Official ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ Plot Teases Jaeger Hackers and the Return of Mako Mori

After debuting a viral promo at this summer’s San Diego Comic-Con, Legendary has been relatively quiet on the Pacific Rim: Uprising front. That’s going to change this Friday, when the first trailer for the sequel to Guillermo del Toro’s robots vs. Kaiju film debuts at New York Comic-Con. Until then, the studio has finally released an official — and somewhat lengthy — synopsis for Uprising, which confirms the return of Rinko Kikuchi’s Mako Mori and teases the introduction of a young Jaeger hacker (sure, why not).

Ahead of this weekend’s trailer debut, Legendary has unveiled the official plot summary for Pacific Rim: Uprising. The sequel to del Toro’s 2013 blockbuster is headlined by John Boyega as Jake Pentecost, son of Idris Elba’s Stacker, who — spoiler alert? — died in the first film. The most interesting part of this incredibly detailed summary is the return of Kikuchi as Stacker’s adopted daughter and legit badass Jaeger pilot Mako Mori:

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.

Del Toro remains on board as a producer, though he’s not very involved with the sequel. Former Daredevil showrunner Steven S. DeKnight has taken over directing duties for Uprising (which is also his first time helming a feature), and you can tell from reading the plot synopsis that del Toro’s ideas for the sequel have been scrapped — something del Toro himself confirmed not long ago.

That’s…unfortunate. And everything I’ve heard about the production thus far has me feeling a bit skeptical — but at least Charlie Day and Burn Gorman are back to reprise their roles from the first film, so that’s something.

Pacific Rim: Uprising hits theaters on March 23, 2018.