How Ryan Gosling's Voice Shaped 'Star Wars: Starfighter' Script

Jonathan Tropper, the writer behind Apple TV+'s limited series Lucky, has been making the podcast rounds following the show's finale — and in the process, he's offered a surprisingly candid window into how Star Wars: Starfighter is taking shape, with Ryan Gosling's voice apparently lodged firmly in his head. According to Deadline, Tropper joined the Crew Call podcast to unpack the finale's central dramatic question while also touching on the creative demands of writing for one of Hollywood's most closely watched performers.

The Lucky Finale, Explained

Spoilers follow for the concluding episode of Lucky. The Apple TV+ limited series built its entire thriller architecture around a missing $10 million — money absconded with by Lucky's (Anya Taylor-Joy) ex-husband, who happens to be the son of crime queenpin Priscilla, played with cool menace by Annette Bening. The finale ultimately hinges on why Priscilla allows Lucky and her father (Timothy Olyphant) to walk free, even after the pair gain access to that very sum. William Fichtner's Wayne, Priscilla's husband, served as the original catalyst for the whole bloody chase, which gave the story its propulsive momentum across the season.

Tropper's explanation centers on character psychology rather than plot mechanics — a distinction that separates thoughtful genre storytelling from mere narrative convenience. The choice to let Lucky go reflects something about Priscilla's own relationship to power, motherhood, and what she's willing to destroy in service of principle versus pragmatism. It's the kind of morally textured conclusion that elevates a thriller into something more considered, and Tropper clearly relished working through it publicly.

Writing Star Wars: Starfighter With Gosling's Voice in His Ear

Perhaps the most intriguing revelation from the Deadline conversation is the degree to which Gosling's persona has actively shaped Tropper's writing process on Starfighter. Casting an actor before a script is finished is common in big-tentpole productions, but the creative osmosis Tropper describes — Gosling's cadence, his rhythms, even his characteristic blend of dry wit and emotional weight — seeping into the dialogue drafts is a more intimate creative dynamic than audiences typically hear about.

It's worth noting that Gosling has built a reputation for bringing unexpected interiority to blockbuster roles, a quality that made his turn in Barbie so critically disarming. For a franchise like Star Wars, which has historically struggled to balance mythic scale with genuine human specificity, having a performer of that caliber attached early enough to influence the writing stage seems like a deliberate creative decision. Tropper's comments suggest the production isn't simply slotting Gosling into a pre-existing template — the character is being written toward him.

Gosling is also set to take on another major franchise role in the near future. Marvel's casting director has spoken about why Gosling was born to play Ghost Rider, and the actor is officially confirmed for the Ghost Rider film arriving in 2028. Questions about which Spirit of Vengeance he'll portray and how the character fits into the MCU's continuity remain active points of fan discussion — making Starfighter just one part of a remarkable stretch of franchise work ahead of him.

The Craft Behind High-Stakes Television

What Tropper's podcast appearance ultimately underscores is how much intentional craft goes into projects that could easily coast on their star power and IP. Whether it's threading the emotional logic of a finale twist in a streamer thriller or calibrating dialogue for an actor with Gosling's very particular onscreen intelligence, the conversation reflects a screenwriting culture that, at its best, takes character seriously as the load-bearing structure beneath spectacle. For audiences who followed Lucky through to its end, that's reassuring context — and for Star Wars fans, it's an early signal worth tracking.