Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vaderis easily my favorite Star Wars villain, but Disney has repeated one aspect of his story one too many times—and has finally given audiences something different. Anakin is one of Star Wars' best characters, which is true not only because he becomes one of Star Wars' most powerful Sith, but also because his fall to the dark side and redemption are both some of the most compelling storytelling in all Star Wars movies and TV shows. Star Wars was meant to be innovative, not derivative, though.

That was George Lucas' vision from the very beginning, and, for the most part, Lucas continued to innovate, even if not all of his new ideas were popular—midi-chlorians created quite the controversy, for example. Disney Star Wars has had plenty of new ideas as well, and I'm far from disliking Disney's Star Wars projects. In fact, I think some of Star Wars' best TV shows have been created by Disney. Even so, .

The original premise of Star Wars, beginning with the original trilogy, was that anyone, no matter how far they had fallen, could be redeemed. This was effectively the story and message of Darth Vader, and it was an incredible one. Vader had done so much harm and had been so thoroughly evil, yet, in the end, he was able to make the right decision to save his son.

The Star Wars prequel trilogy built upon this idea, proving the inverse is also true. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace revealed that Anakin had once been a sweet, even selfless boy, but throughout the prequels, that innocence was manipulated and corrupted until he turned to evil. That is, under the right circumstances.

The Phantom Menace had also done the unthinkable: it gave Anakin a backstory that made him truly sympathetic, revealing that the origins of his evil ways were in part out of his control. Yes, Anakin did horrible things, but he also experienced terrible losses and suffering, felt rejected by those around him, and wasn't given the freedom to work through his emotions. At the time, this was brilliant. Now, however, .

. In the sequel trilogy, Kylo Ren followed in his grandfather's footsteps nearly beat for beat, coming from difficult beginnings (even if they weren't nearly as terrible as Anakin's), feeling betrayed and rejected, and ultimately reverting to the light side of the Force to save someone he cares about—like Vader, sacrificing himself and dying in the process. Even in Disney Star Wars' more recent projects, like The Acolyte, the villains are revealed to not really be villains after all.

Mae is a prime example of this. Mae seemed to at first be an out-and-out villain, going on a killing spree after wiping out her entire family when she was young. The show then revealed that, really, Mae had been framed by the Jedi as a child and was seeking revenge. While she was still committing acts of evil, she was much more complicated than she first seemed—so much so that the 'villain' label had to be questioned.

While, yes, all characters—villains included—should be nuanced and dynamic, and are never redeemed or presented in a sympathetic way. The biggest example would of course be Palpatine, who was evil for evil's sake and never had any kind of redemption or even much of a backstory, at least in canon. Even other canon Sith, like Count Dooku and Darth Maul, were made much more complicated in Disney Star Wars, such as Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi in Dooku's case and Star Wars Rebels in Maul's.

As a massive fan of Anakin Skywalker, I understand why a nuanced villain is so compelling. Yet, . After all, Disney even confirmed in the canon comic The Rise of Kylo Ren that it actually wasn't Ben Solo who burned down Luke's Jedi Temple after all, and he hadn't meant to hurt anyone. Thankfully, Skeleton Crew just proved that Star Wars can have an excellent villain who isn't redeemed or made more sympathetic.

At the beginning of Skeleton Crew, it seemed Jod Na Nawood was well on his way to being Star Wars' latest lovable anti-hero. He was a pirate who was clearly still violent and selfish, but he seemed to have a genuine affection for the kids, at least in the show's first few episodes. That changed very suddenly, though, in a thrilling way.

When Jod and the kids landed on Lanupa, one of Skeleton Crew's new planets, they discovered Captain Tak Rennod's lair. This pushed Jod to finally and truly turn on the kids, threatening Fern with a knife to her throat until she yielded the title of captain to him. At first, it seemed as though he might still redeem himself, but he actually only got worse as the episodes went on, eventually attacking At Attin, calling upon other pirates to join him, and continuing to threaten the kids. Even then, .

The finale of Skeleton Crew confirmed that Jod had briefly been trained by a Jedi and then watched her cut down in front of him, but little more than that was revealed. While that is sad, it's far from explaining away Jod's behavior (assuming it's the truth). Rather, Jod remained a true villain throughout , finally breaking the long-standing, tired trend in Disney Star Wars of villains being redeemed or in some way made more sympathetic.