Here’s a welcome bit of news about the Pacific Rim sequel: John Boyega has been cast as the lead! Deadline reports that Boyega will play the son of Idris Elba’s character Stacker Pentecost; if he will have as badass a name has yet to be revealed, but we bet he’s inherited his father’s love of bonkers catchphrases.
We don’t know much about the plot of the film (tentatively titled Maelstrom), though del Toro has mentioned that it would take place years after the kaiju purge at the end of the first film. No word yet on which of the original cast (if any) will return, but del Toro has hinted that where there’s more kaiju, there’s the beloved science duo of Newton Geiszler (Charlie Day) and Hermann Gottlieb (Burn Gorman). And if Boyega is going to play an up-and-coming jaeger pilot, it would make sense that dream team Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) and Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) would show up to mentor him.
Producer Mary Parent said of Boyega:
It is undeniable that with all his talent and natural charm, John stands out amongst today’s generation of young leading men.
Guillermo del Toro, who handed over directing duties to Daredevil showrunner Steven S. DeKnight but is staying on as producer, added:
I am very proud and happy to welcome John into a fantastic sandbox. The Pacific Rim universe will be reinforced with him as a leading man as it continues to be a multicultural, multi-layered world. “The World saving the world” was our goal and I couldn’t think of a better man for the job.
But the most important question is… who will he drift with? No release date yet, but production should begin this November.
