had launch episodes that were released early in the day, EST. Titles with engagement spikes on day 1 had launch episodes that were released at 9.00 pm EST. Spikes on following dates correspond to new episode releases.

It’s easy to understand why engagement with Obi-Wan Kenobi was so high. The show tied directly into the Skywalker saga, even bringing back Darth Vader himself. It was marketed as something of an “event,” given the return of Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen. That effect is hard (perhaps impossible) to duplicate.

The comparison to The Book of Boba Fett is more than a little concerning.

Skeleton Crew‘s mammoth budget means the comparison to The Book of Boba Fett is more than a little concerning. That was generally seen as something of a fail for Lucasfilm, so much so there’s been no news about season 2 – and characters like Temuera Morrison’s Boba Fett and Ming-Na Wen’s Fennec Shand seem to have been sidelined. But Diesel Labs’ data suggests that may not be the whole picture here.

Skeleton Crew Is Reaching A Totally Different Audience

Here’s the catch; Diesel Labs’ data suggests Skeleton Crew is resonating with a very unusual audience for Star Wars. The show has younger “engagers” (based on earned conversation about the show) than other Star Wars shows in this set, with 62% of conversation generated by Gen Z. Interestingly, this is the inverse of the audience engagement measured for The Mandalorian season 3.

Skeleton Crew
Ahsoka
Obi-Wan Kenobi
The Book of Boba Fett
The Acolyte
The Mandalorian season 3

Gen Z
62%
53%
54%
48%
52%
30%

Millennial+
38%
46%
46%
52%
47%
70%

We know that viewership is lower than other shows; Skeleton Crew failed to hit the streaming top 10 for the week of its premiere. But the audience it does get is very unusual for Star Wars, skewed towards Generation Z, and word-of-mouth in this demographic seems very positive indeed. There’s something about this show that’s resonating with a new audience – perhaps the young leads, perhaps also the fact it’s stand-alone. So many Star Wars TV show depend on deep knowledge of lore.

How Are Audiences Reacting To Skeleton Crew?

Diesel Labs’ sophisticated AI media analyst ran through the online conversation, and confirmed that Skeleton Crew has been well-received – with particular praise for the young cast, as well as Jude Law. It’s generally praised for trying to appeal to the child in everyone, although there are some criticisms for Skeleton Crew‘s execution. A smaller portion of the audience feel it lacks depth, with concerns over the direction Disney is taking the franchise.

Is it possible the “smaller portion” of the audience are primarily Millennials, rather than Generation Z?

The analysis makes for fascinating reading, but it does raise a lot more questions than answers – notably whether there’s a difference in the dialogue on a generational level. Is it possible the “smaller portion” of the audience are primarily Millennials, rather than Generation Z? Are we actually seeing hints that the different generations are responding to Skeleton Crew in a different way?

What this does tell us, though, is that raw viewership numbers aren’t everything. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew may not be Lucasfilm’s biggest hit, and it may be dwarfed by Obi-Wan Kenobi in terms of overall engagement, but it’s still performing well in a different way. The key factor is that the show is simply reaching a different audience.