When Pacific Rim first dropped in theaters three years ago, audiences was delivered a summer blockbuster in the unique style of Guillermo Del Toro. While they film may not exactly have broken boundaries, it delivered on immersing us into a creative new world that we wouldn't mind returning to in a sequel. Well Warner Bros. has being trying to accomplish just that, but it has been a tough task trying to get Pacific Rim 2 off the ground. Now with hiring of Steven S. DeKnight (Daredevil) to take over the vacant director's chair left by Del Toro, it seems the studio has also found their new lead actor and character: John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens).
The news of brought about by an official press release from the studio, and was later confirmed by both Del Toro and Boyega themselves via their respective Twitters. Boyega will apparently not only be playing the lead character in the sequel, but he will actually be playing the son of Idris Elba's character from the first movie Stacker Pentecost. The fan favorite character unfortunately met his demise at the end of the last movie, so this will likely factor into the motivations of his son to fight the Kaiju.
Following his blockbuster debut as Finn in one of the leading roles of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Boyega went from relatively unknown to a young Hollywood star overnight. Prior to that, Boyega had gained the attention of many in his role as Moses in Attack the Block, and has since cemented himself as a worthy leading man in a sci-fi film. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that he's no being brought on to lead the next Pacific Rim film, especially with a new director likely taking the franchise into a different direction than the last movie.
With the sequel seemingly moving in a new direction, its unclear of the original film's leads Rinko Kikuchi and Charlie Hunnam will be returning in their roles of Mako Mori and Raleigh Becket. Its possible that Boyega's character could be teaming up with those two in a three-piloted Jaeger which we saw exists in this universe. It'll also be interesting to see Mako's relationship with Pentecost's blood son considering that fact that she was his adoptive daughter.
So what do you think of John Boyega joining Pacific Rim 2? Are you hoping to see any specific character return from the first movie? Let us know below!
