I Just Saw the First Footage From STAR WARS: STARFIGHTER and It Looks Awesome!
Star Wars could really use a win on the big screen and Ryan Gosling may be the guy flying in to deliver it.
After the franchise’s disappointing theatrical return earlier this year, with The Mandalorian and Grugu, attention is shifting toward Star Wars: Starfighter, the next big-screen Star Wars adventure. The film hits theaters on May 28, 2027, and it has the distinction of being the first Star Wars movie set after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
The franchise is moving into unexplored territory, and after seeing the first footage at Disney’s D23, I’m feeling pretty freakin’ good about where it might be headed.
Director Shawn Levy showed up at D23 with the first official look at Star Wars: Starfighter, finally giving fans a taste of what he and Gosling have been cooking up. Levy also revealed that Gosling plays a character named Kade Auberon.
The footage hasn’t been released online, unfortunately, but what was shown looked freakin’ rad.
It opens with a young kid, played by Flynn Gray, slowly pulling a tarp from an old starfighter. There’s an almost classic-car quality to the moment as he runs his hand across the ship, clearly fascinated by the thing.
Kade walks in and tells him not to touch it. The kid wants to know what kind of starfighter he’s looking at, and Kade explains that it’s a “It’s a decommissioned G17. The fastest straighter ever built.”
“Never heard of it,” the kid says. “There’s a reason for that,” Kade replies. From there, the footage kicks into a montage that starts opening up the world Levy has created.
We get someone racing a speeder bike across a swamp, followed by Kade standing with his back toward the camera in a leather jacket while holding a big-ass gun. We also see him working on the starfighter, which will; become a major part of Kade’s identity in the story.
Another shot sees Kade and the kid tearing across the water on a skiff as waves crash around them. Then things start moving even faster. There’s a droid piloting a ship, a man leaping across a giant gap inside of a room, and several other quick glimpses of the adventure ahead.
Eventually, the camera tracks along the nose of the starfighter as the Star Wars: Starfighter title appears.
Then comes the money shot. Kade is piloting the ship at an absolutely insane speed, with pronounced white lines streaking around it as he rockets forward. The movie is called Starfighter, after all, and based on this first glimpse, Levy looks ready to make that title count.
What I loved about the footage was how much it looked and felt like classic Star Wars. The environments were dusty and dirty, the technology looked worn and lived-in, and the whole thing carried some attitude.
It didn’t look overly polished or sterile. This looked like a grimy corner of the galaxy, people get their hands dirty, and dangerous pieces of Imperial hardware are still sitting around waiting for somebody crazy enough to fire them up again.
Gosling did say at the event that his character “Kade is a guy from the wrong side of the galaxy, whose fate is intertwined with the fastest starfighter ever built,” Also seeing Gosling cruising around in a leather jacket symbol of his character and an absurdly fast mystery starfighter is just badass.
There’s also something appealing about the dynamic between Kade and Gray’s young character. We still don’t know exactly what their relationship is or what sends them on this adventure, but that opening exchange gives the movie some personality right out of the gate.
The mysterious Imperial ship also raises plenty of questions. Why has nobody heard of it? What makes it so fast? Where did Kade get it? And why exactly does he know so much about it? Those are fun questions for a Star Wars movie to put on the table.
The film still has plenty of time before it arrives in theaters, which means this first footage is likely only scratching the surface of what Levy has planned. There are also several major cast members we haven’t really seen in action yet.
Joining Gosling and Gray are Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, and Amy Adams, along with several other cast members.
Obviously, this footage can’t tell us whether the finished movie will deliver. But as a first impression? Star Wars: Starfighter looks like it could be a seriously great Star Wars movie. More than anything, it looks fun!
Star Wars: Starfighter flies into theaters May 28, 2027.