Shawn Levy Confirms ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’ Unfolds in a Galaxy Where No One Is in Charge
The countdown to ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’ has been building for years now, ever since Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and chief creative officer Dave Filoni first confirmed that Ryan Gosling would lead the new installment with Shawn Levy directing, unveiling the project at Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo. The film has since become one of the most anticipated entries in the franchise, with Disney locking in a May 28, 2027 theatrical release and a cast that includes Gosling alongside Flynn Gray, Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings and Amy Adams.
Levy has stayed characteristically tight lipped about plot specifics, but the pieces have slowly come together. The story is set roughly five years after the events of Star Wars Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker, and at this year’s D23 Expo, Levy revealed that Gosling’s character is named Kade Auberon, giving fans their first real anchor point for who they will be following through this new corner of the galaxy.
Now a fresh detail is fueling speculation about just how chaotic that corner of the galaxy really is. According to a post from the account Cosmic Marvel, citing ‘Good Morning America,’ Levy described ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’ as taking place in a moment where there is no government, no enforcer and no order of any kind holding things together. It is a striking departure from the usual Rebellion versus Empire framing that has defined most Star Wars stories to date.
The same post quotes Levy elaborating on what that lawlessness means for the people caught in it, saying everyone in the story is simply trying to survive and doing whatever it takes to get by. That framing suggests ‘Starfighter’ may lean closer to a scrappy, morally gray survival tale than a clean cut battle between good and evil.
It tracks with what Levy has said elsewhere about the film’s tone. Speaking onstage at D23 alongside Gosling, Levy said the story is firmly rooted in character and filled with humor, danger, spectacle and the joyous spirit that has defined Star Wars, while also noting the film takes place in a period of the timeline that has never been explored before, a comment he made during Lucasfilm’s presentation at the D23 Entertainment Showcase.
Behind the camera, the production has drawn plenty of star power of its own. Jonathan Tropper wrote the screenplay, Claudio Miranda handled cinematography and Thomas Newman is composing the score, while Levy and Kennedy produced the film, which finished filming late last year before moving into post production. Gosling himself has praised the project, previously telling a crowd at Star Wars Celebration that the script is filled with heart and adventure and that there is no filmmaker better suited to it than Levy.
With the film still nearly a year out, details like the one shared in this post are exactly the kind of morsels keeping the fandom buzzing. A galaxy stripped of order and structure is new territory for ‘Star Wars,’ and it raises real questions about what kind of hero, or antihero, Kade Auberon will turn out to be. What do you think a lawless corner of the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy should look like on screen, and does this survival driven setup have you more excited for ‘Starfighter’?
