Posted in: Lucasfilm, Movies | Tagged: star wars: starfighter

Star Wars: Starfighter Has Classic Elements, But No Legacy Characters

Writer Jonathan Tropper has confirmed that while Star Wars: Starfighter will feature classic hallmarks of the franchise, like lightsabers, it won't have any legacy characters.

While The Mandalorian and Grogu is the big return for Star Wars on the big screen, it seems like people are way more excited about Star Wars: Starfighter. Maybe it's because Mando is the culmination of a TV show ending, and those still feel "lesser" to people for some reason, but despite one coming out before the other, the hype levels are distinctive. Starfighter wrapped recently, so they are now in post-production, and while people aren't saying much, we are starting to learn a little more each day. Writer Jonathan Tropper recently spoke to ScreenRant and briefly discussed the lightsaber fight Tom Cruise helped film and how the film will feature many of the classic hallmarks of a Star Wars film, but none of the legacy characters.

"Obviously, lightsabers are a part of that universe and that part of that galaxy," Topper replied. "I'm so careful not to reveal anything, but essentially, I think it's known that we have no legacy characters. You're not going to see any of the characters you've seen in the other movies. So there are certain things that are still hallmarks of Star Wars that it's good to have in there. But more than that, I can't say."

Topper went on to say that he and Levy wrote a "completely new story" and "weren't bound by any structures of the past movies." Considering how many connections The Mandalorian and Grogu have gone on to have to legacy characters, it's probably a good thing that Star Wars: Starfighter is heading in a completely different direction.

Star Wars: Starfighter Went From 0-100 At Lightspeed

The Mandalorian & Grogu will be the official return to a galaxy far, far away on the big screen, but reports about a film from Shawn Levy began in November 2022. Everyone thought that the film seemed like one that wouldn't get much traction for a while since Levy had other projects to work on, but then Ryan Gosling got involved. His [potential at the time] involvement following the massive success of the Barbie meant that Levy's project went from "eventually" to "right now."

That involvement was first teased back in January 2025, but no one confirmed anything, and it seemed they were waiting until Celebration in April 2025, which isn't a surprise. On the stage in front of a bunch of hopefully not-too-jetlagged fans, it was announced that Levy's project would be titled Star Wars: Starfighter. They also confirmed that Gosling had been cast and that the film had been given a prime-time release date of May 28, 2027.

In a press release sent out by Disney, we also got some very vague story details. The release described the film as "a standalone adventure taking place approximately five years after the events of 2019's Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. …  [Star Wars: Starfighter] is an entirely new adventure featuring all-new characters set in a period of time that has not been explored on screen yet." The release also confirmed that production will begin in fall 2025, which makes sense for a May 2027 release date and how much post-production a massive film like this needs. It was reported that Mia Goth had joined the cast in early June. In early August, it was reported that Matt Smith had joined the cast.

Star Wars: Starfighter stars Ryan Gosling, Flynn Gray, Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings, and Amy Adams. It is directed by Shawn Levy and produced by Levy and Kathleen Kennedy. The executive producers are Ryan Gosling, Dan Levine, Mary McLaglen, and Josh McLaglen. The script is by Jonathan Tropper.

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