‘Star Wars’ John Boyega joins ‘Pacific Rim’ sequel

John Boyega just added another sci-fi franchise to his IMDB page. 

The most famous stormtrooper from the world of Star Wars will star in the sequel to Pacific Rim. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Boyega will play the son of Idris Elba’s character from the 2013 film. Boyega himself confirmed the news via his Twitter account a short time later. 

I'll be taking on the Pacific Rim franchise with Steven S.Deknight directing. Very excited!

— John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) June 6, 2016

Directed and co-conceived by Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy) with Elba (Thor) and Charlie Hunnam (TV’s Sons Of Anarchy) as the film’s leads, Pacific Rim introduced a future where giant robots (piloted by humans) battle giant monsters. The sequel will be directed by Steven S. DeKnight with del Toro onboard as one of the film’s producers. 

“I am very proud and happy to welcome John into a fantastic sandbox,” del Toro told the Hollywood Reporter. “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.” 

Boyega first garnered major acclaim for his role in the intimate alien invasion film Attack The Block. He will reprise his The Force Awakens role in next year’s as-yet subtitled Star Wars: Episode VIII. He will also be seen alongside Tom Hanks and Emma Watson in The Circle, with Imperial Dreams and Watership Down on the way, as well. 

DeKnight is no stranger to genre fare, either. He worked with Marvel’s The Avengers director Joss Whedon on TV’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel and Dollhouse. He also worked on Smallville and took over showrunner duties on Marvel’s Daredevil series following the departure of another Buffy/Angel alum, Drew Goddard. 

Upper Room Productions, founded by Boyega and Femi Oguns, will produce the Pacific Rim sequel alongside Legendary Pictures.