For nearly 50 years, Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières’ comic Valérian and Laureline has been a huge influence on the sci-fi landscape. Next summer, it may become bigger than ever with the release of director Luc Besson‘s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. The newest trailer for the film dropped earlier this week, and we’re still stunned by the alien visuals from that clip – and those aren’t even the finished visual effects! Valerian could be something truly special, and today’s Nerdist News is all about why it may be the next great space epic!

Join Nerdist News host, and spatio-temporal agent, Jessica Chobot, as she breaks down the six key reasons why Valerian is worth getting excited about. For starters, you may have noticed that the trailer looks like an even more insane version of The Fifth Element. That’s not a coincidence, as Valerian co-creator Mézières’ previously collaborated with Besson on that film. Now, Besson is bringing that style to life on a much larger scale, and the effects looks glorious even in their unfinished state.

Star Wars fans may have a bit of déjà vu while watching the trailer, but make no mistake, Valérian and Laureline came first, and Lucas’ movies heavily borrowed visuals from those comics. However, Besson took some extraordinary steps to fill out the backstory of the aliens in this film and the history of the city itself long before he began filming…just to flesh out the world! Besson even made sure that stars Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne were intimately familiar with that background info before they stepped into the roles of Valerian and Laureline, respectively.

There is talk that Valerian could become a movie franchise, but you won’t have to worry about unresolved plotlines or cliffhangers here. Besson has indicated that this film will stand alone as its own story. And if that doesn’t get you pumped up, how about the fact that any potential sequel can literally go anywhere in time and space? If audiences like what they see from this film, there are a lot of stories left to tell.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets will be released on July 21, 2017.

Are you excited about the possibilities of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!