Published Jul 25, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT
Craig began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016 and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. After previously writing for various outlets, Craig's focus turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally became useful. Craig has previously been published by sites such as Den of Geek.
Craig is an approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes.
Depending on how much you like Spock and friends, Star Wars is arguably the world's most famous example of what the science fiction genre can achieve. Scratch beneath the surface, however, and George Lucas' galaxy far, far away incorporates a multitude of styles, flavors, and genres. The original 1977 release is famously a thinly-veiled cover of Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, while simultaneously paying homage to other classic samurai flicks. Following that trail of inspiration, Star Wars is also the archetypal Western, borrowing the same tropes, but moving from the dusty plains of the frontier to the dusty plains of Tatooine.
In many ways, Star Wars can also be considered more fantasy than sci-fi. It's a courageous hero rescuing a princess from a big castle using swords and magic, then freeing the realm from a dark sorcerer. Despite its obvious affiliation to the sci-fi genre, then, Star Wars is really a fantasy movie heavily influenced by samurai and western cinema. In space.
In more recent years, the Star Wars franchise has flexed its genre muscles further. Rogue One and Andor decided the franchise wasn't putting enough emphasis on the "Wars" part of the title and promptly fixed that. The Mandalorian accentuated the Western notes already within George Lucas' original recipe, whereas 2024's Skeleton Crew chose to focus more upon the innocence, wonder, and adventure elements.
In 2027, Star Wars will shift its genre once again with Star Wars: Starfighter.
Get Ready For A Star Wars Fighter Pilot Movie In 2027
Space fighters and dogfights have always been part of the Star Wars formula, whether it be during the first movie's Battle of Yavin and the introduction of Red Squadron, or The Empire Strikes Back's opening battle on Hoth. One could argue that fighter pilots have faded into the background the longer Star Wars has gone on, with even the sequel trilogy's Poe Dameron spending most scenes with his boots firmly on the ground.
Nevertheless, Star Wars has always valued the role of pilots, and has repeatedly sought to craft a chapter dedicated to one-man fighters and those brave mavericks who ride them. In the 2000s, there was the Star Wars: Starfighter video game series, which let players experience the films' intense battles and flight missions for themselves. Then there was Patty Jenkins' attempt to get Star Wars: Rogue Squadron onto the big screen. Currently navigating its way through Development Hell, Jenkins' effort sounded a lot like 'Top Gun in space.'
In 2027, Shawn Levy's Star Wars: Starfighter will finally give the franchise the pilot-centric flying story it's craved for so long.
Plot details for Star Wars: Starfighter are being kept tightly under wraps, although a wide variety of reports and rumors have Ryan Gosling's protagonist pegged as a pilot charged with protecting the movie's child character (played by Flynn Gray), while villains, possibly Matt Smith and Mia Goth, are in hot pursuit.
The rumored plot details, alongside the film's actual title, all point toward Star Wars: Starfighter taking the franchise fully into the fighter pilot genre for the first time. Not quite 'Top Gun in space,' as Rogue Squadron would have been, but not a million parsecs away.
Star Wars: Starfighter Could Also Be The Series' First True "Road Trip" Movie
All Star Wars movies involve traveling between planets. Some training here, meet a contact there, build a secret base here, battle some Sith there, etc. The reported premise of Star Wars: Starfighter suggests this will be more of a traditional road trip movie, with Gosling and Flynn's characters maybe learning to appreciate each other over the course of a long and grueling journey that lasts most of the film.
If Gosling is indeed a pilot, audiences can expect to see sequences of him flying Flynn through the perilous obstacles of space, interspersed with brief stays on various planets along their route, and comments from Kathleen Kennedy support this hypothesis. Discussing the experience of filming the young Flynn Gray, Kennedy mentioned, "This movie is structured in a way that he had kind of a new actor coming in every few weeks that he was one-on-one with." Kennedy's description certainly lends itself to a road movie setup where Gosling and Gray are encountering new characters on each planet they visit during their trip.
Star Wars has never attempted a proper 'road trip' movie before. The Last Jedi would perhaps be the closest example, with the Resistance fleet fleeing the First Order before settling on Crait ahead of the climactic battle.
Star Wars' Recent Experiments With Genre Have Gone Well
If recent history is anything to go by, the fact that Star Wars: Starfighter looks likely to expand the franchise's genre palette bodes well. Futuristic war movie Rogue One was the last cinematic Star Wars release that enjoyed universe acclaim and significant box office success, while its follow-up series, Andor, is widely considered one of the best things to ever wear the 'Star Wars' label.
Additionally, it's perhaps not a coincidence that the first two seasons of The Mandalorian are both the strongest and the most Western-y. While season 3 proved more divisive, it's no exaggeration to say that The Mandalorian's first 16 chapters revitalized Star Wars as a franchise following an anticlimactic end to the sequel trilogy. Even the animated anthology series Star Wars: Visions, which incorporates a wide array of genres and styles into its mashup, has been thoroughly praised, rated at 98% on Rotten Tomatoes.
At this point, Star Wars releases that take a more traditional approach seem to be riskier than those that try something new, with The Acolyte and Obi-Wan Kenobi both enduring mixed receptions and failing to land second seasons.
The worst thing for Star Wars: Starfighter, therefore, would be to follow the usual route of good Jedi vs. bad Jedi. There's every chance that could still happen, with reports claiming none other than Tom Cruise has directed a lightsaber battle for the movie. Said lightsaber battle could, however, happen at the very top of the story, setting up a more unique main plot and sending Gosling flying off into the galaxy with his young partner.
It might be too strong to say that Star Wars' theatrical future depends on Starfighter's success, but after The Mandalorian and Grogu struggled to make a big splash, the franchise does need a boost to its big screen fortunes. The fact that Gosling's movie appears to be veering toward fighter pilot/road trip territory should be seen as an encouraging sign.
Release Date May 28, 2027
Director Shawn Levy
English (US) ·