{"id":747332,"date":"2026-08-23T16:32:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T16:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/747332\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T16:32:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T16:32:15","slug":"after-49-years-its-officially-the-end-of-an-era-for-star-wars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/747332\/","title":{"rendered":"After 49 Years, It’s Officially the End of an Era for Star Wars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ryan Gosling is known for enjoying a good jacket, and several of his characters wear outerwear that makes him stand out amongst the crowd. Even scatterbrained genius Ryland Grace from Project Hail Mary rocked an effortlessly cool sweater-jacket combo that made him the belle of the apocalypse. His debut in Shawn Levy\u2019s Star Wars: Starfighter<\/a> is no exception.<\/p>\n

Gosling\u2019s character, Kade Auberon, was officially introduced to audiences at the annual D23 event<\/a> in Anaheim, California, alongside several other new Star Wars<\/a> announcements. When the trailer inevitably leaked online soon after, fans were drawn to Gosling\u2019s jacket \u2014 specifically the symbol stitched across it and what it could mean for the future of Star Wars and\/or the Rebel Alliance.<\/p>\n

When George Lucas\u2019s Star Wars first hit the silver screen in 1977, nobody could have predicted the iconic starbird plastered on X-Wing helmets and jackets would remain such a pivotal symbol of the franchise almost half a century later. Its iconography has changed slightly over the years, with Star Wars: Rebels revealing its in-universe origin as Sabine Wren’s work. No matter how much time has passed, the symbol remains a perfect representation of the fight for freedom in an oppressive galaxy, from the Rebel Alliance in the original trilogy to the Resistance in the Disney-era sequels.<\/p>\n

\"Star
\n Lucasfilm\/Disney<\/p>\n

However, the meaning behind that symbol may be changing, if Ryan Gosling\u2019s Starfighter jacket is any indication.<\/p>\n

Unlike the regular upright starbird, often a shade of orange, black, or white, Kade\u2019s jacket in the D23 trailer depicts the symbol upside down, with what look like blasters (or the wings of X-Wings, depending on who you ask) positioned underneath. While only a brief shot before the trailer cuts away, it\u2019s obvious that Kade\u2019s way of wearing the starbird symbol is meant to depict the skull-and-crossbones. It\u2019s iconography that even children would recognize: who else uses skull-and-crossbones but pirates?<\/p>\n

The jacket could easily signal that Kade is a pirate or has pirate connections. Starfighter is confirmed to take place a handful of years after The Rise of Skywalker, in a galaxy where the First Order is no more and a clear power vacuum awaits filling \u2014 a perfect time for pirates to take advantage.<\/p>\n

That said, the jacket could also mean that Kade uses the starbird in a way that relies heavily on the aesthetics of freedom against oppression rather than acknowledging the symbol itself \u2014 a little like wearing a One Piece jacket to a protest \u2014 to show off his status as a rebellious outsider. While we doubt the latter is the case, we can\u2019t rule it out completely \u2014 this is a franchise that had poor Oscar Isaac say \u201csomehow Palpatine returned.\u201d Subtlety and Star Wars often don\u2019t go together.<\/p>\n

\"Ryan
\n Photo:\u00a0Ed Miller\/Lucasfilm<\/p>\n

Whether Kade uses the starbird for aesthetic reasons alone or for something else entirely, the symbol’s transformation signals a shift in attitude and a redefinition of the Rebel Alliance and the Resistance. In the original trilogy, Luke, Leia, and Han were often portrayed as noble, if scrappy, heroes fighting for justice and peace.<\/p>\n

Still, material like Andor and Rogue One shows the Rebellion wasn\u2019t squeaky-clean. Luthen Rael and his Axis Network were not above assassination and murder \u2014 \u201cI am forced to use the tools of my enemy\u201d \u2014 and Saw Gerrera\u2019s methods earned him a nefarious reputation. Could Kade relate to\u2014or even be inspired by\u2014a portrayal of the Rebels as lawless bandits willing to do whatever was necessary to create a world without the Empire?<\/p>\n

We won\u2019t know the answers to our questions about Kade\u2019s jacket until Star Wars: Starfighter debuts on the silver screen on May 28, 2027. Even so, it\u2019s undeniable that Star Wars is entering a new era next year \u2014 let\u2019s hope it\u2019s as exciting as the Jolly Roger looks on Gosling\u2019s back.<\/p>\n

Star Wars: Starfighter releasees in theaters on on May 28, 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryan Gosling is known for enjoying a good jacket, and several of his characters wear outerwear that makes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":747333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-747332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=747332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/747333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=747332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=747332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=747332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}