Ryan Gosling’s Star Wars: Starfighter Character Has Legends Fans Wondering the Same Thing
The first trailer for the newest offering from Star Wars, sure to take the galaxy by storm, officially arrived at D23, and it seems ready to fix the mistakes made by The Mandalorian and Grogu. And while some fans were worried that Star Wars: Starfighter was leaning into the now-overdone trope of “rugged space dad begrudgingly raises special child,” it seems that the only thing even remotely rehashed is the main character’s name—though it seems to me more of an homage than anything else, much like we’ve seen before in both Rebels and Ahsoka.
Just about everything pertaining to Starfighter has been kept tightly under wraps, with Star Wars fans desperate for any crumb of information about the film that they could get their hands on. And they were rewarded with more than a trailer this weekend—the character that Ryan Gosling will be playing has officially been brought to life with a name: Kade Auberon. This had Star Wars Legends fans’ ears perking up, as it’s reminiscent of another beloved character, Cade Skywalker.
Kade Aurberon Seems To Be an Homage to Cade Skywalker—and That’s Not a Bad Thing
It seems Cade Skywalker may have played a big role in inspiring Kade Auberon. More than just lending his name, there are glimpses of the Legends character in Auberon’s aesthetic, as well as his seemingly gruff demeanor and Han Solo-esque bearing that fans were treated to in the trailer. A smuggler, bounty hunter, and a pirate, the scruffy blonde Skywalker, the son of Kol Skywalker and Morrigan Korde, seems more than a little present in this film. But when Disney left so much incredible material behind by ruling that the novels written before the release of the sequel films weren’t canon, it’s easy to see what a shame it is to let a character archetype like this go to waste. And who better to bring this sort of character to life than Ryan Gosling? It wouldn’t be the first time he’d stepped into similar shoes.
A standalone film, Star Wars: Starfighter takes place five years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. Former Disney Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy also said some well-known characters from the sequel trilogy may appear in the film—something Star Wars fans vehemently oppose. “I would prefer if they keep this completely separated from any Skywalkers, just a fun little adventure random characters have in this truly unexplored galaxy,” said one fan. Another agreed, responding with, “Please just let these be some dude. So many nooks and crannies to explore. The universe is so lived in. Let’s see the people who live in it.”
Overall, it seems that fans are looking forward to stepping back into a galaxy far, far away, but hoping to leave behind the bad taste that The Rise of Skywalker put in their mouths to focus on new stories and new characters.
