Director Shawn Levy has shared that the forthcoming Star Wars film, Starfighter, will center on characters described as "marginalized outsiders" hailing from "the wrong side of the galaxy." This narrative approach is directly inspired by Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film, The Outsiders, which itself adapted S.E. Hinton’s novel about the conflict between rival teenage gangs.
Levy, speaking at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, explained that he and star Ryan Gosling were drawn to the idea of protagonists who, much like the Greasers in The Outsiders, come from less privileged circumstances. "They’re not the privileged ones. They’re from the wrong side of the tracks,” Levy stated. “Our characters in Starfighter are from the wrong side of the galaxy. And it’s about these sort of marginalized outsiders who find each other and have a shot at discovering heroism through their connections."
The film will follow Ryan Gosling as pilot Kade Auberon, who embarks on an adventure with a young character played by newcomer Flynn Gray. While Starfighter is set approximately five years after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, it will not feature any established "legacy characters" and will avoid using remixes of John Williams’ iconic musical themes.
Levy aimed to imbue Starfighter with a sense of blue-collar grit and authenticity akin to The Outsiders, despite its high-tech, space-faring setting. "Yes, it’s set in space. It’s high tech. There’s lots of visual effects, but it’s very much grounded in characters and grounded in the stuff of these characters doing the best they can in a chaotic galaxy that hasn’t yet been explored," he told Fandango.
The cast of Starfighter also includes Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings, and Amy Adams. Notably, Tom Cruise, who was part of the original The Outsiders cast, visited the Starfighter set and assisted Levy and Gosling with filming a lightsaber duel.
Star Wars: Starfighter is scheduled for release on May 28, 2027.