Ryan Gosling’s first turn in the “Star Wars” universe now has a name, a face, and a story rooted in a corner of the galaxy fans haven’t seen before. Director Shawn Levy debuted footage from “Star Wars: Starfighter” at Disney’s D23 fan event Friday night, confirming Gosling plays a pilot named Kade Auberon and revealing new plot and visual details ahead of the film’s May 28, 2027 release.
The teaser opens on a young man, played by newcomer Flynn Gray, wandering into a weathered spacecraft garage and finding a decommissioned Imperial ship. Gosling’s Kade appears and tells him not to touch anything, explaining it’s the fastest starfighter ever built. From there, the footage shifts into full “Star Wars” territory: massive water geysers erupting from an alien ocean world, droids opening fire, and Kade’s ship weaving through the chaos as a robotic co-pilot helps him escape. Cinematographer Claudio Miranda, known for “F1” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” shot the sequence, giving the footage a glossy, kinetic look Levy called unlike anything the franchise has produced before.
Lucasfilm’s next feature film is coming.
Star Wars: Starfighter, directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ryan Gosling, arrives May 28, 2027. pic.twitter.com/iBGZoAlCwB
— Star Wars (@starwars) August 15, 2026
Gosling described his character in blunt terms from the D23 stage: “Kade is a guy from the wrong side of the galaxy, whose fate is intertwined with the fastest starfighter ever built.” The film is set roughly five years after “The Rise of Skywalker” and deliberately steers clear of the Skywalker family bloodline, giving Levy and screenwriter Jonathan Tropper room to build an original story rather than extend an existing one.
Levy pointed to the film’s release date as personally significant, noting it lands on the same May weekend that the original 1977 “Star Wars” opened, 50 years earlier. He cited 1970s car-culture films, including “American Graffiti,” as touchstones for the project’s tone. The supporting cast includes Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings and Amy Adams. Kathleen Kennedy produces alongside Levy, with Gosling serving as an executive producer.
The film arrives as Lucasfilm looks to rebound at the box office following “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” which finished its run well behind expectations for a live-action franchise entry.
