Ryan Gosling Goes to a Galaxy Far, Far Away: 'Star Wars: Starfighter' First Look Unveiled at D23
Disney has pulled back the curtain on Star Wars: Starfighter, with the first footage screened at its D23 fan conference on 15 August 2026. Ryan Gosling appeared on stage to introduce it. He plays a pilot named Kade. Deadline
The film is directed by Shawn Levy, with a screenplay by Jonathan Tropper. Lucasfilm had previously confirmed casting details on its official Star Wars website, including an on-set photograph of Gosling alongside Flynn Gray. starwars.com
What sets Starfighter apart from every live-action Star Wars film before it: the story is set in an entirely new corner of the galaxy, free of the Skywalker family saga that has anchored the franchise since 1977. It also sits further along the timeline than any previous entry — the most future point in the Star Wars chronology. The action unfolds on a sea-filled planet, a visual departure from the desert worlds and forest moons that fans have come to know. Deadline
Levy, introducing the footage, played a clip of a young Gosling from his Mickey Mouse Club days before rolling the Starfighter reel — a nod to the Disney ecosystem that raised the star before sending him into space. In the footage shown to attendees, Gosling's character Kade identifies a ship as a decommissioned G17, calling it "the fastest straighter ever built." Deadline
The release date carries its own weight of history. Star Wars: Starfighter is scheduled for 28 May 2027 — the Memorial Day weekend corridor, one of the most lucrative slots on the Hollywood calendar. That places it nearly fifty years to the month after the original Star Wars opened in May 1977. Deadline
For fans, the promise is straightforward: a new story, a new setting, and a bankable lead in a franchise that has spent the last several years searching for its next direction on the big screen. Whether Starfighter becomes the launchpad for a fresh era of Star Wars cinema will rest on what arrives in theatres in 2027.
