Star Wars Starfighter Gets First Official Reaction: “It’s Awesome…”

The first official reaction to Star Wars: Starfighter has arrived months before the movie even reaches theaters. Shawn Levy, the filmmaker behind Deadpool & Wolverine, directed the upcoming space adventure, which stars Ryan Gosling as a brand-new character in a galaxy far, far away. It is a hugely important release for Lucasfilm, which hopes a fresh original adventure can steady the franchise on the big screen.

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige revealed he already watched Starfighter, and he loved what he saw. His comments amount to the first official public review of the new Star Wars movie, and they arrive at a moment when the franchise badly needs a theatrical win.

Feige shared his reaction during Marvel Studios' Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, July 25, while announcing that Levy and Gosling will reunite for Marvel’s new Ghost Rider movie. That project rides into theaters in 2028, with Starfighter writer Jonathan Tropper penning the script.

While introducing the pair, Feige told the crowd he watched Levy’s Star Wars movie and found it "awesome," admitting it gave him "all the Star Wars feels:"

"I have been lucky enough to see 'Star Wars: Starfighter' and, as a Star Wars nerd (I’m a bigger Star Wars nerd than Marvel nerd. Is that true? No it’s not), it’s awesome… It gives me all the Star Wars feels and brings a fresh new thing to it. And I can’t wait for you to see it."

Feige also singled out Gosling, complimenting the charisma the actor brings to the film. He doubled down on how much he loved the upcoming Star Wars project in an interview with journalist Josh Horowitz after the panel, calling Starfighter "another banger."

This marks the first time anyone outside the production publicly weighed in after seeing the movie. Levy wrapped filming in December following location work that included stops in Italy, and the director is now working through post-production ahead of next year’s debut.

Star Wars: Starfighter opens in theaters on May 28, 2027. The movie tells an entirely original story set roughly five years after 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, in a period the films have never explored.

Gosling leads the cast alongside young newcomer Flynn Gray, with Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Amy Adams, Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, and Daniel Ings rounding out the ensemble. Plot details remain under wraps, though the story reportedly centers on Gosling’s character protecting a boy played by Gray, and Smith and Goth are reportedly playing villains.

Is Starfighter the Next Great Star Wars Movie?

Feige’s glowing reaction should come with a small asterisk. Disney owns Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm alike, and he delivered his review moments after announcing a project that reunites him with the same director and star. Nobody expected him to stand on the Hall H stage and shrug.

Even so, this praise means more than the usual corporate cheerleading. Feige is a lifelong Star Wars devotee who once nearly developed his own movie in the franchise, with Loki creator Michael Waldron writing the script before Lucasfilm quietly shelved the project. When a fan with that history walks out of a screening impressed, it’s hard not to take the compliment as genuine.

There is also a real argument that Starfighter could turn into something special. Levy comes into the project off Deadpool & Wolverine, which earned more than $1.3 billion worldwide, and he said Lucasfilm gave him as much creative freedom as any original movie he ever made, with the studio’s only note being to make something new. The ensemble is also loaded with award-caliber talent, which is a strong asset in the film's arsenal. No theatrical Star Wars movie before this one fully committed to new characters in an untouched era; even Rogue One and Solo orbited the original trilogy.

The stakes for this filming are higher than ever, so it needs to be an absolute banger like Feige claims. The Mandalorian and Grogu returned the franchise to theaters in May and stumbled, posting the franchise’s lowest domestic launch of the Disney era on its way to a soft global run. Lucasfilm needs its next movie to reverse that slide, and Disney’s own behavior suggests genuine confidence. The studio handed the Starfighter trio of Levy, Gosling, and Tropper the keys to Ghost Rider before their Star Wars movie even reached the public, which is a very positive sign. If the finished film matches Feige’s enthusiasm, Starfighter could give Star Wars its strongest theatrical moment in years.