STAR WARS: STARFIGHTER Movie Has a Wild Lightsaber Duel That Tom Cruise Helped Shoot
Star Wars is finally gearing up for its long-awaited return to theaters, and while The Mandalorian & Grogu will kick things off, the real intrigue is already circling 2027.
That year marks the franchise’s 50th anniversary, complete with the original theatrical cut of A New Hope heading back to cinemas and the debut of Star Wars: Starfighter, the first film set after the sequel trilogy.
Directed by Shawn Levy and led by Ryan Gosling, the project is shaping up to be one of the most talked-about Star Wars movies in years. Now, thanks to a new behind-the-scenes reveal, we’ve learned it also includes a lightsaber duel filmed in a way no one could’ve predicted.
Speaking with the New York Times, Levy shared that the Starfighter set became a magnet for Hollywood heavyweights.
“Last week Steven Spielberg was here,” he said, before casually dropping that Tom Cruise also paid a visit. Cruise didn’t just stop by. He arrived by helicopter while his team blasted the Mission: Impossible theme over loudspeakers.
Levy joked that Cruise should hop behind one of the cameras, and the actor actually did it. “And now Tom Cruise is wielding a camera, ruining his very nice shoes,” Levy continued.
That spontaneous moment turned out to be part of something much bigger. According to the report, Levy was in the middle of staging a lightsaber duel set in the water, described as a muddy pond.
Cruise ended up filming part of the scene himself. “Now when you see the movie,” Levy added, “you’ll know that part of it was shot by Tom. I mean, how cool is that?” The report also notes that lightsaber props were actively being swung around the set, confirming this wasn’t just background flavor but a full-on duel.
While Star Wars lore allows for lightsabers beyond Jedi and Sith, the films have traditionally been careful about how widely that imagery is used. Lucasfilm has long treated lightsabers as sacred iconography.
Levy openly talking about a duel strongly suggests a genuine Jedi presence, and likely a dark counterpart as well. With Matt Smith and Mia Goth playing villains, the odds are good that one or both are portraying dark Jedi or Sith-adjacent characters.
The idea fits comfortably within modern canon, especially after Ahsoka introduced Force users like Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati who operate outside traditional labels.
Starfighter is set five years after The Rise of Skywalker, a period where Rey was positioned to rebuild the Jedi Order. This makes the film our first real look at what the galaxy actually looks like after the sequel trilogy, and with lightsabers clashing, it sounds like the Jedi aren’t just mythic echoes anymore.
Is Ryan Gosling playing a Jedi? His character has been described as a pilot, but Star Wars has always linked exceptional piloting to the Force, and the Starfighter title itself deliberately calls back to Jedi symbolism. It’s entirely possible he’s a former Jedi, a Force-sensitive pilot, or something in between.
For now, it’s all speculation, but this unexpected Tom Cruise-assisted lightsaber duel is pretty awesome.
