Matt Smith to play villain in Star Wars: Starfighter

Matt Smith has been cast as the villain in the upcoming Star Wars movie Starfighter.

The House of the Dragon star has been cast as the next great villain in the Star Wars universe, sources told Deadline.

According to the publication, director Shawn Levy met with several actors for this key role before settling on the Doctor Who actor.

Smith will star alongside Ryan Gosling, who has been attached to the project for months, and Mia Goth, who was cast in June. Their roles are currently being kept a secret along with the plot.

However, when Levy and Gosling officially announced the movie's title and release date at the Star Wars Celebration fan event in Japan in April, they revealed it will be set around five years after the events of 2019's The Rise of Skywalker and be a standalone story with new characters.

The La La Land actor teased the film, telling the audience that it's "a great story" with original characters and filled with "so much heart and adventure".

"There just really is not a more perfect filmmaker for this particular story than Shawn," he said of the Deadpool & Wolverine director.

The film will go into production this autumn and open in cinemas on 28 May 2027.

It will be released around a year after the next Star Wars movie, The Mandalorian & Grogu, which comes to cinemas in May 2026.

Later this month, Smith will be seen on screens in Darren Aronofsky's thriller Caught Stealing, which also stars Austin Butler and Zoe Kravitz. His upcoming projects also include the TV series, The Death of Bunny Monro, in which he plays the title character.