First Look at Ryan Gosling in Star Wars: Starfighter

Lucasfilm has announced the cast for Star Wars: Starfighter and released a first-look image showing Ryan Gosling’s character.

The first-look image shows a black and white photo of Gosling and Flynn Gray character’s sitting on a vehicle that looks a bit like a landspeeder, which fans of Star Wars will know well.

_LUCASFILM

Starfighter takes place five years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. The film, which has begun production, is an entirely original story set in a period of time never before explored.

Shawn Levy, who helmed Marvel’s mega hit Deadpool & Wolverine will direct the film. The filmmaker recently emphasized in a recent podcast that he wanted the film to be a standalone story and not serve another movie, said he feels that this is a standalone and not apart the previous lore.

“This is a standalone. It’s not a prequel, not a sequel,” Levy said at Star Wars Celebration 2025 in April. “It’s a new adventure. It’s set in a period of time that we haven’t seen explored yet.”

_LUCASFILM

The Starfigher director also said that it’s his honor to be a part of the Star Wars universe.

“ I feel a profound sense of excitement and honor as we begin production on Star Wars: Starfighter, Kathy Kennedy called me up, inviting me to develop an original adventure in this incredible Star Wars galaxy, this experience has been a dream come true, creatively and personally. Star Wars shaped my sense of what story can do, how characters and cinematic moments can live with us forever. To join this storytelling galaxy with such brilliant collaborators onscreen and off, is the thrill of a lifetime.”

The next Star Wars film is The Mandalorian and Grogu, due out May 2026. Star Wars: Starfighter follows a year later, on May 28, 2027.

_LUCASFILM

The film appears to draw deep on Star Wars mythology while breaking new narrative and aesthetic ground — and suggesting a bright blockbuster future for the franchise. It will be rather interesting to see the new bricks of a Rebellion being laid, and see, outside of the Skywalker story, why taking down the New Order meant so much to all who toiled on the front lines.

May the force be with you…

_LUCASFILM

Chad Stevens is a freelance writer who has contributed to StarWarsNewsNet.com, MovieNewsNet.com, Outerplaces.com, Nerdist, and more. Follow me on X @RealChadStevens to talk Star Wars, Star Trek, Apple Computers, politics and more.