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THE FORCE AWAKENS Will Feature Music by HAMILTON’s Lin-Manuel Miranda

Welp, shut it down, folks. Shut.it.down. We’ve been trying really, really hard to temper our expectations for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Because we’re professionals, and we’re adults, and we know what it means to be hurt by things you love. But our resolve has worn paper thin in the past week or so, and this latest news has officially ripped it all to shreds. Because J.J. Abrams just revealed that Hamilton creator and Broadway superhero, Lin-Manuel Miranda, co-wrote the cantina music for the upcoming film.

!!!!!!!!!!! (I know!)

For those of you who’ve read this far and think, “Why the hell’s this lady so excited?”, allow us to clue you on why the creator of a musical about founding father Alexander Hamilton is such an exciting thing. First off: to call Miranda a savant-y sorta game-changer might be an understatement—he’s an actor, composer, writer, playwright, lyricist, and rapper. (So, y’know, a lazybones.)

His first Broadway musical, In The Heights opened in 2008 (when he was only 28 if you like feeling inadequate) and went on to pull in all of the accolades for his fusion of hip-hop and theater, a Tony, and a Grammy Award. He’s also composing the music for Disney’s Moana (fingers crossed it’s a song for The Rock). And, well, Hamilton has reportedly changed the future of Broadway musicals by the sounds of the howls coming in from New York, so for Abrams to select Miranda to be his co-writer on these songs points suggests the director’s going to tow his own line while still having a heck of a lot of fun.

Watch Abrams discuss collaborating with Miranda on his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon:

Miranda confirmed the announcement via Twitter shortly after Abram’s Tonight Show tidbit mic drop:

It won’t take us that long, but that’s because good news this rich just runs right through us. Which is a really gross way to say we’re pretty freakin’ excited.

So, how much more excited are you feeling about The Force Awakens after hearing this news? Anyone else out there imagining Finn (John Boyega) singing “My Shot” to pump himself up before an epic battle now and simply l-o-v-i-n-g it? Let us know in the comments below!

Image Credit: Lightsabered/deviantART

Alicia Lutes is the Managing Editor of The Nerdist in spite of the fact that she is unable to manage her own excitement about Star Wars in any sort of adult manner. Find her on Twitter (@alicialutes).

Still not sating your Star Wars hunger? Try this episode of Nerdist News on for size!

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