Ryan Gosling and Flynn Gray posing on a raft on an ocean world for Star Wars: StarfighterImage via Lucasfilm
By
Chris McPherson
Published 27 minutes ago
Chris is a Senior News Writer for Collider. He can be found in an IMAX screen, with his eyes watering and his ears bleeding for his own pleasure. He joined the news team in 2022 and accidentally fell upwards into a senior position despite his best efforts.
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Deadpool & Wolverine and Stranger Things director Shawn Levy is juggling the biggest assignment of his career — bringing Star Wars: Starfighter to theaters in 2027, with Ryan Gosling set to lead the film. After years of creative turbulence around the brand, Levy’s movie is seen as a major opportunity to reset and recharge Lucasfilm’s cinematic future. Naturally, the question on everyone’s mind is: what kind of Star Wars movie is Levy making? And the director just gave his clearest answer yet — including the unexpected original trilogy entry that shaped Starfighter most.
Appearing on On Film… With Kevin McCarthy, Levy spoke candidly about the inspiration guiding his first journey into a galaxy far, far away. While many directors point to A New Hope or The Empire Strikes Back as their touchstones, Levy’s answer was more personal — and surprisingly bold.
“If I'm being honest, I know the cool answer would be Empire, and sort of the inarguable answer would be A New Hope, but it's kind of Jedi. It's Jedi because of the combination of theme, levity, adventure, heart, and spectacle. Somehow, that movie just got it right for me. I saw that movie so many times in a theater, more times in a theater than New Hope and Empire, and it stuck with me. There’s moments where I'm on set, and I feel like that kid is with me in the director's chair. I'm there making his dream come true.”
What Is 'Starfighter' About?
Levy reiterated something he has been hinting at for months: Starfighter won’t follow any familiar structure — and isn’t tied to the Skywalker saga’s usual timelines.
“It’s not a sequel. It’s not a prequel. It is not legacy characters, and it’s not in a period of time in the galaxy that’s ever been explored. It’s five years after IX, after Rise of Skywalker.”
Instead, Levy is essentially being handed a blank galactic canvas — which is thrilling but daunting.
“What this means is that we are inventing everything in this movie. And the desire to make design choices, character choices, planet choices, costume choices, droid choices, alien choices — all of it needs to feel Star Wars-y. But I am freaking determined to not let any of it feel derivative, or lazily copycat.”
Levy admits that making sequels has taught him just how stressful fan expectations can be:
“Sequels are hard. They're daunting. You don’t want to repeat yourself, but you want to give them some of what they love. Having seen how the sausage of sequels is made, I find the whole subject a little stressful because you want to get it right.”
But Starfighter may be his most liberating experience yet — a Star Wars movie without legacy burdens, iconography to follow, or pre-existing arcs to service. Star Wars: Starfighter arrives in theaters in 2027.
Star Wars: Starfighter
Like Fantasy Action Sci-Fi Release Date May 28, 2027 Director Shawn Levy Writers Jonathan Tropper, George Lucas Producers Shawn Levy, Kathleen KennedyCast
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Ryan Gosling
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Matt Smith
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Flynn Gray
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Amy Adams
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Ryan Gosling
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