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Ryan Gosling Takes Star Wars Into Uncharted Territory in Explosive ‘Starfighter’ First Look
Ryan GoslingRyan Gosling is going from outer space to a galaxy far, far away. Disney and Lucasfilm have finally pulled back the curtain on “Star Wars: Starfighter,” unveiling first-look footage at D23 and giving fans their biggest glimpse yet at the franchise’s next theatrical adventure.
Directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ryan Gosling, the standalone movie is scheduled to hit theaters on May 28, 2027, exactly 50 years after the original Star Wars opened in cinemas.
And judging from the footage shown at D23, Lucasfilm is betting on a very different kind of Star Wars story.
Ryan Gosling Is Kade Auberon
Gosling plays Kade Auberon, a swaggering pilot who finds himself pulled into an unexpected intergalactic adventure alongside a young companion played by Flynn Gray.
The D23 footage begins with Gray’s character entering a battered spaceship garage and discovering a mysterious, decommissioned spacecraft.
Kade quickly arrives and warns him not to touch anything.
The young character asks what the ship is. Kade explains that it is a G17, describing it as the fastest starfighter ever built.
From there, the teaser launches into full Star Wars mode.
Ryan Gosling’s character pilots the restored craft across spectacular alien environments, including a vast ocean world where enormous geysers erupt from the water like skyscrapers.
The footage also features hostile droids, massive spacecraft, and a robotic co-pilot helping Kade get airborne.
A New Star Wars Era Begins
Perhaps Starfighter’s biggest selling point is what it doesn’t have.
The movie is designed as a standalone story with no central Skywalker family storyline. It takes place five years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker and in a previously unexplored period of the Star Wars timeline.
That gives Shawn Levy and screenwriter Jonathan Tropper room to create new characters, worlds and conflicts without immediately returning to familiar Skywalker mythology.
Levy described the film as a story built around hope and family, while emphasizing that the movie occupies a period of the Star Wars timeline audiences have never seen before.
“We finally get to go somewhere new,” is effectively the promise behind the project.
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Shawn Levy Wants to Bring Star Wars Back to the Big Screen
Levy, whose credits include Deadpool & Wolverine, Free Guy and Stranger Things, is a longtime Star Wars fan.
His partnership with Ryan Gosling gives Starfighter two major pieces of Hollywood star power at a crucial moment for Lucasfilm.
The movie follows years of uncertainty surrounding the future of theatrical Star Wars. Following The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, the franchise shifted heavily toward Disney+ with series including The Mandalorian, Andor, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Now Lucasfilm is attempting to make the big screen a major part of the franchise again.
Star-Studded Cast and Stunning New Worlds
Gosling and Gray are joined by Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings and Amy Adams.
The production has also taken Star Wars outside many of its familiar visual environments.
Filming in Sardinia, Italy, helped create the movie’s distinctive ocean-based setting, promising a visual identity that could separate Starfighter from previous installments.
The footage still includes familiar touches, including speeder-like vehicles, giant Imperial-style ships, and other visual nods to the franchise’s history.
Can Ryan Gosling Save Star Wars’ Theatrical Future?
That may be the question hanging over Starfighter.
After years dominated by streaming releases, Lucasfilm needs its next major theatrical films to generate excitement beyond the existing fan base.
Gosling brings enormous mainstream appeal, while Levy arrives with a recent billion-dollar blockbuster behind him.
If Starfighter delivers the spectacle promised by its first footage, Lucasfilm could have its next major theatrical franchise event on its hands.
For now, the countdown has begun.
“Star Wars: Starfighter” lands in theaters May 28, 2027.
