Lucasfilm officially revealed new branding for its next Star Wars movie, which will become the fourteenth theatrical release (and the seventh one under Disney). The media giant's Star Wars era began back in 2015, three years after the studio acquired Lucasfilm from George Lucas. That deal reshaped what it meant to be Star Wars canon, and it eventually helped kick off a new streaming era on Disney+. Now, though, Lucasfilm is turning its attention back to the big screen, with one movie already out this year and another one coming in 2027.
That movie is Ryan Gosling's Star Wars: Starfighter, directed by Shawn Levy and set after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. The upcoming Memorial Day weekend 2027 release by Disney and Lucasfilm was a key focus at D23 last month. Part of the attention it got was the fresh new logo treatment it received. A full trailer played exclusively for the crowd inside the panel, while the new image itself went public for everyone else to see: a throwback design showing a classic black starfield behind a large "Star Wars" logo, with "Starfighter" stamped overtop in a weathered, chrome-like 3D style.
It's a switch-up from the more modern logo Lucasfilm had been using before: classic "Star Wars" lettering with a sleeker, more glowing "Starfighter" treatment.
The new version ditches all that for the tilted yellow-outlined block letters straight from the original 1977 Star Wars logo, a treatment that hasn't shown up on an official poster since 1980's The Empire Strikes Back.
Dating back to Disney's first crack at a Star Wars film in theaters, the logo it used for The Force Awakens didn't utilize any bells and whistles, just a straightforward, episodic visual.
When Disney ventured away from the sequel trilogy, the company experimented with the logos, such as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. In many ways, the Rogue One logo doesn't even look like it's related to a galaxy far, far away at all. It was stripped down to the bronze bones, nothing fun or galactic about it.
Progressing through the sequel trilogy, The Last Jedi logo was a natural next step, but now with its communicative red lettering of "Star Wars." The haunting title, mixed with the dark take of Luke Skywalker's progression (and isolation) as a Jedi, matched well with the red lettering.
Back to the spin-offs, Disney had some fun with its Solo: A Star Wars Story logo, emphasizing the titular character's name while also appearing undeniably like a Star Wars film.
Disney rounded out its sequel trilogy with the logo for The Rise of Skywalker, taking on a light blue lettering, matching the iconic lightsaber color. Unless Disney decides to make an Episode 10, this may be the last time fans see a logo with this exact same type of style.
Fast forward to 2026, and Disney finally released a new Star Wars film after focusing all its live-action project efforts into series on Disney+.
That movie was The Mandalorian and Grogu, a Disney+ spin-off, which got its own unique logo unlike any Star Wars film before it. Similar to the movie itself, the marketing was more interested in focusing on its characters and past streaming stories rather than selling it as the next big Star Wars film.
Starfighter doesn't have that problem. Its new logo points to Disney trying to take the franchise back to the good old days. That's even been teased by someone who visited the Starfighter set, indicating that the film is throwing it back to the original trilogy era, despite its timeline placement.
There's also no hiding around the fact that this is a Star Wars movie in this logo, and that's a welcome change from The Mandalorian and Grogu, which didn't emphasize the franchise's name.
Considering The Mandalorian and Grogu's meager box office results ($345.6 million globally, the worst of any Disney Star Wars film), it makes sense that Lucasfilm will try to sell Starfighter a bit differently.
The Future of Star Wars Movies
Starfighter feels like a new beginning for the Disney-owned Lucasfilm, trying to make movies matter again. The Mandalorian and Grogu was a product of their 2020s streaming era, an era that seems to be fading away following Ahsoka Season 2 in early 2027.
While Starfighter is pushing the overall narrative forward, as it is not a prequel to anything, it's also not necessarily expected to be starting a new trilogy or even telling a grand-scale story.
At this point, it feels like Lucasfilm is in the business of producing singular films, with the potential for future sequels. Nothing else is officially in production at Lucasfilm, but the most likely future Star Wars films that have been discussed are Daisy Ridley's return in a New Jedi Order film or Simon Kinberg's trilogy.
What's notable about Starfighter is that it seems to be spiritually greatly influenced by the Star Wars films from the 1970s and '80s, which is represented in that official logo. As new trailers are eventually released online, more will be revealed to fans about what to expect from Gosling's new character, Kade Auberon.
In addition to the logo's art style, Starfighter unveiled a creative new symbol. Kade's jacket features an inverted version of the Rebel Alliance insignia, creating a crossbones appearance rooted in the old rebellion. Hopefully, the future of Star Wars uplifts creativity, creating space for new stories across the galaxy, while tying fans back to the original epics that made the franchise so popular to begin with.
