Lucasfilm brought Star Wars: Starfighter to D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event tonight, revealing that Project Hail Mary star Ryan Gosling is playing a character named Kade Auberon.
A brief teaser trailer was also shown to attendees, though it's one of the only sneak peeks from the event not to receive an official release. Many in the crowd, unaware that was the case, raced to upload the footage to X and Instagram, but now find themselves hit with copyright takedowns by Disney.
Most copies have vanished, but one has managed to escape the House of Mouse's attention. You can find that here.
In the sneak peek, we find Flynn Gray's character pulling a tarp off a starfighter. Running his hand across the ship like you might a vintage car, he's interrupted by Kade, who tells him not to touch it. When the boy asks what it is, Gosling's character reveals that it's a decommissioned Imperial craft and the fastest starfighter in the Galaxy. However, Kade says there's a "reason" the kid has never heard of it before.
A montage of clips follows, largely comprising shots of Kade and various ships. The title treatment—which can be seen on the officially released teaser poster—below feels very '80s-inspired, and that seems to be the tone filmmaker Shawn Levy is striving for.
Why hasn't the trailer been released online? Well, there's still the better part of a year to go before Star Wars: Starfighter touches down, so Lucasfilm may have decided it's too soon to put the spotlight on this one, especially with Ahsoka Season 2 to build excitement for.
The movie, set after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, could set the tone for future movies to come (The Hunt for Ben Solo won't be among them, as you'll see below), and the studio needs a win after The Mandalorian and Grogu underperformed earlier this year. We'd expect an official release in time for December's Avengers: Doomsday.
Star Wars: Starfighter's cast is led by Barbie star Ryan Gosling. Joining him are Flynn Gray (Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2), Matt Smith (House of the Dragon), Mia Goth (Infinity Pool), Aaron Pierre (Lanterns), Simon Bird (The Inbetweeners), Jamael Westman (Hedda), Daniel Ings (Lovesick), and Amy Adams (Man of Steel).
Directed by Shawn Levy, the film is produced by Levy and Kathleen Kennedy. Executive producers are Ryan Gosling, Dan Levine, Mary McLaglen, and Josh McLaglen. The script is by Jonathan Tropper.
Star Wars: Starfighter will be released theatrically on May 28, 2027.