Star Wars’ Most Exciting New Movie Gets the Update Fans Needed to Hear (Including What Characters Might Appear)

Next summer will see the release of the first Star Wars feature film in six and a half years, as The Mandalorian and Grogu will fly its way onto the big screen and continue the story that started in the Disney+ original series. Details about the movie are still largely unknown, but we know that it will bring some other characters from the history of Star Wars into the fold, and though fans will no doubt be ready to see more of these characters, especially in a feature film, it’s yet another movie in the franchise that is picking up threads already spun elsewhere.

The Mandalorian and Grogu isn’t the only Star Wars movie in the pipeline, though, as Lucasfilm is set to release Star Wars: Starfighter in 2027, arriving just in time for the 50th anniversary of the original movie. The new movie comes via Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy and will have Ryan Gosling making his debut in that galaxy far, far away. New details about the project have been released now that should have fans excited not only about this movie but the future of Star Wars as a whole, and it’s time Lucasfilm learned this lesson.

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Speaking on The Business podcast with Kim Masters, Levy was asked about his upcoming Star Wars film and how it fits into the shifting strategies that Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm have put together in recent years since the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Levy confirmed that, yes, there is an intense pressure to make sure they get the movie right, but it did not come with any kind of demand that specific characters from Star Wars or connections to other movies in the larger franchise.

“When Kathy called me in August of 2022 and said, ‘I want you to do a Star Wars movie,’ and I said, ‘What’s it a prequel to? What’s it a sequel to? Which one is it?’ The answer was, ‘It’s whatever you want it to be,’” Levy revealed. “‘You pick the writer, you pick the story, just imbue it with the feeling that your movies have, and let’s make an entirely original Star Wars movie.’There is no mandate or interference other than the constant encouragement to ‘Make this new.’ And that’s the truth…Starfighter is all-new characters based on new ideas that Jonathan (Tropper) and I cooked up…In a time period that’s never been in a Star Wars movie, it is not about legacy characters.”

Levy went on to note that even though he does have hope that the new film will contain the same sense of adventure for fans that the original Star Wars movie had when it was released, it’s not directly a continuation of anything from that movie. The director revealed that the only note he’s gotten from the Lucasfilm “nerd army” has been to consistently make sure the movie is “new.” He went on to add that even as he’s brought up the potential for connectiosn to the larger franchise, or maybe even characters that could appear, he’s been encouraged to stick away from that.

“Every time I’ve asked, ‘Should I use this character that was maybe in that movie?’ Every time it’s, ‘You know what? People have seen that. Do something new.’ That encouragement has been remarkable.”

For Star Wars fans, this should be a refreshing update on the upcoming film. Though fans love the larger franchise as a whole, the connectivity between the characters and stories has started to become more of a burden on the larger franchise than a strength. In fact, this about-face in wanting to see connections across the series can be seen no better than how it’s been handled in The Mandalorian. When the first season of the series premiered, with new characters and a new story, it was well received and seemed to be a lifeblood for Star Wars as a whole. When we jump ahead to Seasons 2 and 3, though, and The Mandalorian has brought in the likes of Boba Fett and Luke Skywalker, the bloom has fallen off the rose.

Time will tell if Star Wars: Starfighter will truly be as much of a solo adventure as it seems. We’re still over a year and a half away from its release, and filming still continues, but if the trend continues, it could very well become the breath of fresh air that Star Wars has needed for some time.