The next Star Wars series due to arrive on Disney+ is Skeleton Crew, created by Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts. The series will follow a band of children on an adventure across the galaxy that brings them into contact with the mysterious Force wielder, Jod Na Nawood, played by Jude Law. Early trailers have revealed the series’ Amblin Entertainment-inspired tone, reminiscent of movies such as The Goonies, but in the Star Wars galaxy. The latest trailer for Skeleton Crew revealed some familiar faces and familiar species, as well as giving fans a better look at the series’ central group of children.

Eagle-eyed fans of The Mandalorian might have caught sight of the Nikto pirate Vane in the Skeleton Crew trailer. The villain was last seen in The Mandalorian Season 3, and is set to be a major antagonist in the new series. Star Wars fans will also have recognized a couple of Jawas (the junk-trading species normally seen on Tatooine) popping up in the trailer. However, one particular Skeleton Crew character is not from the species that long-time Star Wars fans thought. Jon Watts recently confirmed that Neel — one of the series’ child protagonists — is not an Ortolan, despite looking eerily similar to famed Ortolan musician Max Rebo.

Skeleton Crew Almost Settled a Longstanding Star Wars Fan Debate

Neel Could Have Laid to Rest a Strange Star Wars Controversy Surrounding Max Rebo

When Skeleton Crew‘s lineup of child protagonists was first revealed, one non-human character stood out among the group. Named Neel, this new young Star Wars hero has elephant-like features and blue skin, reminiscent of the Ortolan musician Max Rebo. Naturally, fans assumed this would be the first time another Ortolan character was shown on-screen in a Star Wars project, this time a child of the species. While it would be exciting to see Max Rebo’s species expanded upon in a new Star Wars series, Neel’s design posed a potential problem for fans. Neel is basically humanoid in design, save for his head, with two arms and two legs in addition to his long elephant-like ears, and fans aren’t convinced the same is true of Max Rebo.

Max Rebo first appeared in Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, where he was seen leading the Max Rebo Band at Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine. Rebo himself played the red ball jett organ, a circular keyboard-like instrument, which he sat at the center of in order to play. All that could be seen of Rebo as he played the organ was his head, torso and two limbs. This sparked a question among Star Wars fans: were Max Rebo’s lower body and legs hidden behind the keyboard, or was he sitting on top of it and playing the instrument with his feet? The latter theory supposed that Rebo’s species only possessed two limbs, or perhaps suggested that Rebo’s flipper-like “ears” were actually arms.

Star Wars‘ now defunct Legends continuity and Disney’s new canon have both presented answers to this question. In Legends, Ortolans have traditionally been depicted as vaguely humanoid, with their flipper-like appendages serving as ears, while they have a separate pair of arms and a pair of legs. In canon, Ortolans have been presented as not having any kind of humanoid arms, with Max Rebo apparently playing his red ball jett organ with his feet. Despite this, the canon Disney+ series The Book of Boba Fett featured a new Max Rebo puppet with limbs made to look much more definitively like arms, clearly protruding from humanoid shoulders.

Original Members of the Max Rebo Band

Max Rebo
Sy Snootles
Droopy McCool

The definitive answer to this question over Ortolan anatomy may be up for debate among Star Wars fans, but at the very least, a definitive answer can be provided to the original intent behind the design. The Max Rebo costume used in Return of the Jedi was designed to only have two limbs, made to clearly resemble legs, meaning Rebo was indeed playing his organ with his feet. However, when actor Simon Williamson wore the costume (which only covered the top half of his body) he had to use his hands as Rebo’s feet. This distorted the shape of the costume made Rebo’s legs look more like arms, which led to the confusion. Canon comics have much more clearly depicted Ortolans since, confirming their two-limbed anatomy.

Jon Watts Confirmed Skeleton Crew Avoids the Max Rebo Controversy

Jon Watts Revealed the Difference Between Neel and Max Rebo

Neel’s appearance in Skeleton Crew initially seemed to indicate Lucasfilm was backtracking on the canon design of Ortolans. There is definitely a striking resemblance between the new Skeleton Crew character and Max Rebo, suggesting they are of the same species. Neel, however, is not hidden behind an instrument and clearly has a humanoid body, with two arms and two legs.

While this character design initially appeared to reinstate the Legends depiction of Ortolans as a more humanoid species, Skeleton Crew creator and showrunner Jon Watts has confirmed this is not the case, as Neel is not actually an Ortolan. Despite the fact that Neel and Max Rebo clearly look alike, Watts has revealed that Neel is actually a member of an original species, not seen in the Star Wars galaxy prior to Skeleton Crew. In an interview with Empire Magazine to promote Skeleton Crew, Watts said Neel is “technically a new alien.”

Neel is an elephant-like species, but there are so many in the Star Wars universe.

The director went on to touch upon the Max Rebo “debate,” saying “The question with Ortolans is, is Max Rebo playing [his keyboard] with his feet, or with his arms?” The statement seemed to imply Watts fell on the side of the argument that believes Max Rebo plays his keyboard with his feet, as he was keen to point out Neel’s design was a result of his being a separate species. “Neel is an elephant-like species,” said Watts, “but there are so many in the Star Wars universe.” Whether Neel was originally meant to be an Ortolan or not remains unclear, but Watts has evidently decided he does not want to rock the boat on this particular Star Wars fan debate.

Interestingly, Watts’ comments seem to suggest that he too believes Ortolans only have two limbs, which in itself is a reminder that many of the directors coming to work on new Star Wars projects are dedicated fans themselves. Like any Star Wars fan, Watts has likely come to his own conclusions about various aspects of the galaxy far, far away and is not about to upend them on Skeleton Crew. At the very least, by making Neel a separate species to Max Rebo, Watts has helped preserve the original intent behind Rebo’s design in Return of the Jedi.

Star Wars’ Max Rebo Design Debate Continues

Jon Watts Avoiding Controversy Isn’t Stopping Star Wars Fans’ Debates

For those outside the Star Wars fandom, the Max Rebo debate will be difficult to understand. Rebo is, after all, an obscure background character, only briefly glimpsed in the movies and without any dialogue. He is a prime example of the Star Wars character type the internet has recently dubbed a “Glup Shitto” — an obscure character, broadly unnoticed by the general audience, but over whom die-hard fans have strong feelings. For many Star Wars fans, however, the discussion of Rebo’s design is an important one.

The originally intended design of a two-limbed creature playing the keyboard with his feet is a distinctly more alien invention than the more humanoid version of Rebo suggested by Star Wars Legends content. This isn’t the only such debate to rock the Star Wars fandom, either. Many such arguments have arisen from underexplored details and moments changed in the various special editions of the Star Wars movies. Recently, Skeleton Crew star Jude Law weighed in on who shot first, Han Solo or Greedo, during their encounter in Mos Eisley in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.

The release of the Star Wars special editions also sparked fierce fan debate around whether it made more sense for Anakin Skywalker’s Force ghost to be played by Sebastian Shaw or Hayden Christensen — though George Lucas himself made a compelling case for Anakin spiritually reverting to the person he had been prior to his fall to the dark side. In fact, as far back as the release of Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, fans have been divided by a matter as seemingly innocuous as how to pronounce “AT-AT.”

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew premieres on Disney+ on Dec. 3., 2024.