John Boyega is playing Idris Elba's son in the Pacific Rim sequel

The Force is strong with John Boyega. So strong, in fact, that he's just signed on to another big sci-fi movie franchise: Pacific Rim.

Deadline broke the news that the British actor will play Idris Elba's son in the upcoming sequel to Guillermo Del Toro's 2013 summer blockbuster about massive robots called Jaegers, which humans have built to fight off pesky alien Godzilla-esque invaders.

Elba's Stacker Pentecost was (SPOILER ALERT) killed off in the first instalment, so chances are we won't see him teaming up with Boyega on screen - unless of course they film some flashback sequences.

He's given the boy his blessing though, tweeting his support for Boyega's decision to not just star in but also produce the sequel, alongside Legendary pictures.

Del Toro won't be returning to direct the sequel, though. That task now falls to Steven S. DeKnight.

And don't worry, someone's already made the joke, so you don't have to...