The long-awaited sequel to Mel Brooks’ iconic screwball comedy, Spaceballs 2, is far more exciting than the run-of-the-mill nostalgia reboots that have plagued Hollywood in recent memory thanks to one significant advantage. By the time it hits theaters, it will have been almost 40 years since the original’s debut, but there is plenty of reason to be excited about it already.

The first image of the cast was revealed and included a litany of Easter eggs and references to not only the original Spaceballs, but also to the Star Wars: The Force Awakens cast pH๏τo reveal that it parodies. In one image, the minds behind the movie managed to tease how there will be deference to the original, but also plenty of new ground to explore.

A natural concern when any long-defunct property is revived is that it will fall prey to the typical pitfalls of nostalgia reboots, namely the oversaturation of old ideas and former cast members. Including a star from the past is an easy way to earn an audience pop at the debut of the trailer, but it isn’t always justified. Spaceballs 2 has one big advantage in that regard, even all these years later.

Spaceballs 2 Actually Merits Bringing Back Its Original Cast Members

Big budget Hollywood nostalgia reboots habitually bring back old cast members, and to be honest, it’s hard to blame them. With astronomical budgets, there is a ton of pressure to turn a profit, and the general sentiment is that if you include elements that were once popular, you can recapture that old audience while also introducing the franchise to a new one.

It’s a nice idea in theory, and to some degree it’s proven successful. For example, Jurᴀssic World Dominion crammed the three key stars from the original Jurᴀssic Park in with its modern-day cast and narrative, and the result was a bloated, incoherent mess of a movie. However, it made over $1 billion at the box office, so it’s tough to say that it didn’t work.

The Ghostbusters franchise did the same, bringing some of its surviving former Ghostbusters back to take out ectoplasmic enemies alongside its new cast, although the box office results weren’t anywhere near as impressive.

Spaceballs 2 will be one of the few movies that will actually warrant bringing back its original cast, and a big reason why is because the key members of the cast are rarely seen. The three main stars of Spaceballs have only acted sporadically over the last decade, or in the case of Rick Moranis, stopped acting altogether.

Spaceballs is one of, if not the most popular films in the career of Moranis, Bill Pullman, and Daphne Zuniga, who played Dark Helmet (Darth Vader Parody), Lone Starr (Luke Skywalker/Han Solo parody) and Princess Vespa (Princess Leia parody). A sequel almost 40 years in the making is the perfect opportunity for them to return to the big screen, especially for a movie as beloved as Spaceballs.

Just as with the actual Star Wars sequel trilogy, bringing new and old characters together in a coherent and related story should work really well. The very notion of Hollywood tending to overuse nostalgia works for a parody movie like Spaceballs 2, and with gags like Bill Pullman’s actual son playing his character’s son, there is a valid reason for the two generations to meet.

In the two aforementioned examples, the original cast members were thrown into a new storyline that only tangentially related to the original narratives they were part of. It almost lessens their appearance in each movie, as they tend to stand out (in a bad way) from the rest of the cast. That won’t be the case for Spaceballs 2, because you can’t picture the original Spaceballs without Pullman, Zuniga or Moranis.

Spaceballs 2 Has A Lot Of New Ground To Cover

The other key factor in Spaceballs 2 being more exciting than the average nostalgia reboot is that its existence is truly justified. Spaceballs famously mocks the original Star Wars trilogy parodying and satirizes the more ridiculous plot points and characters of the iconic space opera. It’s one of the early ancestors of parody movies like Scary Movie, Tropic Thunder, and Austin Powers, and laid a lot of the groundwork.

Spaceballs 2 now has almost 40 years of Star Wars content that it can parody, and based on the star-studded parody cast pH๏τo, it seems like they’ll be going after the sequel trilogy that began with The Force Awakens. There are plenty of opportunities for legacy characters, and the speculation is that cast members like Josh Gad and Lewis Pullman will be playing children of the original characters.

One of the areas most ripe for comedy is in fact the sheer amount of Star Wars content that has exploded into existence in the last 20 years or so. Between animated series like The Clone Wars, Emmy-nominated live-action epics like Andor, and the upcoming TV show-turned-movie The Mandalorian & Grogu, there is almost too much for Spaceballs 2 to cover.

I have faith that Mel Brooks and company have a great plan in place, especially if it was good enough to bring the original cast back into the picture. I’m excited for Spaceballs 2 to introduce the classic absurdist parody humor of the 1980s to a new generation, and it will be incredible seeing Rick Moranis back on the big screen.