Marvel and ‘Star Wars’ Crossed Over with a Small ‘Skeleton Crew’ Cameo

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew has been off to a good start. Following the two-episode premiere, the third episode, “Very Interesting, as an Astrogation Problem,” featured more of Jude Law’s mysterious new character in action and more hints about the mystery behind the planet At Attin. Between all the pirate action and a fun guest voice role by Arrested Development‘s Alia Shawkat, the episode also featured a notable voice that fans might have missed.

When Jod Na Nawood (Law) goes to retrieve the droid SM-33 from the pirates, he is stopped by a fellow pirate named Benjar Pranic. Benjar originally believes that Nawood has been set free but later realizes he is escaping. Many viewers might have been stuck trying to place the voice of the alien pirate, as it sounded very familiar. This actor’s voice is no stranger to fans of Disney, as he can be heard in Marvel, Disney Animation, and Pixar, and he even goes back to another Lucasfilm property, Indiana Jones. Just picture the pirate saying, “Hello, Peter,” or “Throw me the idol, and I throw the whip.” The voice of Benjar Pranic is none other than that of star Alfred Molina.

Alfred Molina Makes His ‘Star Wars’ Debut

Molina is one of the most respected and acclaimed actors working today, having been nominated for five Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Tony Awards, and two British Academy Film Awards. He has been part of many iconic films, including Frida, An Education, and Boogie Nights, to name a few. Yet most audiences might recognize him best as Doctor Otto Octavius, aka Doctor Octopus or Doc Ock, from Spider-Man 2. He later reprised his role 17 years later in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Molina was first cast to play Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2, giving the iconic villain a new level of depth that redefined the character for a modern age. An ambitious scientist with a loving wife, Otto Octavius’ metal arms were used so he could conduct an experiment by creating an artificial sun to create clean, renewable energy. However, his calculations were wrong, and the miniature reactor began to go out of control, causing massive destruction and leading to the death of his wife.

In the chaos, the inhibitor chip that protected Otto’s brain function from the metal arms’ artificial intelligence was destroyed, making him susceptible to their manipulation. He went on a crime spree to get the money to continue his work, confident he didn’t make a mistake in the calculations. Peter Parker breaks through to Doc Ock after his new reactor is activated, and the good doctor sacrifices himself by drowning the miniature sun in the river, but not before saying, “I will not die a monster.” Molina earned rave reviews for his performance and is considered one of the greatest villains in superhero movies.

Molina reprised his role in Spider-Man: No Way Home, with the teaser trailer building up to his big reveal. Molina’s Doc Ock is the same one from Spider-Man 2, having been pulled into the MCU before his death and with his inhibitor chip still destroyed. Despite his objections to the MCU version of Peter Parker trying to save him, when a new inhabitor chip is installed, he finally becomes his old self. He eventually teams up with the MCU Peter Parker and his multiverse variants, played by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, to stop Electro and even fight the Green Goblin.

Molina’s Doc Ock even gets a touching scene where he reunites with Tobey Maguire’s version of Spider-Man, admiring how much Peter Parker has grown up. Part of the decision to bring Molina back for Spider-Man: No Way Home was Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige feeling that nobody could beat Alfred Molina’s original performance, and therefore, decided to use the multiverse to bring in one of Spider-Man’s greatest foes.

While working on Spider-Man: No Way Home, Molina met director Jon Watts, also the co-creator of Skeleton Crew. Watts not only brought on his Spider-Man: No Way Home actor to do a small voice role for the Star Wars series but continued Molina’s tradition of work in Disney projects, also bringing Molina’s career full circle. Skeleton Crew’s Alfred Molina is also an Indiana Jones reference, as Molina’s first feature film was Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Molina’s First Feature Film was ‘Indiana Jones’

Molina’s voice cameo in a Star Wars project is very fitting, as his feature film debut was in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, another film by Lucasfilm Ltd and the first entry in the Indiana Jones franchise. Molina plays the role of Sapito, a guide who accompanies Indiana Jones at the beginning of the film through the ancient temple. When Indiana Jones triggers the temple to fall apart upon taking the idol, he and Satiop flee to the exit.

Sapito makes it over a pit with Indy’s whip, leaving the famed archeologist stuck. Sapito famously says, “No time to argue, you throw me the idol, I throw you the whip.” Yet when Indiana Jones throws him the idol, Sapito drops the whip and leaves Indiana Jones to die as he flees with the idol. Indiana Jones manages to make it across in the nick of time and discovers Sapito’s dead body. In his attempt to escape the temple, Sapito forgot about the wall trap, killing him.

While seemingly a tiny role in Raiders of the Lost Ark, being in one of the most iconic opening scenes in cinema history certainly boosted Molina’s career, and millions of people could say they saw him. As Molina’s status grew, his brief role in Raiders of the Lost Ark was a fun little surprise for fans to look back and know where a star started. Having been in one of Lucasfilm’s two big franchises, it only made sense that he would join the other one. The real surprise is how long it took him to make it into Star Wars.

Molina Is Part of the Disney Family

Molina’s role in Skeleton Crew continues a long tradition of working within Disney-related franchises. While Raiders of the Lost Ark only became part of Disney through their acquisition of Lucasfilm, and both Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man: No Way Home are Sony productions that use Disney’s owned Marvel IPs, Molina is no stranger to the Mouse House. He seemingly has had a role in nearly every major studio division.

In 2010, Molina was featured in two Jerry Bruckheimer-produced summer blockbuster movies for Disney that seemingly aimed to become the new Pirates of the Caribbean: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Then, in 2013, he voiced Professor Derek Knight in Pixar’s Monsters University, a role he reprised in the television series Monsters at Work. In 2018, he voiced Double Dan in Ralph Breaks the Internet, his first animated voice role in a Walt Disney Animated film. The following year, he voiced Elsa and Anna’s father, King Agnarr, in Frozen II. Molina also found love at Disney as he married Frozen II‘s co-director and former Walt Disney Animation Studios chief creative officer, Jennifer Lee, in 2021.

Molina’s Skeleton Crew cameo was a pleasant surprise for fans of Marvel, Indiana Jones, Disney, and just all-around film fans. It might have been a small role, but it follows a tradition of great actors having bit voice roles in Star Wars projects just because the opportunity is too good to pass up. From Daniel Craig as a Stormtrooper in The Force Awakens or Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a Canto Bight alien in The Last Jedi to now Alfred Molina as a space pirate, the idea of being part of Star Wars, no matter how brief, is worth it. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is streaming on Disney+.