The Skywalker Saga won’t be the end of the Star Wars franchise. Shawn Levy helms Star Wars: Starfighter, an all-new story starring Ryan Gosling that aims to revolutionize the forty-eight-year-old sci-fi franchise. Set to release in 2027, the film takes place several years after the events of Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker and, unlike other upcoming Star Wars movies, doesn’t have any specific ties to previous characters or storylines.
Fans still know very little about Levy and Gosling’s upcoming Star Wars film, with nothing to go on but rumors and carefully concealed hints from Lucasfilm. However, as production begins on the highly anticipated spinoff, various reports and possible leaks offer crucial information about what fans should expect from Starfighter. As excited as I am to see Levy’s take on the Star Wars universe, the most recent reports have me worried that the film won’t be as revolutionary as the director has made it out to be.
For movies at this early stage of development, all we have to go by are rumors and industry insider reports. For obvious reasons, all such reports must be taken with a grain of salt, as they can easily be fabricated by someone who merely claims to know a studio’s inner workings. However, even these early reports can hold nuggets of truth, especially those from longtime trusted sources like Daniel Richtman, who recently spoke out about the potential plot for Star Wars: Starfighter (via The Direct). In a brief synopsis about the upcoming film, Richtman reveals that Ryan Gosling will play a Jedi who travels the galaxy with his 15-year-old nephew, whom he trains as his Padawan. There will also reportedly be two villains in the film, one male and one female, though it is unclear if they will also be Force-wielders.
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While it could be interesting to explore what a Jedi-Padawan relationship looks like in a post-Sequel Trilogy galaxy, I’m disappointed by this possible plot leak. Shawn Levy touted Starfighter as a wholly unique Star Wars film that is entirely unconnected from the events of the Skywalker Saga. However, if true, this storyline would feel very much like exactly what Star Wars has been doing for decades. Besides its place in the timeline, Starfighter sounds exactly like Star Wars: Rebels, Ahsoka, the Star Wars: Jedi video game franchise, and numerous other spinoff stories that follow rogue Jedi making their way through the galaxy while pursued by a band of villains. Upon its initial announcement, Starfighter was exciting to me because it seemed as though it wouldn’t have anything to do with the Jedi, the Sith, or even the Force, but that it would instead focus on exploring the large galaxy from the cockpit of a classic Star Wars spaceship. Instead, it looks as though Starfighter will feel very familiar.
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This plays into a larger problem with the Star Wars franchise. Every time Lucasfilm tries to expand its sci-fi world beyond the reaches of George Lucas’s original story, they ends up just doing more of the same. Exciting projects like Rian Johnson’s Star Wars spinoff trilogy or Taika Waititi’s film all had the potential to act as unique standalone stories completely disconnected from the Skywalker Saga, yet each has quietly been cancelled over the last several years. Now, Star Wars: Starfighter is finally making it to production, but with a story that sounds exhaustingly familiar to everything we’ve seen before. It bears repeating that there is always a chance that this reported plot is not what will actually feature in the upcoming film. However, if the rumors prove true, I’ll be disappointed by Star Wars’ lack of imagination. With exciting projects like The Mandalorian & Grogu and Rey’s New Jedi Order spinoff, it shouldn’t be so difficult for the franchise to also tell completely unique stories that don’t depend on what’s come before.
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There is also a major timeline issue that naturally arises from Star Wars: Starfighter’s reported story. Shawn Levy and Ryan Gosling confirmed that the film will take place several years after the events of Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker, which occurs in the in-universe year of 33 ABY. At this time, there are very few Jedi roaming the galaxy. It is implied (though not explicitly confirmed) that Rey is the only surviving Jedi at this point. Most Order 66 survivors died before the events of Return of the Jedi, with only a handful of Jedi like Ahsoka Tano and Ezra Bridger remaining. However, Luke did train a new generation of Jedi between the events of the Original and Sequel Trilogies. While it was implied in The Last Jedi that all of Luke’s students died when Ben Solo betrayed them and burned the temple down, it is possible that some survived. Ryan Gosling could be playing one of the young Jedi Luke trained before going into self-imposed exile. His character may have been a compatriot of the young Ben Solo, who watched his friend turn to the Dark Side.
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Alternatively, Gosling’s character could be a Jedi trained after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. Lucasfilm plans to explore more of Rey’s story after defeating the Emperor, which includes founding a new Jedi Order to train the next generation of Force users. Depending on exactly how long after Episode IX the upcoming spinoff takes place, Gosling’s Jedi could have been one of Rey’s students. This could potentially serve as a way to set up Lucasfilm’s planned spinoff following Rey’s continuing adventures. If this is the case, however, Starfighter once again runs into the issue of being too closely related to the Skywalker Saga to truly consider itself a completely standalone story.
A third option contends that Gosling’s character is a “Bokken Jedi.” This term was first used by Baylan Skoll in the first season of Ahsoka to refer to Jedi who were trained outside the traditional structure of the Order. Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren, and Luke Skywalker would all fall into this category, as each began their Jedi training after the Order’s fall in 19 BBY. Jude Law’s Jod Na Nawood from Skeleton Crew would also be considered a Bokken Jedi, as he didn’t encounter his master until after Order 66. It is possible that Ryan Gosling’s Star Wars: Starfighter character was trained by one of the original Bokken Jedi, who passed their knowledge onto him. This would fit with the additional detail that he has a nephew, which would be unusual for a Jedi who came from the Order, since they typically have no connection to their biological families. As it stands, this theory seems to be the most plausible to explain how Gosling’s character can be a Jedi in a post-Sequel Trilogy story.
Star Wars: Starfighter has the potential to be a fun and original story set in a much larger franchise, but it must not be afraid to be unique. Too many connections to the Skywalker Saga will leave audiences feeling as though the film is simply one chapter in a much larger story. Shawn Levy needs to make his film stand out from the many other Star Wars spinoffs out there. The best way to do that is by leaving behind the Jedi and the Force and instead focusing on the wide, unexplored galaxy.
Star Wars: Starfighter will be released in 2027.
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Star Wars: Starfighter
Specifications
- Release Date
- 2027-05-28
- Genres
- Science Fiction (Genre), Fantasy (Genre), Action (Genre)
- Cast
- Ryan Gosling (Person)
- Director
- Shawn Levy (Person)