We're more optimistic than ever that a sequel to Pacific Rim is possible, thanks to a big opening in China that boosted its international gross enough for Warner Bros. to chalk it up as a hit. So while we wait for the sequel to actually start moving, we can dig through some hints about what director Guillermo del Toro is planning to figure out what might happen. But don't assume he won't change his mind. Talking to Crave Online, Pacific Rim star Charlie Day said that, at one point, del Toro had hoped his scientist character Newton Geiszler would take a darker turn in a second film:
"I remember when I first met with him that he liked the idea of Newt becoming a bit of a villain in the second film. But, I think over the course of making the film, and the way the character resonated with the audience, I don’t think he would want to turn him into a villain now, but I really have no idea.”
A lot of Day's performances can be a love-him-or-hate-him kind of deal, so I'm not going to speak for the rest of you, but I thought Day was a clear highlight of Pacific Rim, a fast-talking and funny figure in a film that desperately needed him after Charlie Hunnam's terribly wooden lead performance. Channeling both Rick Moranis and his own manic character from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Day was saddled with spouting off massive chunks of exposition, but did so it was way more entertaining than most of what went on inside those jaegers (sorry, my Pacific Rim skeptic stripes are showing). Even if Geiszler doesn't become a villain in the second film-- and come on, fan support is no reason to deny that of a character!-- he at least ought to have an expanded role, especially if del Toro can come up with a way to make the sequel more about Day and Ron Perlman's characters squabbling with each other. Maybe put those two inside a jaeger and see what happens.
Day has spent a lot of this summer taking his scene-stealing skills from television to increasingly bigger projects, with his voice work in Monsters University meaning he's taken part in two of the summer's biggest films. With It's Always Sunny still going strong, preparing to return for its eighth season and already renewed through Season 10, Day will always have a solid job to fall back on to. But if he takes more daring parts like Pacific Rim, and those give him a chance to go dark? All the better.
Get a glimpse of what a Day-centric Pacific Rim sequel would be like with this extremely silly mash-up below, and give us your own sequel suggestions in the comments.
