Star Wars confirmed the historic setting for its next movie, and the story will unfold on a time and place never before seen in any Star Wars media. Star Wars has defined itself as much by its worlds as by its characters. Some of the most iconic locations featured in the films, including Endor, Tatooine, Hoth, Dagobah, and Coruscant, are more than just backdrops, as they immediately signal the kind of story fans are about to witness on-screen.
Star Wars: Starfighter is adding something new to the long list of Star Wars settings featured in films by including a location that marks a historic first for the franchise. Speaking with Good Morning America at D23 Expo 2026, Starfighter director Shawn Levy confirmed that the 2027 Star Wars movie is set in a setting "where there is no sort of government, enforcer, or order" and everyone is simply trying to survive.
That same lawlessness is what makes Ryan Gosling's Kade Auberon a unique protagonist in Star Wars: Starfighter (set for release on May 28, 2027). In the exclusive D23 trailer of Starfighter, Kade's jacket bears an inverted version of the Rebel Alliance insignia, a signifier of the political disorder unfolding in the film:
"We introduced a certain emblem on the back of his jacket. [It] implies the fact that—this is a moment in the galaxy where there is no sort of government, enforcer, or order. Everyone is just trying to survive. Everyone is having to do what they have to do to get by."
The Star Wars: Starfighter director also provided a tease of what to expect in Ryan Gosling's new Han Solo-style protagonist, noting that Kade is "from the wrong side of the galaxy" and he "comes from zero privilege:"
"Ryan’s character Kade is from the wrong side of the galaxy, did not grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth, [he has] a little bit of an edge, a little bit of a working-class background, [he] comes from zero privilege, and he goes on an adventure that intersects his fate with the fastest Starfighter ever built."
Starfighter is the first Star Wars theatrical movie set in a period without a dominant galactic authority. The prequel trilogy had the Republic, the original trilogy highlighted the Empire, and the sequel trilogy featured the New Republic and the First Order. Starfighter will move past those and instead follows marginalized outsiders amid the backdrop of a rebuilding galaxy.
Every Other Notable Details About Star Wars: Starfighter's Setting
Set After The Rise of Skywalker
Star Wars: Starfighter is set five years after The Rise of Skywalker, making it the furthest point yet reached by any live-action Star Wars movie or series.
Starfighter's unique Star Wars timeline placement marks the first time that fans will get to see the aftermath of Palpatine's defeat at the hands of Rey in Exegol. A report also claimed that Starfighter's story will connect to Rey's New Jedi Order, potentially hinting at major Easter eggs tied to her.
That same report also shared that Ryan Gosling's Kade is being tasked to take a young boy to a Jedi planet, meaning that there is a good chance that Rey could show up if this kid is a Force sensitive user.
At this point in the timeline, the Resistance has disbanded, and no new central power has emerged. It's possible that Starfighter could lay the groundwork for a government to rise or it will provide hints on how the Resistance forged new leadership in the background while others like Kade simply try to survive and take each day as it comes.
A Water Planet
The first look at Star Wars: Starfighter revealed Ryan Gosling's Kade and Flynn Gray's unnamed young character standing against an open ocean.
This inclusion suggests that Kade's homeward or at least one of the planets they visit is a water-heavy world unlike the deserts and ice planets that have been featured in the Skywalker Saga.
The sea-filled setting offers plenty of opportunities for Starfighter to include memorable, open-water sequences. It could also provide a glimpse of how the marginalized communities in the planet make a living out of the sea.
A Possible Returning Prequels Planet
In September 2025, set photos from Star Wars: Starfighter teased that the movie will return to Naboo after director Shawn Levy confirmed that they were filming on the Mediterranean Sea. The scenes from Naboo were also filmed on that same location, indicating that the prequel-era planet could be featured once again on the big screen.
Naboo is one of the Skywalker Saga's most loaded planets, mainly for being the birthplace of Padmé Amidala and Sheev Palpatine. It also served as the site of the Trade Federation invasion that kickstarted the crisis in the prequels.
Naboo returning in Starfighter would be the perfect way for the film to show how a lawless order affects a place where the Republic once thrived.
