By Chris Snellgrove | Published
From The Rise of Skywalker brought the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy to a crash landing in 2019, there have been no additional films set in a galaxy far, far away. Today, rumors are multiplying that the next Starfighter The Ryan Gosling-starring film will secretly launch a new film trilogy. Even though details about this new film are still scarce, my instinct (I have a GOOD feeling about it) tells me that this new movie featuring completely different characters might be what it takes to save the Star Wars franchise.
Starfighter: everything we know
So far we know very little about Starfighter: In terms of casting, it has some big names, including Ryan Gosling, Mia Goth, Amy Adams and Matt Smith. Additionally, it will be directed by Shawn Levy, best known for directing Deadpool and Wolverine. Finally, the film will take place approximately half a decade after The Rise of Skywalker and may feature cameos from characters from the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy.
The only other detail is that Starfighter is supposed to be a standalone film, but a growing number of fans are convinced it’s secretly setting up a new Star Wars trilogy. This is related to a rumor that Ryan Gosling’s character is a Han Solo type hired to escort a young man (the nephew of Amy Adams’ character) to someone who can train him to use the Force. Rumor has it that this character is Rey, and we’ll see her New Jedi Order story unfold in a new trilogy of films.
Star Wars Episode O: A New Hope
If true, that would Starfighter something akin to episode 0 of a new trilogy. It wouldn’t be conventional for Star Wars, but it might be exactly what the franchise needs. After all, Disney has spent years fleshing out this galaxy far, far away since The Rise of Skywalker flop, therefore have Starfighter being the bridge between the Sequel trilogy and a New Jedi Order trilogy makes perfect sense.
Should Starfighter being the setting for a new trilogy, it would also explain why the film is full of recognizable names. At first, it seemed odd that this Star Wars movie would be filled with famous faces when the franchise has a rich history of using mostly unknown actors. Now, it seems Disney is betting that fans of these famous actors will return to this swashbuckling sci-fi universe despite the bad taste the Sequel Trilogy left in fans’ mouths.
A king of hope
This brings us to the main reason why Starfighter The setup for a New Jedi Order trilogy is so brilliant: if Disney had just released a new Star Wars trilogy centered on Rey out of nowhere, it would probably be a box office disaster. It’s because the sequels have left such a bad taste in everyone’s mouths that it’s stopping Disney from doing the logical thing and creating spin-offs based on all these new characters. However, a star-studded solo film leading into the new trilogy (a film featuring characters from the sequels, no less) could be the teaspoon of sugar fans need to return to the world of the sequels.
The rumor may be false, of course, and Starfighter cannot be linked to any sort of new trilogy. It wouldn’t be so bad: the last big standalone Star Wars movie was Thief Onewithout which we would never have gotten the excellent Emmy Award-winning film Andor. But if Disney is ready to roll the dice and finally take creative risks again with the establishment of a new trilogy, Starfighter might be just the thing to do the impossible and make audiences care about the world of sequels again.
