The staff of the Pacific Rim Uprising sequel film revealed to Entertainment Weekly that Rinko Kikuchi is reprising her role as Mako Mori in the film. Kikuchi's costar Charlie Hunnam will not return.

In the film, Mako will be commanding a new generation of young pilots. She will serve as protector to the new protagonist Jake Pentecost (played by Star Wars: The Force Awakens' John Boyega), the estranged son of Idris Elba's Stacker Pentecost character from the first Pacific Rim film.

Boyega told Entertainment Weekly that his character Jake had a falling out with his father because his father was putting his hope into Mako instead of him. As a result, Jake has left the Jaeger program and is working as a black market retailer on the coast. When he is caught breaking the law, he is coerced into rejoining the Jaeger program to teach young pilots, and there he is reunited with his old co-pilot.

A trailer debuted at New York Comic-Con on Friday:

On March 23, a new generation will rise up. Watch the trailer for #PacificRimUprising now. pic.twitter.com/B1xeCx2wn9

The staff also revealed designs for new Jaegers. They are, from left to right in the image below: Saber Athena, Titan Redeemer, Gipsy Avenger, and Guardian Bravo.

The film will open on March 23, 2018 after a delay.

Filming took place in Australia and China and ended on March 30. Dr. Jack Gao, an executive at Beijing Wanda Cultural Industry Group, which owns Legendary Entertainment, stated that the sequel's story "has a strong connection to China."

Actress and singer Cailee Spaeny (Counting to 1,000) is playing the lead female role in the film. Suicide Squad actor Scott Eastwood, The Great Wall actress Jing Tian, The Belko Experiment's Adria Arjona, and Japanese actor Mackenyu are also cast in the film. Shyrley Rodriguez (The Get Down) and Chinese actors Zhang Jin (The Grandmaster), Wesley Wong, Lily Ji, Chen Zitong, Lan Yingying, and Qian Yongchen have also joined the cast. The film will also feature cameos by Xiao Yang and Korean actor Kim Jeong-Hoon.

Steven S. DeKnight, showrunner and director on Netflix's Daredevil series, is directing the film. Guillermo del Toro directed the first Pacific Rim film, but told film news website Collider that he is not directing the second film because the timing ended up conflicting with his The Shape of Water film.

Source: Entertainment Weekly (Anthony Beznican) via Cinema Today