Pacific Rim, Guillermo del Toro’s surprisingly fun movie about giant robots fighting aliens, is getting a sequel, and it promises even more giant robots fighting aliens. Rinko Kikuchi will reprise her role from the original film as the instantly iconic Mako Mori, who is training the next generation of Jaeger pilots to suit up and battle a new invasion of the otherworldly, destructive kaiju. But the trailer for Pacific Rim: Uprising released on Friday is actually focused on a brand new character, Jake Pentecost (played by Star Wars and Detroit actor John Boyega), instead. As we see in the trailer, Jake takes up the fight against the kaiju while also making inspiring speeches about preventing the apocalypse—a trait which sounds kind of familiar.
That might be because Boyega’s character is the son of Stacker Pentecost from the original Pacific Rim, who—spoiler alert—dies by blowing himself up to ensure that the Jaegers can complete their mission. Living up to his father’s legacy will be no small feat for Boyega’s character, considering that his old man 1) literally sacrificed himself to save humanity, and 2) was played by Idris Elba, who is quite possibly the coolest dude alive. Not to mention, his name was Stacker Pentecost. Stacker Pentecost! How is a guy named “Jake” supposed to compete with that?
Del Toro has passed directing duties for the sequel on to Steven S. DeKnight, who also has a lot to live up to when the film is released on March 23.
