Inbetweeners star Simon Bird cast alongside Ryan Gosling in Star Wars: Starfighter

He's best known for playing Will in 'The Inbetweeners'

Simon Bird, who played Will in E4's The Inbetweeners from 2008 to 2010, will star alongside the likes of Ryan Gosling and Matt Smith in Star Wars: Starfighter.

The new film is set to release in the Spring of 2027 and is directed by Shawn Levy, who is best known for last year's smash hit Deadpool & Wolverine.

Shawn Levy announced details about the new film today, saying: “I feel a profound sense of excitement and honor as we begin production on Star Wars: Starfighter.

“From the day [Lucasfilm president] Kathy Kennedy called me up, inviting me to develop an original adventure in this incredible Star Wars galaxy, this experience has been a dream come true, creatively and personally.

“Star Wars shaped my sense of what story can do, how characters and cinematic moments can live with us forever. To join this storytelling galaxy with such brilliant collaborators onscreen and off, is the thrill of a lifetime."

Very little is known about the plot so far, with Lucasfilm deliberately keeping things under wraps.

The only details that have been released are that the film is an “entirely original story set in a period of time never before explored in Star Wars.”