Lucasfilm just announced the cast of Star Wars: Starfighter, directed by Shawn Levy, which is now in production. Ryan Gosling stars, and he’ll be joined by Flynn Gray, Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings, and Amy Adams.
“I feel a profound sense of excitement and honor as we begin production on Star Wars: Starfighter,” Levy said on the official Star Wars website. “From the day Kathy Kennedy called me up, inviting me to develop an original adventure in this incredible Star Wars galaxy, this experience has been a dream come true, creatively and personally. Star Wars shaped my sense of what story can do, how characters and cinematic moments can live with us forever. To join this storytelling galaxy with such brilliant collaborators onscreen and off, is the thrill of a lifetime.”
Above, you get our first glimpse of the film, featuring Gosling and Gray. While there’s still no official word on the plot of the film, that image certainly suggests the rumors about a mentor and mentee relationship are true. All the official site says is that it’s “an all-new standalone adventure” and “an entirely original story set in a period of time never before explored in Star Wars.” That’s referring to the time after the events of Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker.
In terms of the cast, Smith and Goth had been rumored, but several of the other names are brand new, and, among those, a few stand out. Aaron Pierre, who’ll next be seen in the DC series Lanterns, is one. The talented Rebel Ridge actor is now also a DC and Star Wars guy. The other is multi-Oscar-nominee Amy Adams, who is also now a DC and Star Wars person. There’s no word on who each is playing, but they are intriguing additions to the Star Wars universe.
With Starfighter now in production, it’s locking in on its release date of May 28, 2027, which is almost exactly 50 years after the release of the first Star Wars.