Ryan Gosling Is Reportedly Set to Join Shawn Levy’s ‘Star Wars’ Film

After helping pull the Marvel Cinematic Universe back from the brink with the massive success of Deadpool & Wolverine, director Shawn Levy is now plunging headfirst into his Star Wars film.

Levy’s plans to tackle Star Wars were initially announced in 2022. At the time, Deadline reported that the filmmaker would start working on the project in earnest after the release of Deadpool 3  and the final season of Stranger Things.

Since that time, updates on the project have been few and far between. Last year, Levy revealed that he had begun developing the film when the 2023 WGA strike began.

Photo: Variety

“We were just starting the process of developing my movie, and the writer strike happened. So we are in that holding pattern that so much of our industry is in,” Levy told Collider.

“Development is slow-going and developing something with that amount of mythology and scaffolding, it takes time.”

Levy Wants to Explore New Territory

Subsequently, when appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Levy indicated that his film would not be a continuation of the Skywalker Saga, but would instead be set in its own corner of the universe.

Photo: Star Wars

“The experience of crafting this story has forced me to think about [what Star Wars is],” the director explained.

“Because there’s only so many times that Star Wars movies can revisit the same section of the timeline, and so it’s really forced me – because I don’t want to do a Star Wars movie that is redundant to others, nor am I interested in doing one that has to serve another movie.”

Photo: WSJ

Now, it looks like a major star is joining Levy in his endeavor.

Enter Ryan Gosling

According to a new report by The Hollywood Reporter, Ryan Gosling is in talks to headline Levy’s Star Wars film. While nothing has been finalized, Gosling is said to be extremely interested in the project.

Should a deal come to fruition, Gosling’s star power could jump-start Levy’s film into production. With the actor on board,  Levy’s Star Wars film would leapfrog James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi and Daisy Ridley’s Rey Skywalker film to enter development.

Photo: The Hollywood Reporter

The Levy/Gosling film would then follow The Mandalorian and Grogu as the next Star Wars feature film to hit theaters.

Should Gosling board the project, it would mark the rare use of a household name in a Star Wars feature film. Traditionally, the franchise has relied on unknown actors, many of whom (Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Ewan McGregor, Adam Driver, and Ridley, to name a few) were launched into superstardom.

Photo: Lucasfilm

For now, neither Lucasfilm, Gosling, nor Levy have confirmed anything. By the sound of things, however, the next chapter in Star Wars history may be materializing before our eyes.