At the same D23 event, Lucasfilm gave two of its projects wildly different treatment. Star Wars: Ahsoka Season 2 got an official trailer, released to the public. Star Wars: Starfighter's footage, on the other hand, stayed in the room — those in the audience saw it, and everyone else is left waiting.
The tone of the Ahsoka trailer isn't exactly crowd-pleasing: darker visuals with a witchy edge, a departure from the brighter space-opera feel of previous seasons. Grand Admiral Thrawn shows up — blue skin, red eyes, that same unnervingly calm delivery — his very presence a reminder that even though the Empire fell, the fuse for war is still buried somewhere in the galaxy, waiting for him to relight it. Season 2 is set to premiere January 20, 2027.
Meanwhile, Ryan Gosling took the stage himself to warm up the crowd for Starfighter. Footage was indeed shown, but only to the live audience — Disney has yet to release it officially. A few clips claiming to be leaked footage have surfaced online, but they can't be verified and should be treated as rumor for now.
Starfighter is set for a May 28, 2027 theatrical release, with Gosling leading a cast that also includes Matt Smith, Aaron Pierre, and Mia Goth. A trailer shown only to the room is, in a way, more buzzworthy than one released to the public — no screenshots, no frame-by-frame breakdowns, just "I saw it live" bragging rights making the rounds.
Two projects, two release strategies, side by side at the same event — it lays Disney's D23 playbook pretty bare: hype up what's ready to go public, and hold back what's meant to keep people guessing. As for when the general public will get to see the Starfighter footage, Disney hasn't said anything further yet.
