We knew already that Charlie Hunnam wouldn’t be returning for the sequel—but the fate of his fellow star Rinko Kikuchi was left nebulous, even as we were introduced to the next generation of mecha pilots for the sequel, lead by John Boyega. But the film’s new official synopsis reveals that Mako Mori is back in action.
Released ahead of the film’s first trailer, due to be shown at New York Comic Con later this week, the full synopsis confirms that Kikuchi will reprise her role as Mako, now a teacher to the next wave of youthful Jaeger pilots that includes her estranged foster brother, Boyega’s character—now given the full name of Jake Pentecost:
The globe-spanning conflict between otherworldly monsters of mass destruction and the human-piloted super-machines built to vanquish them was only a prelude to the all-out assault on humanity in Pacific Rim Uprising.
John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) stars as the rebellious Jake Pentecost, a once-promising Jaeger pilot whose legendary father gave his life to secure humanity’s victory against the monstrous “Kaiju.” Jake has since abandoned his training only to become caught up in a criminal underworld. But when an even more unstoppable threat is unleashed to tear through our cities and bring the world to its knees, he is given one last chance to live up to his father’s legacy by his estranged sister, Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi)—who is leading a brave new generation of pilots that have grown up in the shadow of war. As they seek justice for the fallen, their only hope is to unite together in a global uprising against the forces of extinction.
Jake is joined by gifted rival pilot Lambert (The Fate of the Furious’ Scott Eastwood) and 15-year-old Jaeger hacker Amara (newcomer Cailee Spaeny), as the heroes of the PPDC become the only family he has left. Rising up to become the most powerful defense force to ever walk the earth, they will set course for a spectacular all-new adventure on a towering scale.
Pacific Rim Uprising is directed by Steven S. DeKnight (Netflix’s Daredevil, STARZ’s Spartacus) and also stars Jing Tian, Burn Gorman, Adria Arjona and Charlie Day.
Okay, so having Mako back as the leader of this whole giant-robot operation is cool and all, but hang on a minute: Jake Pentecost. Given Pacific Rim’s love of completely absurd yet totally badass names—Stacker Pentecost! Raleigh and Yancy Beckett! Literally every name of every one of the robots!—Jake is astonishingly normal in comparison. Honestly, it’s a little disappointing.
But hey, as long as there’s cool-looking giant robots punching equally-cool-looking giant monsters, I can live with that. Pacific Rim Uprising hits theaters in May 2018.