If Princess Leia were trying to save Star Wars in 2026, she might say, “Help me, Ryan Gosling. You’re our only hope.” That’s because after the franchise’s disappointing theatrical return earlier this year, all eyes now move to May 28, 2027, when Gosling’s Star Wars: Starfighter arrives. It’s the franchise’s first film set after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and if this thing isn’t good, well, a galaxy far, far away will be in deep, deep trouble.
The film is still many months away, so up until now, almost everything regarding the project has been kept secret. That changed Friday night at Disney’s D23, though. Director Shawn Levy presented fans with our first official look at Star Wars: Starfighter, and it certainly looked like it could potentially be the franchise’s savior. (We also learned the name of Gosling’s character: Kade Auberon.) Here’s that reveal.
Ryan Gosling is Kade Auberon.
Experience Star Wars: Starfighter, starring Ryan Gosling, only in theaters May 28, 2027. pic.twitter.com/hoFlXv8nLL
— Star Wars (@starwars) August 15, 2026
What about the footage? Unfortunately, it wasn’t released online, but here’s what we saw.
A young kid (Flynn Gray) starts slowly pulling a tarp off a starfighter. He slowly rubs his hand on it like an old car. Kade comes in and tells him not to touch it. The kid asks what kind of starfighter this is, and Kade tells him it’s some decommissioned Imperial ship, the fastest ship in the galaxy. “Never heard of it,” the kid says. “There’s a reason for that,” Kade says.
It then cuts to a long montage. We see someone riding a speeder bike over a swamp. Kade stands with his back to us in his leather jacket, holding what looks like a massive gun or tool. He’s working on the ship. We watch the pair ride a skiff over waves. More quick cuts. A droid flies a ship. A man jumps over a gap in some kind of high-tech room. The camera then slowly follows the nose of the ship as the title, Star Wars: Starfighter, comes up. It then cuts to a shot of Kade flying the ship with very pronounced white lines around it. He’s going very, very fast.
The footage looked classic Star Wars in all the right ways. Everything was dusty. It was gritty. There was some attitude to it. And this is still almost a year from release. We’re sure there’s so much more.
Co-starring Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Amy Adams, and others, Star Wars: Starfighter is out next summer. Are you excited?
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