It took Star Wars 48 years to show how Blasters really work

In its almost 5 decades of existence, the Star Wars the franchise has only now shown a key role for the blasters in a live-action property. Blasters are among the most common weapons in the galaxy and come in many varieties. What almost all blasters have in common, however, is their basic function of firing pulses of irradiated explosive gas – blaster beams – that explode on contact with solids.

As shown throughout the various Star Wars properties in a multitude of mediums and two main continuities, blasters have different firing modes, with “kill” being the most commonly used, while “stun” is occasionally employed to incapacitate beings. Blasters also vary in effectiveness, with most blasters – especially civilian models – struggling against body armor (such as the suits worn by clone troopers and stormtroopers) and beefed-up droids (such as Super Battle Droids), although powerful military blasters and the underworld can easily burn them.

Blasters have always had different power settings

One of the most important – yet rarely recognized – features of blasters is your ability to have your power adjusted. A blaster set to kill may leave small scorch marks or shallow pockets in walls on a low power setting, but higher power settings can melt strong materials or cause massive explosions. Some of the most illustrative examples of different blaster power settings against the same materials (or targets) can be found in The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Although the effects of this characteristic are visible in almost all Star Wars property that includes blaster combat, It is extremely rare for a Star Wars property to recognize blaster power settings. The 1976 novelization of A New Hope by Alan Dean Foster (ghostwritten by George Lucas) describes them in detail, and they are mentioned occasionally in the Marvel classic Star Wars comics too. More recently, The Mandalorian season 1, episode 4 “Chapter 4: Sanctuary” has Din Djarin directly referencing the blaster's power settings in a conversation with Cara Dune.

Skeleton Crew makes Star Wars history by showing power settings in action

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew episode 4 “Can’t Say I Remember Not in Attin” It's the first live action Star Wars property to show blaster power adjustment. While testing the blasters for the Troik, Wim sets the weapon to one of its highest power settings, with the weapon's recoil knocking him down. This may, of course, remind viewers that they read the original Star Wars novelization of a moment when Luke Skywalker sets a stormtrooper blaster to full power to destroy a locked cell door, making the weapon too hot to hold after just one shot.