Ten years have passed since Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi’s heroes channeled their inner Stacker Pentecost and canceled the apocalypse, but the years have not been kind to the PPDC’s (Pan Pacific Defense Corps) Jaeger program.
Written off as a costly and unnecessary endeavor once the Kaiju have been defeated, by the time Pacific Rim: Uprising begins, those towering mechs will ostensibly be collecting dust – that is, until those otherworldly creatures begin to claw their way back from beyond the Breach. And so, the PPDC begins to mount a defense against yet another mass invasion.
Headed up by two Jaeger pilots – played here by John Boyega (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) and Scott Eastwood (Suicide Squad) – the Mark VI fleet of Pacific Rim: Uprising is armed to the teeth with WMDs and other bells and whistles. Heck, one could even argue that each bipedal Jaeger is a WMD in and of itself, and thanks to the sequel’s presence at SDCC, we know that the Mark VI fleet includes such larger-than-life ‘bots as Guardian Bravo, Titan Redeemer, Bracer Phoenix and Saber Athena. And yes, Gipsy Danger has received a new lease of life (and title!) to become Gipsy Avenger. Further details on each mech can be found in the blueprints below.
Following up on his comments about Uprising honoring the cult legacy of Guillermo del Toro’s original, John Boyega spoke to IGN about the ways in which Steven DeKnight’s follow-up carves out a new chapter in humanity’s seemingly unending war against the Kaiju.
As you know, Pacific Rim 1 ended with Stacker Pentecost [played by Idris Elba] dying, and Raleigh [played by Charlie Hunnam] dying as well, and they feel like they’ve closed the Breach, but unfortunately the enemy has grown more intelligent and has other ways of doing things, and we are met with a rogue character. I am playing Jacob Pentecost, who is kind of like the prodigal son of Stacker Pentecost. Now he’s faced with rejoining the PPDC [Pan Pacific Defense Corps] and trying to help the fight against the Kaiju again. But it’s gonna be in a different way this time. We’ve got better upgrades. The robots are moving much more swift. Yeah, we’re like ballerinas up in there, it’s fantastic.
The Kaiju are mounting their resurgence, which only means that there’s another apocalypse looming over the horizon. Pacific Rim: Uprising has been scheduled for release on March 23rd, 2018 – one month after its initial due date. Other films penciled in for the same window include Marvel’s Black Panther, the untitled Cloverfield 3 and, crucially, not Shane Black’s reboot of The Predator, which recently uprooted for a late summer corridor.