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Throughout his career, Ryan Gosling has been part of everything from the Mickey Mouse Club to Blade Runner, but joining the Star Wars universe is something big for him. As his mom revealed during a Friday morning panel at Star Wars Celebration 2025, he grew up with Empire Strikes Back bedsheets. And while Gosling has largely avoided big special effects movies (including ducking out of DC's 2011 Green Lantern movie years ago), he said signing on to star in 2027's Star Wars: Starfighter was the best of both worlds: his fandom for Star Wars, and his desire to do projects he believed in.

"Well, I've wanted to work with Shawn for such a long time," says Gosling during a live stage interview at Star Wars Celebration 2025. "I was dreaming about Star Wars before I ever saw it. It's always been there, and in the DNA of the culture, myself... I think it framed my idea of what a movie even was."

"All of that aside, this script is so good," the actor continues. "The story is - it has so much adventure, so much heart, and original characters.. it's an opportunity to shine a light into a side of the universe that we may not have seen and there's no one more perfect to do that than Shawn."

Levy has been working on Star Wars: Starfighter since 2022, with Gosling coming onboard in early 2025. That casting, plus the success of Levy's Deadpool & Wolverine in July 2024, seemed to help goose Starfighter off the starting blocks in a way some other announced Star Wars films haven't been able to do.

Star Wars: Starfighter is scheduled to open in theaters May 28, 2027.

Get to know, understand, and love the Star Wars franchise more with our Star Wars watch order, guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies & TV shows, and all the Star Wars movies and Star Wars TV shows ranked.