Eva Mendes Reportedly Joins Ryan Gosling in Star Wars: Starfighter

Morning News · Wednesday 28 October 2026

Eva Mendes is reported to be joining her husband, Ryan Gosling, in Star Wars: Starfighter, as the owner of a cantina somewhere in a galaxy far, far away. Also this morning: a Glasgow councillor rallies behind the bid to bring Doctor Who to Scotland, new Star Trek cards from Magic: The Gathering, the Knights of Ren’s own names for the Force, Sarah Snook in HBO’s new take on The Birds, a second term for Coven Academy, a horror comedy hangover, and a possible villain for Marvel’s Ghost Rider.

The News That Matters

Eva Mendes reportedly joins Ryan Gosling in Star Wars: Starfighter

• What happened: Eva Mendes is expected to appear alongside her husband Ryan Gosling in Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter, ComicBook.com reported
• Her role: She is said to play the owner of an intergalactic cantina. Earlier fan-site reports named the character Belle and described her as a glamorous 650-year-old alien in a gold dress
• Why it matters: It would be her first live-action film role in more than a decade, since Gosling’s Lost River in 2014
• Confirmed so far: Lucasfilm has not confirmed the casting or any details of the character. The film is set five years after The Rise of Skywalker, with Gosling as Kade Auberon, and Flynn Gray, Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre and Amy Adams also in the cast
• UK availability: Due in cinemas on 28 May 2027 (US date). UK date not yet confirmed

Treat this one as a report rather than a fact until Lucasfilm says otherwise, but it is a lovely idea. Star Wars cantinas have always been where the galaxy’s strangest characters gather, and a cameo from Mendes would fit Levy’s playful style. It is another talking point for a film whose budget we looked at in last Thursday’s Evening News. Catch up on the saga so far with our Star Wars watch guide.

Update: Glasgow councillor urges the city to back the bid to bring Doctor Who to Scotland

• New development: Glasgow City Council leader Ricky Bell is to be asked at Thursday’s full council meeting whether he has spoken to STV about how the council can help attract a new anchor production, “in particular in light of Doctor Who’s production being put out to tender”, The National reported
• Who is asking: Councillor Anthony Carroll, co-leader of the council’s Green group, who said he was “delighted” to hear of the STV Studios and Screen Scotland bid
• In his words: “With a city rich in historic locations, buildings, and even police boxes, Glasgow is a perfect location for production of the show to move to,” he said, pointing to the loss of River City and the planned closure of the BBC Scotland channel
• Where things stand: The BBC tender is for series 27, with the chance to extend to another series. The BBC would keep broadcasting the show and keep all rights. Glasgow City Council has not commented
• UK availability: The shortlist is due on 6 November, with a winner expected in the spring. Every episode so far is on BBC iPlayer

When we looked at the three companies reported to be in the running yesterday, the Scottish bid stood out as the one that would genuinely move the TARDIS. Local politicians lining up behind it shows how much the show means to a TV industry that has just lost River City. Cardiff will not give it up without a fight, of course. Meanwhile, our Doctor Who watch guide has every era ready to stream.

Update: Magic: The Gathering reveals five Star Trek Secret Lair drops, from Lower Decks to Khan

• New development: Wizards of the Coast revealed five Star Trek Secret Lair Drops on Tuesday, with a sixth still to come, Polygon reported
• What’s in them: A Lower Decks drop turns existing cards into Mariner, Boimler, Rutherford, Tendi and the USS Cerritos. Others are themed on beaming, the Klingons, Strange New Worlds and The Wrath of Khan, whose drop is officially titled “KHAAAAAAAAN”
• Fan favourite: Tendi’s card even quotes her line from Lower Decks: “I did it! I updated the dog!”
• UK availability: The drops go on sale on 9 November at 12pm Eastern time (5pm UK) while supplies last. The four Star Trek Commander decks follow on 13 November. UK prices not yet confirmed

We covered what is inside the main Star Trek set last week. These Secret Lair drops are more for collectors than for winning games, but the jokes are the point, and a card that celebrates Tendi’s shapeshifting, lightning-spitting dog is very Star Trek indeed.

The Knights of Ren give the light and dark sides new names in The Fall of Kylo Ren

• What happened: In Charles Soule’s Marvel comic series Star Wars: The Fall of Kylo Ren, the Knights of Ren call the light side “the Shine” and the dark side “the Shadow”, Collider reported
• And a third word: They use “Radiant” for someone with the potential to use the Force
• The story: The series is set between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker and fills in the history of Kylo Ren and the Knights who followed him
• Not the first time: Star Wars has renamed the Force before: Rebels used Ashla and Bogan, and the witches of The Acolyte spoke of “the thread”
• UK availability: The comic is available now from comic shops and digital platforms

Despite some excitable headlines, this is not Lucasfilm replacing “the Force”. It is the Knights’ own vocabulary, and that is what makes it interesting. Every group in Star Wars that sits outside the Jedi and the Sith seems to see the Force in its own way, and giving Kylo Ren’s gang their own words makes them feel like a real tradition rather than a squad of masked extras.

Sarah Snook will lead HBO’s reimagining of The Birds

• What happened: HBO has taken The Birds, a limited series inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film and Daphne du Maurier’s story, into development with Sarah Snook as its star, Deadline reported
• The story: A present-day reimagining with a murder mystery at its centre. Snook plays Myra Massey, who escapes a bitter custody battle by returning home with her young daughter and secretly looks into a childhood friend’s suspicious disappearance, only to face vicious bird attacks that seem tied to the crime
• Who’s making it: Tom Spezialy, an executive producer of Watchmen and The Leftovers, writes. David Heyman executive produces, with Universal Global Television as co-studio
• UK availability: HBO shows usually stream on Sky and NOW in the UK. UK date not yet confirmed

Snook won an Emmy for Succession and has more than proved herself in horror with Run Rabbit Run. Hitchcock’s film is famous for never explaining why the birds attack, so tying the attacks to a crime is a bold change. It could give the story a fresh mystery, or it could lose some of the original’s terrifying randomness.

Disney renews supernatural teen series Coven Academy for a second season

• What happened: Disney renewed Coven Academy for a second season on Monday, a little over three weeks after its premiere, Deadline and Variety reported
• The numbers: Season one logged 20.3 million hours worldwide in its first three weeks on Disney+ and Hulu, according to Disney, plus more than 30 million views after the first chapter was posted on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube
• The story: Three teenage witches and their dangerously charming warlock classmates at an elite magic boarding school, caught between ancient supernatural wars and forbidden romances. Malina Pauli Weissman, Malachi Barton and Tiffani Thiessen star, with Devon Sawa as a guest
• Who’s making it: Created by Tim Federle (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series)
• UK availability: Season one is streaming on Disney+ in the UK. Season two date not yet confirmed

A quick renewal like this tells you Disney sees a family hit. Half of the teenagers watching did so with an adult, which suggests Coven Academy has found the same sweet spot of spooky and fun that made Wednesday so big. It is a good one to try with the family this Halloween week.

Dead Giveaway trailer: a hangover, a body in the bed and a brunch to make

• What happened: Cineverse has released the trailer for Dead Giveaway, a horror comedy written and directed by Ian Kimble
• The story: Ruby Modine plays Jill, who wakes up badly hungover to find a dead man in her bed and another man tied up in her wardrobe. She and her best friend Lia, played by Mikaela Hoover, have to work out what happened, and cover it up, before their 3pm brunch
• Best line: “I find out that you killed a guy and I missed brunch because of it,” Lia snaps. “I will personally beat you with something very heavy!”
• UK availability: Out in the US on 3 November through Cineverse. UK date not yet confirmed

Watch the trailer

Modine was terrific in Happy Death Day, another horror comedy about a very bad morning after, so she knows this territory well. Hoover, a regular in James Gunn’s films, looks set to steal every scene. It has the makings of a fun Friday night film once it finds a UK home.

Heated Rivalry’s Connor Storrie circles the villain role in Marvel’s Ghost Rider

• What happened: Connor Storrie is circling a role opposite Ryan Gosling in Marvel Studios’ Ghost Rider, The Hollywood Reporter revealed and Deadline confirmed. He is reported to be playing the villain. Marvel declined to comment
• The film: It reunites Gosling with his Star Wars: Starfighter director Shawn Levy and writer Jonathan Tropper, with production planned for 2027
• Who he is: Storrie broke out in the hockey romance Heated Rivalry, now heading into its second season, and has since lined up films with Melissa McCarthy, Halina Reijn and Sarah Polley
• UK availability: Dated for 28 July 2028 (US date). UK date not yet confirmed

Gosling, Levy and Tropper are clearly enjoying working together, and this morning’s lead story suggests the whole Gosling family might be in the mix. Johnny Blaze’s pact with the demon Mephisto has always been the heart of Ghost Rider, so the big question is whether Storrie is playing the devil himself.

Would you like to see Eva Mendes in Star Wars, and who would you cast as the cantina’s regulars? Tell us below.

Back tonight at 6pm with the Evening News.