The Star Wars franchise has certainly had its ups and downs over the years, with the Disney Star Wars era proving particularly tumultuous at times. Although Disney Star Wars had a fairly rough start with the sequel trilogy, wherein Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in particular marked a low point for the galaxy far, far away, the franchise has also had some major wins within the last decade or so, such as with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Andor, and The Mandalorian. However, when it comes to the latter, the once incredibly popular show took a bit of a turn for the worse with time.
That’s evident when looking at the response to The Mandalorian and Grogu, which unfortunately wasn’t nearly the box office success that many were hoping for, but even before that movie hit the big screen, there were some major complaints about the show—and, no, they weren’t all having to do with some weird season 3 choices like the inclusion of Jack Black and Lizzo. Rather, audiences began to grow tired of the use of the Volume, Lucasfilm’s virtual production studio, in place of practical sets. While it’s too late for The Mandalorian and Grogu to course correct (although the movie reportedly used the Volume much less than The Mandalorian did), it seems Star Wars’ next blockbuster may be the change the franchise needs.
Although very little is currently known story-wise about the Ryan Gosling-led Star Wars movie Star Wars: Starfighter, Aaron Pierre, who plays a yet unidentified role in the film, has shared what it’s like on set. Speaking with GQ, Pierre said, “Whole worlds are literally built for you to walk through, touch, go inside, and climb. The music that gets played before a scene commences…It feels like you’re on stage. Like, the mud is real!” This is a genuinely thrilling update to get on the movie, because it suggests that Starfighter will see the franchise going back to basics, with truly immersive practical sets—ones that, clearly, have at least some of the actors excited.
Of course, this remains to be seen, but if Starfighter is a return to form, at least in this sense, then it may be very good news for the franchise overall. While Star Wars audiences have proven that they do want original stories, not only with Andor being a smash hit but also with backlash to Star Wars: The Force Awakens because it felt like a copy of A New Hope, they’ve also made it clear that they don’t want movies and shows they feel are too significant a departure from what’s been done before in the franchise, like with The Acolyte or, to a degree, Skeleton Crew.
Starfighter might really be the best of both worlds, based on that. The movie is seemingly focused on pilots, not on the Jedi, Sith, Skywalkers, or the Force, so it will feel like a unique story in the way that The Mandalorian also did at first. However, if the movie really is largely doing away with the Volume and is opting for stunning practical sets, then it seems more likely to feel like Star Wars—something that might win audiences over.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the cast is star-studded from top to bottom, with Amy Adams, Mia Goth, and Matt Smith joining Gosling and Pierre, along with various others. Potentially, and hopefully, Starfighter could be the movie Star Wars has been waiting for to turn a new leaf.
