‘Star Wars: Starfighter’: Matt Smith to Play Main Villain in the Shawn Levy Directorial!!

Star Wars: Starfighter is shaping up to be something pretty incredible. The Ryan Gosling-led movie from director Shawn Levy and writer Jonathan Tropper just got an exciting update: It will have Doctor Who star Matt Smith as the main villain of the film. This is exciting for fans who have been waiting for Smith to show up in the franchise after he was originally supposed to pop up in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker but was ultimately cut from the film. There is no word yet on who exactly he’ll play, just that he was cast as the film’s villain.

This is now the fourth time in franchise history that Smith has taken on a villain role after his defining role as the Eleventh Doctor on Doctor Who. He went on to star as Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon as part of the Game of Thrones franchise, he was Milo in Morbius, and was also Skynet in the Terminator franchise. He’s also played more villainous roles in movies like Edgar Wright‘s Last Night in Soho and more so taking on the role of a Star Wars villain is well within Smith‘s range and is a long time coming.

Smith joins Gosling and star Mia Goth as the announced stars of the film so far. Filming is set to begin later this year with the release of the film set for spring of 2027. The film is set after that of The Rise of Skywalker so we could see Smith in a similar role that he was supposed to have in the original film or maybe he’s an entirely new villain. Either way, Smith deserves this after his role was cut in The Rise of Skywalker.

This Is a Reunion For Matt Smith and Ryan Gosling

Gosling‘s directorial debut was a film called Lost River that Smith starred in. It was also, famously, the reason that Smith’s take on the Doctor was bald during his regeneration episode at the end of his run. Gosling wasn’t in the film but the two have worked together in the past. Gosling also has a long history of working with actors from the Doctor Who franchise, especially since he just starred in Barbie with the most recent iteration of the Doctor with Ncuti Gatwa. Until we know more, it is exciting to see both Gosling and Smith reuniting again and Smith finally getting his time in the Star Wars franchise.