Star Wars: Starfighter Set Photo Shows Ryan Gosling Looking Like a Scruffy Nerf Herder, Stuck at Sea

Star Wars: Starfighter director Shawn Levy has shared a fresh production photo featuring the upcoming film’s stars Ryan Gosling and Flynn Gray, standing on some kind of sci-fi boat.

Gosling is pictured leaning against one set of controls, sporting tousled hair and a bruised cheek. He’s dressed in a loose-fitting shirt that looks like it could have come from Harrison Ford’s wardrobe, and thick gloves.

Gray’s character sports a similar look, with scruffy clothes and gloves. The two certainly look the parts of uncle and nephew, though the finer details of who either actor is playing remain under wraps.

Of course, the image has already prompted plenty of speculation among fans. While several planets featuring plenty of water have featured in Star Wars to date, reddit user BlackTriangle31 has suggested this could be the aquatic world Maramere, from 2002 video game Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter.

While Maramere and its watery resident species, the Mere, have yet to be brought into Disney’s Star Wars canon, they’ve made several appearances in Legends lore. Humanoid in appearance, the Mere have spiny arms and orange fur, and can breathe through both their nose and a set of gills.

Other fans have suggested this could be Kamino, the ocean world that was home to the saga’s clone army, or even Naboo — hey, maybe Jar-Jar is just out of shot beneath the surface? But it seems unlikely Starfighter will bother itself with any of those backstories.

Some fans have likened Gosling’s appearance to that of the smuggler and general Han Solo-like Dash Rendar, a figure mostly found in Legends stories but who has appeared in canon. Gosling looks a little young to be playing the character in the Disney sequels era, though.

“This is a standalone. It’s not a prequel, not a sequel,” Levy said at Star Wars Celebration 2025 in April. “It’s a new adventure. It’s set in a period of time that we haven’t seen explored yet.” The film’s script was handled by The Adam Project’s Jonathan Tropper.

Starfighter filming is currently taking place off the sunny coast of Sardinia in the Mediterranean — alright for some — ahead of the film’s release on 28 May, 2027. Doctor Who star Matt Smith is set to play the movie’s villain, while Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Amy Adams, Jamael Westman, and The Inbetweeners legends Simon Bird will also star.

A previous set photo featured Gosling and Gray sitting on a vehicle that looks a bit like a landspeeder, which fans of 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope will know well.

Image credit: Shawn Levy.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social