The human component of Pacific Rim 2 has slowly begun to take shape over the last few months. Following the casting of John Boyega (as the son of Idris Elba’s Stacker Pentecost, natch), Scott Eastwood joined the lineup and it was subsequently confirmed that Charlie Hunnam would not be returning for the sequel. And while it also seems unlikely that Rinko Kikuchi will be back to fight more Kaiju, it looks like we have a new female protagonist to fill her shoes.

Per Variety, newcomer Cailee Spaeny has been cast in a lead role opposite Boyega and Eastwood (aka token bland white actor) in Pacific Rim: Maelstrom, which is set to be directed by former Daredevil showrunner Steven S. DeKnight. Guillermo del Toro is producing the sequel to his 2013 sci-fi blockbuster, and although he previously hinted at various plot possibilities (including the return of Charlie Day and Burn Gorman), del Toro recently made it clear that the film is firmly in the hands of DeKnight and screenwriter Derek Connolly (Jurassic World).

Spaeny’s name may not be a familiar one for most readers; the young up-and-comer has only two acting credits to her name so far, appearing in the indie films Counting to 1000 and The Shoes. She’s also a talented singer, and recently filmed a video for her new single, “Fallin’.” You can find several of Spaeny’s pop covers on YouTube, and she has a pretty active social media presence (hat tip to /Film):

Not much else is known about the Pacific Rim sequel at this time, including details on Spaeny and Eastwood’s roles. The project will begin filming this fall, which means we should start seeing more frequent updates relatively soon.

Pacific Rim: Maelstrom is scheduled for a February 23, 2018 release.

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