Production has begun on Star Wars: Starfighter, with Matt Smith’s new villain in cinemas for Star Wars’ 50th Anniversary
Doctor Who’s Matt Smith will finally be travelling to a galaxy far, far away for a role in Star Wars: Starfighter. Smith will be starring alongside modern horror icon Mia Goth (MaXXXine, Frankenstein) as the film’s villains. Opposite them, Ryan Gosling (Barbie, Drive, Blade Runner 2049), famously a slightly surprising Doctor Who fan himself, leads the heroes. Other stars include Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings, and Amy Adams.
There’s very little detail publicly available about Starfighter, however. Lucasfilm have simply described the move as “an entirely original story set in a period of time never before explored in Star Wars.” Considering the large number of Star Wars series and films so far that doesn’t seem to leave many options. Perhaps one possibility is a setting between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. That would mean a background of a galaxy where separatist tensions haven’t yet exploded into the Clone Wars. Another option is a narrative which takes it beyond the final destruction of the Sith in Rise of Skywalker.
Matt Smith was previously due to appear in Rise of Skywalker, though the rapidly evolving script ultimately meant his character’s removal. Some have speculated that he was to play a clone of the Dark Lord Palpatine. However, others say his character was an embodiment of the Dark Side, made flesh by Palpatine’s experiments. Either way, it’s unlikely there’s any connection to his new villain.
Starfighter entered production a few weeks ago, and will be in cinemas on the 28th of May, 2027, 50 years to the week after the original Star Wars film.
In the meantime, viewers can currently see Matt Smith in Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing. He’s also completed filming of Nick Cave adaptation The Death of Bunny Munro for release later this year, and will be returning for the next season of House of the Dragon.
