Matt Smith to Play ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’s Villain

According to reports, Smith will be the main villain in the new ‘Star Wars’ movie, starring Ryan Gosling & directed by ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’s Shawn Levy.

(Left) Matt Smith in HBO's 'House of the Dragon.' Photograph by Ollie Upton/HBO. (Right) (L to R) 'Star Wars: Starfighter's Ryan Gosling and director Shawn Levy at Star Wars Celebration 2025. Photo: Lucasfilm.

Preview:

Matt Smith is joining ‘Star Wars: Starfighter.’
Ryan Gosling is aboard to star.
Shawn Levy will direct the movie.

With Ryan Gosling aboard to star and ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’s Shawn Levy behind the camera, ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’ is truly starting to come together.

Now, according to Deadline, Matt Smith, currently to be found appearing in ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel series ‘House of the Dragon’, will join the cast as the main villain.

The casting makes sense, since ‘Star Wars’ has often employed Brits as villainous characters, all the way back to the likes of Peter Cushing’s iconic, scowling, contemptuous Grand Moff Tarkin in the 1977 original.

What’s the story of ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’?

(L to R) 'Star Wars: Starfighter's director Shawn Levy, Ryan Gosling, Dave Filoni and Kathleen Kennedy at Star Wars Celebration 2025. Photo: Lucasfilm.

With the official news out there, we now have a proper, if basic bit of detail for the movie. It’s described as “a standalone adventure taking place approximately five years after the events of 2019’s ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.’ It is an entirely new adventure featuring all-new characters set in a period of time that has not been explored on screen yet.”

Gosling is reportedly playing a character that must protect a young charge against evil pursuers.

Smith will be hunting him down and we recently learned that ‘Pearl' and ‘MaXXXine’s Mia Goth will be on his scheming side.

What do Goth and Smith have in common, besides a propensity for playing quirky/threatening characters? Both born in the UK!

Jonathan Tropper, who collaborated with Levy on films such as ‘This is Where I Leave You’ and ‘The Adam Project,’ has been working on a script for over a year. Levy is also producing the feature via his 21 Laps banner, joining ‘Star Wars’ steward Kathleen Kennedy.

Where else can we see Matt Smith?

Matt Smith in 'House of the Dragon' season 2. Photograph by Theo Whitman/HBO.

Besides his Dragon-riding, endlessly plotting character, Smith is probably best known for playing the Eleventh incarnation of The Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’.

He’s also been seen in the likes of ‘The Crown’, ‘Morbius’ and ‘Last Night in Soho’.

Coming up for the actor is the role of an unorthodox punk in Darren Aronofsky’s latest, crime drama ‘Caught Stealing’, due in theaters on August 29th.

When will ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’ be in theaters?

With ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ boasting a confirmed release date of May 22nd, 2026, we now have a second ‘Star Wars’ movie on the calendar.

‘Star Wars: Starfighter’ is due to arrive on May 28th, 2027, and is set to start the cameras rolling in the fall, giving Smith some time to perfect his sneer.

(L to R) 'Star Wars: Starfighter's director Shawn Levy, Ryan Gosling, Dave Filoni and Kathleen Kennedy at Star Wars Celebration 2025. Photo: Lucasfilm.