Pacific Rim: Uprising is the upcoming sequel to Guillermo del Toro’s 2013 kaiju tentpole movie. While the latter garnered much love within the geek community after it hit theaters, the second installment wound up floating around in development limbo until del Toro himself took a step back and Steven S. DeKnight (Daredevil) stepped in as director.

Since that time, casting announcements have flooded in for the Pacific Rim and filming has gotten underway, resulting in set photos somewhat steadily trickling online. Star John Boyega (Star Wars: the Force Awakens) has been among those cast members sharing photos from the set - and he has now posted yet another picture of himself, in his Pacific Rim gear.

Boyega is already confirmed to be playing the son of Idris Elba’s character from the first Pacific Rim movie in Uprising. What can be seen in the photograph itself is Boyega sitting in a round window. One assumes that he is either sitting within the heart of a Jaeger (think of Gypsy Danger’s core from the first Pacific Rim), or that he is looking out at another mech being constructed.

Pentecost #pacificrimuprising A post shared by BOYEGA (@jboyega_) on Feb 20, 2017 at 1:57pm PST

Scott Eastwood is costarring in the Pacific Rim sequel, though his own character remains under-wraps and does not appear to have any ties to Pacific Rim co-protagonist Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) and Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi). It has been confirmed that both Boyega and Eastwood will be playing Jaeger pilots in the sequel, as photos have already appeared showing both men in flight suits and armor that are recognizably of the Jaeger pilot variety.

While Boyega’s photo of his Pentecost character seemingly gives nothing away, it does suggest that audiences are going to get to experience moments of introspection from this character. It’s really a very beautiful shot that would seem to match the style that del Toro set down with the first Pacific Rim film. If DeKnight builds on those initial visual components - one of the best things about the franchise - then this follow-up could definitely be something special.

Rounding out the cast of Pacific Rim: Uprising are several young newcomers in as-yet unidentified roles, including Adria Arjona, Nick E. Tarabay and Tian Jing (star of The Great Wall and next month’s Kong: Skull Island). There will, however, be at least two familiar players in the Pacific Rim sequel - namely, Charlie Day and Burn Gorman, who are returning to play the eccentric duo that is Dr. Newt Geiszler and Hermann Gottlieb, respectively.

Source: John Boyega

  • Pacific Rim: Uprising Release Date: 2018-03-23