Could Shawn Levy and Ryan Gosling Actually Make a Funny ‘Star Wars’ Movie?

There’s no good reason a Star Wars installment can’t be funny, insists Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy. Even though his own take on the galaxy far, far away was gritty and realistic, he recently went on record that the world was ready for a three-camera sitcom set in the Star Wars universe. 

It’s Always Sunny In Space isn’t coming anytime soon, but yesterday’s announcement that Ryan Gosling was joining Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy for a new movie called Star Wars: Starfighter made me think that laughs could be mined from the decades-long franchise after all. 

Star Wars movies aren’t all deadly serious, of course. C-3PO and R2-D2 were practically a vaudeville comedy duo. Princess Leia seduced Han Solo by calling him a “stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder.” Yoda was a Muppet, for Pete’s sake. But the films are more serious than not, even if you count Jar Jar Binks as comic relief rather than an embarrassment.

Based on their recent successes, the Levy/Gosling pairing hints at something different. Levy made Disney more than a billion dollars with the comic excesses of Deadpool & Wolverine, a movie that scored with its sarcastic wordplay as much as its ultraviolent action sequences. And Gosling scored an Oscar nomination for his witty turn as Ken in Barbie, followed up by the goofy action-comedy The Fall Guy. He’s not a comedian by trade, but Gosling falls squarely into the Ryan Reynolds “amiable smartass” category. 

Translation: You don’t hire Levy and Gosling unless you have an action-comedy in mind. And it might just be the thing to jump-start the sleepy franchise, which can’t seem to get a feature film off the ground these days. 

Fans are intrigued but dubious. Oscar winner Mikey Madison has already turned down a part in Star Wars: Starfighter — does she know something about the script that we don’t, or is she simply interested in more awards-worthy fare? 

Then there’s Lucasfilm’s recent track record of trumpeting new movies that never see the light of day. “They announce movies and TV and then scrap them,” wrote one fan. “Will believe it when this movie comes out.”

Redditors are already having fun with the idea. “Ryan Gosling is… Porkins!” wrote one, referencing the beefy fighter pilot also known as Piggy. 

“Drive, in SPAAAAAAACEEE!” suggested another. 

Some suggested ideas for mash-up catchphrases: “Use the Force, Ken.” 

All jokes aside, Disney and Lucasfilm have an opportunity to reinvent Star Wars in a much funnier, lighter way. Just like Marvel allowed Levy to take the piss out of comic book movies, here’s hoping the powers-that-be allow the director to poke some irreverent fun at the space-opera genre. One Redditor summed it up for all of us: “Please don’t break my heart and be shitty.”