A new photo appears to have revealed the one Star Wars actor vying for the title of the third Han Solo replacement. Ever since Harrison Ford's star-faring scoundrel debuted with his unique mix of charisma and recklessness in the original Star Wars in 1977, the franchise has been trying to recapture that magic time and time again.
This time around, though, it seems as though an actor themselves is making the play to carry the baton left behind by Ford's Original Trilogy badass. A new photo posted by Star Wars: Starfighter director Shawn Levy featured the Star Wars filmmaker, sitting next to star Ryan Gosling (who will lead the upcoming film). Atop Gosling's head is a hat sporting Han Solo's iconic line, "Never tell me the odds."
This is the second time the Starfighter actor has been seen wearing merchandise honoring Ford's Star Wars character. At Star Wars Celebration 2025, Gosling wore a different hat with the same "Never Tell Me The Odds" quote on it.
Gosling's signature charm makes him a perfect candidate to step into the Han role for the franchise overall, but this is hardly the first time the powers that be surrounding the franchise have tried to position someone as an outright replacement for the hero of the Rebellion.
Disney's Sequel Trilogy came with its own Han stand-in (even though, yes, Han was also a part of those stories) in the form of Oscar Isaac's Poe Dameron. The Resistance fighter burst onto the scene as an ace pilot, very much serving the Han role among the Sequels' central trio of Rey, Finn, and Poe.
The franchise then attempted a Han Solo replacement with Diego Luna's Cassian Andor. While on the edgier side of the Solo spectrum, he very much took inspiration from Ford's Star Wars character, drawing from his trail-blazing, lone-wolf nature, dead-eye shot, and acuity for piloting starfighters.
Ryan Gosling stars as one of Star Wars: Starfighter's primary leads alongside Flynn Gray, Amy Adams, Matt Smith, and Mia Goth. The new film from the Deadpool & Wolverine filmmaker follows a pilot forced to transport a young boy across the galaxy with several formidable foes hot on their tail.
Is Ryan Gosling the Right Person To Carry the Han Solo Torch?
With Harrison Ford's time in the Star Wars franchise seemingly done, the epic sci-fi saga is on the hunt for someone to fill that void, and Ryan Gosling might be that guy.
In fact, his Star Wars: Starfighter already sounds like someone who studied at the Han Solo School of Space-Faring Badassery. Not much is known about Gosling's big-screen hero, but it has been teased that he is a hotshot pilot tasked with carrying a valuable load that could potentially change the course of the galaxy.
Sound familiar? That is because Han was positioned similarly in A New Hope, signing on to transport Luke and Obi-Wan, and getting entangled in the conflict between the Rebellion and the Empire.
Pair that with Gosling's oozing with charisma public persona, and you essentially have a ready-made modern-day Harrison Ford stepping into the Star Wars galaxy for the very first time.
If there ever was someone to take the torch held so high by Han Solo for decades in the galaxy far, far away, Gosling feels like the person who could do it. And with rumored plans of a potential Starfighter trilogy, this could be the start of a long and fruitful career for the new Star Wars star.
