There are a few things that'll be different with the Pacific Rim franchise when the series returns in its sequel-reboot, Pacific Rim: Uprising. Original director Guillermo del Toro was unable to return as director and the series lead Charlie Hunnam also didn't return. The silver lining to the latter is that it left room for John Boyega to step up as the new lead actor. He'll be playing the son of Idris Elba's Stacker Pentecost, but don't expect him to be the spitting image of his father. At the beginning, this apple will have fallen pretty far from the tree. According to Boyega...
At the start of the film, [my character] is an absolute crook. There are rogue Jaegers where people have collected spare parts and made their own machines. Jake is stealing from people and selling Jaeger parts.
Pacific Rim: Uprising takes place several years after the events of the original movie and will star an all-new generation of Jaeger pilots to fight back the apocalypse. One of these pilots is Jake Pentecost, but he won't exactly be a heroic figure when he begins the movie. John Boyega told Empire that his character is an "absolute crook," who illegally sells Jaeger parts to the highest bidder. Due to some events that happen in the movie, Jake will eventually be forced to become an official Jaeger pilot and hopefully redeem his crooked actions by beating the crap out of some giant monsters. It's interesting to learn that Jake won't be too much like his father, the most morally upright and inspirational character of the first Pacific Rim, but that just makes for a good character arc.
Humanity won't just be fighting the reemerging and new-and-improved Kaiju either. A rogue Jaeger can be seen multiple times in the sequel's first trailer, locked in combat with Jake and his partner Nate Lambert's (Scott Eastwood) Gipsy Avenger. We know that there are some groups in the world of Pacific Rim that profit from when the Kaiju attack and given Jake's criminal past, it's likely he helped give these groups the ability to build their own Jaeger. Sounds Jake could have to face his past mistakes in a pretty physical way.
Pacific Rim: Uprising is directed by Steven S. DeKnight with a screenplay penned by himself, Kira Snyder and Emily Carmichael. With the Kaiju finally returning stronger than ever, a new group of Jaeger pilots is recruited to beat back this new threat. The film stars John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman, Cailee Spaeny, and Rinko Kikuchi.
Pacific Rim: Uprising is set to hit theaters on March 23, 2018. To learn more about the sequel, here's what we know so far. Check out our other Pacific Rim: Uprising content, such as how the sequel differs from the original and what fans want to see most from the blockbuster.
