Starfighter Trailer, Ahsoka and Anakin: Biggest Star Wars News Out of D23

Live at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Friday night as part of Disney’s D23 fan convention, Lucasfilm President Dave Filoni announced some of what’s coming next in the Star Wars universe.

And perhaps the biggest reveal was a trailer for the upcoming film, Starfighter.

Starfighter

Disney’s D23 event gave fans a peek at the new chapter in the Star Wars franchise during its entertainment presentation on Friday, revealing a trailer for Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Starfighter film. The movie was announced in early 2025 and is due to hit theaters on May 28, 2027, featuring Ryan Gosling and Flynn Gray as lead characters. 

Ryan Gosling, in a jacket with a skull and crossbones, was on hand to reveal fresh details about his upcoming Star Wars film. The emblem is the signature of his character, whose name was revealed to be Kade Auberon — not one franchise fans should recognize, but certainly one that sounds like it came from a galaxy far, far away.

Gosling called it a life-changing role before introducing the trailer.

Set five years after the events of 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, the space-faring tale teases Gosling riding “the fastest starfighter ever built.”

Gosling plays a talented pilot, while Gray is the young boy he’s charged to protect. The packed cast also includes Aaron Pierre, Mia Goth, Amy Adams, Daniel Ings, Jamael Westman, Simon Bird and House of the Dragon’s Matt Smith. 

Shawn Levy is directing the adventure flick, and at the Star Wars Celebration in Japan last year, he explained how this story is in a lane of its own. “This is a standalone,” he said. “It’s not a prequel, not a sequel. It’s a new adventure. It’s set in a period of time that we haven’t seen explored yet.”

It’ll hit theaters on May 28, 2027.

Ahsoka season 2: Hayden Christensen is back as Anakin

Corinne Reichert/CNET

Joining Lucasfilm President Dave Filoni on stage were Ahsoka live-action actress Rosario Dawson; Eman Esfandi, who plays Ezra Bridger; and, surprisingly, Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episodes II and III.

Anakin was a big part of the original Ahsoka Tano story in the animated Clone Wars series, and Christensen’s return to the character in a pivotal episode during the first season of Ahsoka was arguably its best. It makes sense for him to return in season two, seemingly in flashbacks of Ahsoka’s past and as a guiding Force ghost in her present.

The teaser trailer showed Christensen leading Ahsoka to, perhaps, become a Jedi once again.

Ahsoka season 2 will stream on Disney Plus on Jan 20, 2027.

Star Wars IV coming back to theaters

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Wars, which was released in 1977, the original movie will be re-released in its original form in theaters next year.

Kourtnee Jackson

Senior Editor

Kourtnee covers streaming services and entertainment. She previously worked as an entertainment reporter at Endgame 360, where she wrote about film, television, music, celebrities and streaming platforms.

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Corinne Reichert

Senior Editor

Corinne Reichert (she/her) grew up in Sydney, Australia and moved to California in 2019. She holds degrees in law and communications, and currently writes news, analysis and features for CNET across the topics of electric vehicles, broadband networks, mobile devices, big tech, artificial intelligence, home technology and entertainment. In her spare time, she watches soccer games and F1 races, and goes to Disneyland as often as possible.

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