diff --git a/superset/assets/javascripts/explore/components/controls/TextAreaControl.jsx b/superset/assets/javascripts/explore/components/controls/TextAreaControl.jsx
index 04a1e87c45c45..4fe9b7716d891 100644
--- a/superset/assets/javascripts/explore/components/controls/TextAreaControl.jsx
+++ b/superset/assets/javascripts/explore/components/controls/TextAreaControl.jsx
@@ -1,7 +1,16 @@
 import React from 'react';
 import PropTypes from 'prop-types';
-import { FormGroup, FormControl } from 'react-bootstrap';
+import { Button, FormGroup, FormControl } from 'react-bootstrap';
+import AceEditor from 'react-ace';
+import 'brace/mode/sql';
+import 'brace/mode/json';
+import 'brace/mode/html';
+import 'brace/mode/markdown';
+
+import 'brace/theme/textmate';
+
 import ControlHeader from '../ControlHeader';
+import ModalTrigger from '../../../components/ModalTrigger';
 
 const propTypes = {
   name: PropTypes.string.isRequired,
@@ -9,6 +18,8 @@ const propTypes = {
   description: PropTypes.string,
   onChange: PropTypes.func,
   value: PropTypes.string,
+  height: PropTypes.number,
+  language: PropTypes.oneOf([null, 'json', 'html', 'sql', 'markdown']),
 };
 
 const defaultProps = {
@@ -16,24 +27,60 @@ const defaultProps = {
   description: null,
   onChange: () => {},
   value: '',
+  height: 250,
 };
 
 export default class TextAreaControl extends React.Component {
-  onChange(event) {
+  onControlChange(event) {
     this.props.onChange(event.target.value);
   }
+  onAceChange(value) {
+    this.props.onChange(value);
+  }
+  renderEditor(inModal = false) {
+    if (this.props.language) {
+      return (
+        <AceEditor
+          mode={this.props.language}
+          theme="textmate"
+          style={{ border: '1px solid #CCC' }}
+          minLines={inModal ? 40 : 10}
+          maxLines={inModal ? 1000 : 10}
+          onChange={this.onAceChange.bind(this)}
+          width="100%"
+          editorProps={{ $blockScrolling: true }}
+          enableLiveAutocompletion
+          value={this.props.value}
+        />
+      );
+    }
+    return (
+      <FormGroup controlId="formControlsTextarea">
+        <FormControl
+          componentClass="textarea"
+          placeholder="textarea"
+          onChange={this.onControlChange.bind(this)}
+          value={this.props.value}
+          style={{ height: this.props.height }}
+        />
+      </FormGroup>);
+  }
   render() {
+    const controlHeader = <ControlHeader {...this.props} />;
     return (
       <div>
-        <ControlHeader {...this.props} />
-        <FormGroup controlId="formControlsTextarea">
-          <FormControl
-            componentClass="textarea"
-            placeholder="textarea"
-            onChange={this.onChange.bind(this)}
-            value={this.props.value}
-          />
-        </FormGroup>
+        {controlHeader}
+        {this.renderEditor()}
+        <ModalTrigger
+          bsSize="large"
+          modalTitle={controlHeader}
+          triggerNode={
+            <Button bsSize="small" className="m-t-5">
+              Edit <b>{this.props.language}</b> in modal
+            </Button>
+          }
+          modalBody={this.renderEditor(true)}
+        />
       </div>
     );
   }
diff --git a/superset/assets/javascripts/explore/stores/controls.jsx b/superset/assets/javascripts/explore/stores/controls.jsx
index a8f9bbadf710e..db149729af8e9 100644
--- a/superset/assets/javascripts/explore/stores/controls.jsx
+++ b/superset/assets/javascripts/explore/stores/controls.jsx
@@ -819,8 +819,10 @@ export const controls = {
   markup_type: {
     type: 'SelectControl',
     label: 'Markup Type',
+    clearable: false,
     choices: formatSelectOptions(['markdown', 'html']),
     default: 'markdown',
+    validators: [v.nonEmpty],
     description: 'Pick your favorite markup language',
   },
 
@@ -858,6 +860,9 @@ export const controls = {
     type: 'TextAreaControl',
     label: 'Code',
     description: 'Put your code here',
+    mapStateToProps: state => ({
+      language: state.controls ? state.controls.markup_type.value : null,
+    }),
     default: '',
   },
 
diff --git a/superset/assets/spec/javascripts/explore/components/TextArea_spec.jsx b/superset/assets/spec/javascripts/explore/components/TextArea_spec.jsx
index aa9fc192e50a7..701e2d5151654 100644
--- a/superset/assets/spec/javascripts/explore/components/TextArea_spec.jsx
+++ b/superset/assets/spec/javascripts/explore/components/TextArea_spec.jsx
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import sinon from 'sinon';
 import { expect } from 'chai';
 import { describe, it, beforeEach } from 'mocha';
 import { shallow } from 'enzyme';
+import AceEditor from 'react-ace';
+
 import TextAreaControl from '../../../../javascripts/explore/components/controls/TextAreaControl';
 
 const defaultProps = {
@@ -15,7 +17,6 @@ const defaultProps = {
 
 describe('SelectControl', () => {
   let wrapper;
-
   beforeEach(() => {
     wrapper = shallow(<TextAreaControl {...defaultProps} />);
   });
@@ -29,4 +30,12 @@ describe('SelectControl', () => {
     select.simulate('change', { target: { value: 'x' } });
     expect(defaultProps.onChange.calledWith('x')).to.be.true;
   });
+
+  it('renders a AceEditor when language is specified', () => {
+    const props = Object.assign({}, defaultProps);
+    props.language = 'markdown';
+    wrapper = shallow(<TextAreaControl {...props} />);
+    expect(wrapper.find(FormControl)).to.have.lengthOf(0);
+    expect(wrapper.find(AceEditor)).to.have.lengthOf(1);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/superset/assets/stylesheets/superset.css b/superset/assets/stylesheets/superset.css
index d0b16cad2885b..d4469e447c3a0 100644
--- a/superset/assets/stylesheets/superset.css
+++ b/superset/assets/stylesheets/superset.css
@@ -225,6 +225,13 @@ div.widget .slice_container {
 
 .editable-title input[type="button"]:focus {
     outline: none;
-}.m-r-5 {
+}
+.m-r-5 {
     margin-right: 5px;
 }
+.m-t-5 {
+    margin-top: 5px;
+}
+.Select-menu-outer {
+    z-index: 10 !important;
+}