Ryan Gosling is going back to the stars next year with Star Wars: Starfighter. The movie will represent his biggest franchise role to date, and will be pivotal for the Lucasfilm saga. It’s a chance for the saga to truly do something new, and that’s completely unconnected to the Skywalker Saga or any of Disney’s other projects. Gosling is an unusual casting for a Star Wars film; it’s never before cast a lead actor who was such an established A-List star, but he’s already proved he’s perfect for it.
There’s plenty to suggest Gosling will be great in the movie, not least the fact he has one of the most impressive filmographies of the 21st Century (particularly over the last 10-15 years), but it’s his best movie trend that really bodes well. After Blade Runner 2049, First Man, and most recently, Project Hail Mary, Starfighter will be the actor’s fourth Sci-Fi and/or space-set film. And based on his track record, when Gosling tackles this genre or goes to the stars, the movie soars with him. First Man is the weakest of those three, and even that is, at worst, a 9/10 movie with one of his best performances; 2049 and Hail Mary are both masterpieces.
Ryan Gosling & Star Wars Should Be A Perfect Fit
Image Courtesy of Lucasfilm
As a movie star, Gosling is not dissimilar to a Star Wars franchise legend, Harrison Ford. Both men ooze cool and charisma on screen, but can do so in myriad ways: whether playing it more stoic, as he did in Blade Runner 2049 and First Man, or being allowed to get funnier and goofier with the part, like in Project Hail Mary (and an underrated attribute of Ford’s, too).
Given he’s in a movie called Starfighter, it is not unreasonable to expect some Han Solo elements from his character – though we currently know very little about him. He has already proved he can live up to Ford and then some, while still bringing his own uniqueness to the performance.
Gosling’s characters in those aforementioned movies always help to ground the projects, even when they’re dealing with heady concepts or emotional themes. He’s relatable, he’s human (even when he’s a replicant), he’s charismatic and charming but with the versatility to find depths beyond that, all of which are exactly what you’d hope for from the lead of a new Star Wars movie.
There’s a lot of secrecy around the film, but it’s expected that it’ll find Gosling’s pilot paired with a Force-sensitive kid (Flynn Gray) and having to undertake a mission to get him to safety, being chased across the galaxy by the villains. The actor has the right amount of comedic chops, movie star cool, and emotional range and vulnerability to make that work, and given he can have chemistry with a rock, you just know the dynamic between him and Gray is going to be great.
Shawn Levy’s track record as a director is not, admittedly, quite as strong as those of the other filmmakers when Gosling worked with them (Denis Villeneuve was coming off the back of Arrival, Damien Chazelle off La La Land, and Phil Lord and Christopher Miller off The LEGO Movie and then writing/producing the Spider-Verse films). But he is proven in crafting big, fun, crowd-pleasing movies, and that’s the kind of thing where Gosling can come in and elevate it (not to mention the rest of Starfighter‘s stellar cast, including Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, and Amy Adams).
Star Wars needs Starfighter to be a hit, and while that won’t be determined by Gosling – the franchise does not live or die on one name – it certainly shouldn’t hurt. While The Fall Guy was a disappointment, Project Hail Mary‘s box office is a great sign for his ability to open a movie to major success, and hopefully that, plus a potential awards season campaign coming just a few months before the film releases, should help take it even higher.
Star Wars: Starfighter will be released on May 27th, 2027.
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