You know how excited and hyped we are for Star Wars: The Last Jedi?

Yeah, apparently Disney’s even more excited.

Announced today via StarWars.com, Rian Johnson, while not taking over the reigns for Episode IX, he is being given the opportunity to create his own, unique Star Wars trilogy.

From the PR:

Lucasfilm is excited to announce that Johnson will create a brand-new Star Wars trilogy, the first of which he is also set to write and direct, with longtime collaborator Ram Bergman onboard to produce.

As writer-director of The Last Jedi, Johnson conceived and realized a powerful film of which Lucasfilm and Disney are immensely proud. In shepherding this new trilogy, which is separate from the episodic Skywalker saga, Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored.

As someone who has loved Johnson’s prior films (Brick, The Brothers Bloom, and Looper, if you are sadly not familiar), this is incredibly exciting, and the vote of creative confidence fans need to see from Lucasfilm after the issues surrounding Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the departure of Phil Lord & Chris Miller from Solo: A Star Wars Story, and the departure from Episode IX of Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow.

What will be interesting, however, is to see what other films - if any - Lucasfilm produces around this new trilogy. Is it going to be alongside the rumored Obi-Wan film? Are these replacing the Star Wars Story films? Will we get Episodes X, XI and XII?

Much remains to be seen, but in a related bit that seems to have (understandably) flown under the radar, Disney has confirmed (via Variety) the long-rumored Star Wars live action TV series, which will be - along with a Monsters Inc. series and High School Musical series - exclusive to Disney’s Netflix competitor.

No word on when that show will hit the air, but the over-the-top streaming service is set for a late 2019 release.