Let’s savor all the things. First, the Pacific Rim 2 movie is actually happening, after a year of swirling rumors. And now it’s being cast, with John Boyega (Finn from Star Wars: The Force Awakens) joining the team as the son of Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba). That means Mako Maki has a brother! Will she be drifting with Boyega’s character? We have no idea, because no details of the story have been released yet, but shooting starts late this year. In fact, Pacific Rim director Guillermo del Toro has even hinted that he’s at work on a script for the third movie in the franchise.

Said del Toro in a statement about Boyega’s casting: “I am very proud and happy to welcome John into a fantastic sandbox. The Pacific Rim universe will be reinforced with him as a leading man as it continues to be a multicultural, multi-layered world. ‘The World saving the world’ was our goal and I couldn’t think of a better man for the job.” Fans of the original movie loved the way it developed complex, heart-breaking characters while never scrimping on the kaiju vs. jaeger action. Universal will release the sequel everywhere except China—but given that the first film was huge in that country, there will likely be a local distributor. Indeed, Pacific Rim‘s success was largely due to the global market. It was a film that translated well across every continent, and it made most of its money overseas.

Though del Toro will be working as a producer of the new film, the director will be award-winning screenwriter Steven S. DeKnight, known for helming several of the Spartacus series for Starz and for his work on Daredevil and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. DeKnight has also written for several comics, and he has a flair for combining white-hot action with meaty stories. The movie couldn’t be in better hands.