The cast for Star Wars: Starfighter is coming together, with Mia Goth reportedly joining Ryan Gosling in the upcoming sci-fi adventure.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Goth—best known for her roles as Maxine Minx and Pearl in the X horror film series—will portray a villain in the Star Wars film directed by Shawn Levy of Deadpool & Wolverine fame. Filming begins in England this fall, with a theatrical release scheduled for May 28, 2027.

THR notes that Gosling’s character “must protect his young nephew from sinister forces,” one of which is Goth's character. Lucasfilm has declined to comment on the report.

As for its place in the Star Wars timeline, Starfighter is set five years after The Rise of Skywalker, the final chapter of the sequel trilogy. However, director Shawn Levy has emphasized that the film stands on its own. “This is a standalone story—not a prequel or a sequel,” he explained at Star Wars Celebration 2025 in April. “It’s a brand-new adventure set in an unexplored period of the galaxy.”

Starfighter is poised to follow 2026’s The Mandalorian and Grogu as the next Star Wars theatrical release. The title echoes a series of video games from the PS2/Xbox era, beginning with Star Wars: Starfighter in 2001 and followed by Jedi Starfighter in 2002, though the film is not expected to draw plot elements from those games.

While The Rise of Skywalker concludes with the defeat of Emperor Palpatine, it leaves the post-Battle of Exegol galaxy largely undefined. Daisy Ridley is confirmed to return in Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s direct sequel, which follows Rey as she works to rebuild the Jedi Order approximately 15 years after the events of that film. Starfighter, therefore, takes place earlier in the timeline.