Star Wars' 2027 Movie Will Do What The Franchise Has Avoided Since The Phantom Menace

Published Sep 5, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT

Craig began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016 and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. After previously writing for various outlets, Craig's focus turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally became useful. Craig has previously been published by sites such as Den of Geek.

Craig is an approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-elvy-5b31a3381/

It's difficult to overstate the importance of Disney's upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter movie to the wider Star Wars franchise. A fruitful start with the one-two punch of The Force Awakens and Rogue One quickly lost momentum after the subversive The Last Jedi, the troubled Solo, and the awkward patchwork of The Rise of Skywalker. 2026's The Mandalorian and Grogu was Disney's attempt to revive Star Wars' big screen fortunes with tried-and-tested characters, but it underwhelmed both critically and at the box office.

Star Wars: Starfighter offers another roll of the dice. A new era, unseen characters, and a fresh story provide a blank slate for the first time since The Force Awakens began the sequel era in 2015. Ryan Gosling brings no small amount of star power, while director Shawn Levy proved his deft hand with major franchises at the helm of Deadpool & Wolverine. It certainly will be a concern if Disney can't get a tune out of Star Wars: Starfighter, and the only real card left to play would be launching another full-scale Jedi vs. Sith trilogy.

While Star Wars: Starfighter's story is being kept carefully under wraps, the film promises an unusual cocktail of nostalgia and innovation. On one hand, the lack of connection to past movies and the focus on space aviation are a throwback to 1977, when Star Wars first blazed into theaters. On the other, Starfighter marks the first significant step into the post-sequel era, where everything is unknown and unpredictable.

As a consequence of triggering that new era, Star Wars: Starfighter looks destined to do something live-action Star Wars movies haven't done since The Phantom Menace back in 1999, although whether that's for better or worse remains to be seen.

Starfighter Will (Probably) Be The First Star Wars Movie Without Stormtroopers Since 1999

Star Wars is rammed with iconic visual motifs that echo across almost every movie, more or less expected by fans. R2-D2 and C-3PO, lightsabers, X-wing fighters, and blasters all fall into this category, but few sights scream "Star Wars" quite as loudly as the stark white outline of a Stormtrooper.

Stormtroopers were ever-present throughout Star Wars' original trilogy, fighting back against the plucky Rebel Alliance. The prequel trilogy introduced the Clone Troopers, and while you can argue about their biology and allegiances, the clones effectively served the same function and cut the same imposing image as Stormtroopers did in the original movies.

In the Disney era, the First Order's Stormtrooper tribute act stayed dominant through all three sequels, while Rogue One and Solo being set at the height of the Empire's reign meant Stormtroopers were very visible in both. Just like on TV, The Mandalorian and Grogu found a way to incorporate Stormtroopers after the Empire's defeat thanks to those pesky "Imperial Remnants."

You need to look pretty hard to find a Star Wars movie without Stormtroopers. Indeed, the only place to look would be 1999's The Phantom Menace. Set years before The Clone Wars, long ahead of the Jedi discovering Sifo-Dias' deal with the Kaminoans to create the Clone Army, The Phantom Menace is the one occasion in Star Wars' movie history where uttering the term "Stormtrooper" would be met with confused shrugs, making it a unique point in the franchise.

Unique, that is, until now. Taking place five years on from the First Order/Final Order/ThankYouForYour Order being defeated in The Rise of Skywalker, there is no reason for any kind of Stormtrooper to be anywhere near Star Wars: Starfighter. Every iteration of Palpatine's white-clad blaster merchants should be long disbanded by the time Ryan Gosling hops into the galaxy far, far away.

If Star Wars: Starfighter Does Have Stormtroopers, We Could Have A Problem

Image via MovieStillsDB

All reasonable logic suggests Star Wars: Starfighter shouldn't have a Stormtrooper in sight, but until the finished film hits theaters, it's impossible to know for sure. If those familiar shiny helmets do crop up to chase Ryan Gosling through the galaxy, Star Wars could be walking straight into a trap in terms of providing a workable explanation for their return.

Star Wars: Starfighter could, plausibly, claim that dregs of the First Order (the Final, Final Order?) still roam the galaxy causing trouble. But that's exactly the same trick The Mandalorian pulled with the Imperial Remnants, and it only made sense back then because viewers already knew the First Order would eventually evolve out of those loyal soldiers still serving the Empire. The idea that one last bastion of First Order forces is still fighting on Palpatine's behalf five years after The Rise of Skywalker isn't impossible, but also isn't particularly exciting, and would feel suspiciously like Moff Gideon all over again.

Alternatively, Star Wars: Starfighter could reveal that the movie's villains (speculated to be played by Matt Smith and Mia Goth) have started their own variation on the Stormtroopers. New troops, but the same old name and aesthetic to instill the same fear. Again, this might have worked if Star Wars hadn't done it already. The First Order revived Stormtroopers to position itself as the Empire 2.0. Before that, the Stormtroopers themselves were a continuation of the Clone Troopers, and the Empire diversified their troops into so many different roles, they've had more jobs than Barbie at this point. After Stormtroopers, pre-Stormtroopers, and post-Stormtroopers, whichever main villain comes next in Star Wars canon better have some other soldiers up their sleeve.

Stormtroopers: Do We Need Them?

"The first Star Wars movie since The Phantom Menace to do it..." is hardly a glowing endorsement, given how badly the first prequel was received upon release. Its reputation has improved in the years since, but nowhere near enough to bring it in line with the franchise's best.

One aspect of The Phantom Menace that has aged reasonably well, however, is its replacement for Stormtroopers: the Battle Droids. The running joke with Stormtroopers is that they're supposed to be elite, ruthless fighters, but actually just run around shooting walls and hitting their heads on scenery. For The Phantom Menace, George Lucas had the B1 Battle Droids lean fully into a comedic role. And it worked, with their frail chassis and dull intellect coming as a result of being mass-produced, soulless units.

As fodder for the heroes to slice through, the Battle Droids worked well enough. Subsequent releases like Star Wars: The Clone Wars even managed to add more color and character to the foundation laid by The Phantom Menace. And when the need arose for a more intimidating enemy, the prequels could always roll out the Destroyers and Super Battle Droids, which were much more down-to-business.

At the very least, The Phantom Menace proves that live-action Star Wars films are capable of moving beyond Stormtroopers and successfully doing something different. If Star Wars: Starfighter really is the beginning of a new era in the franchise's timeline, it should follow the same path. Just maybe tone down the Rogers this time.