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’s Star Wars: Starfighter is no exception.
Gosling’s character, Kade Auberon, was officially introduced to audiences at the annual D23 event in Anaheim, California, alongside several other new Star Wars announcements. When the trailer inevitably leaked online soon after, fans were drawn to Gosling’s jacket — specifically the symbol stitched across it and what it could mean for the future of Star Wars and/or the Rebel Alliance.
When George Lucas’s 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.
However, the meaning behind that symbol may be changing, if Ryan Gosling’s Starfighter jacket is any indication.
Unlike the regular upright starbird, often a shade of orange, black, or white, Kade’s 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’s obvious that Kade’s way of wearing the starbird symbol is meant to depict the skull-and-crossbones. It’s iconography that even children would recognize: who else uses skull-and-crossbones but pirates?
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 — a perfect time for pirates to take advantage.
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 — a little like wearing a One Piece jacket to a protest — to show off his status as a rebellious outsider. While we doubt the latter is the case, we can’t rule it out completely — this is a franchise that had poor Oscar Isaac say “somehow Palpatine returned.” Subtlety and Star Wars often don’t go together.
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.
Still, material like Andor and Rogue One shows the Rebellion wasn’t squeaky-clean. Luthen Rael and his Axis Network were not above assassination and murder — “I am forced to use the tools of my enemy” — and Saw Gerrera’s methods earned him a nefarious reputation. Could Kade relate to—or even be inspired by—a portrayal of the Rebels as lawless bandits willing to do whatever was necessary to create a world without the Empire?
We won’t know the answers to our questions about Kade’s jacket until Star Wars: Starfighter debuts on the silver screen on May 28, 2027. Even so, it’s undeniable that Star Wars is entering a new era next year — let’s hope it’s as exciting as the Jolly Roger looks on Gosling’s back.
Star Wars: Starfighter releasees in theaters on on May 28, 2027.
