Disney has revealed the first image from Star Wars: Starfighter, and fans have noticed a small detail most people are overlooking.
The debut shot, originally posted on director Shawn Levy's Instagram and later on Disney’s official site, features Ryan Gosling and a young companion on a makeshift raft in the middle of a giant ocean.
If you think that raft looks familiar, there’s a good reason for that. Commenters on X are saying it resembles some sort of Rebel Landspeeder. Since it’s now seaborne, that suggests it’s had a rather fatal mishap, and Gosling’s character has presumably had to rapidly adapt its hull for his watery new conditions.
Those conditions are the Mediterranean Sea. That’s confirmed by Levy, who’s currently shooting Star Wars: Starfighter. The Deadpool and Wolverine director said the shot was taken off the coast of Sardinia, Italy.
This marks a radical departure shift from previous Star Wars films, which have heavily featured the dry and arid landscapes of desert planets like Tatooine and Jakku.
Here’s what else fans are saying about Star Wars: Starfighter.
Star Wars: Starfighter Reactions
Gosling appears slightly worse for wear, bearing a bruised cheek. One commenter on X reckons he cuts a close resemblance to a familiar face from Star Wars lore.
His sidekick, meanwhile, is played by actor Flynn Gray. His clothes, if not his entire demeanor, are giving a subtle callback to Han Solo. Could he be up to similar scoundrel ways?
When Is Star Wars: Starfighter Set?
Star Wars: Starfighter is a standalone spinoff taking place following 2019's Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
“From the day Kathy Kennedy called me up, inviting me to develop an original adventure in this incredible Star Wars galaxy, this experience has been a dream come true, creatively and personally," Levy said in an announcement on the official Star Wars website.
"Star Wars shaped my sense of what story can do, how characters and cinematic moments can live with us forever. To join this storytelling galaxy with such brilliant collaborators onscreen and off, is the thrill of a lifetime.”
What Is Star Wars: Starfighter About?
Star Wars: Starfighter is an “entirely original story set in a period of time never before explored in Star Wars,” as reported by Star Wars. It's apparently set five years after the events of 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
When Does Star Wars: Starfighter Release?
Star Wars: Starfighter debuts in cinemas on May 28, 2027. Before then comes May 2026’s The Mandalorian & Grogu, a spinoff adventure and the first Star Wars film in seven years. The last was Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.