Pacific Rim Uprising Trailer Reveals Earthshaking Battle

The war they thought they finished is just beginning.

Legendary Pictures and Universal unleashed the first official trailer for Pacific Rim Uprising, the sequel to the 2013 sci-fi blockbuster, and it looks like the planet is in the hands of some capable new Jaegers (those are the giant mechanical robots piloted by humans).

John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) stars in the flick as Jake Pentecost, the estranged son of Stacker Pentecost, Idris Elba's character in the first film. Although Stacker is no longer around, Jake eventually follows in his dad's massive footsteps. 

America is a very different place after the attack in the first movie. Since the monsters come from the sea, the wealthy have moved to Middle America, leaving the poor to populate the coasts. But those left to defend themselves begin to build their own Jaegers, and Jake is forced to join a program to teach pilots what he knows. 

"The Kaiju have found a new way," Boyega told Entertainment Weekly. "They are way more intelligent than we thought they were. The monsters you saw in the first movie were the test run, to see how the planet would hold up. The breach we thought was closed is not their only way into our world. Their plans are more specific. Jake leads the team in trying to build up a new defense against that."

He'll co-pilot the state-of-the-art Gipsy Avenger along with his old friend Lambert (Scott Eastwood). "She's an upgrade model from Gipsy Danger in the first movie," Boyega said. "She is still a two-man Jaeger and has new weapons and technology. The new Gipsy has LCD screens and holographic imagery of what is going outside. Her gravity sling has improved... Gipsy Avenger is [the] strongest and hardest to operate."

Other new Jaegers include Saber Athena. "She's the fastest Jaeger, and she is agile and assigned two skillful pilots who know how to do martial arts," Boyega said. "She has two swords she can join together to slice stuff down. She's flexible and very fast."

There's also Guardian Bravo, who has "big electric whips, but is very stocky and strong," and Bracer Phoenix. "She is a mystery rogue Jaeger, but is really strong and advanced," Boyega said. "She has guns on the chest. That Jaeger is, in fact, a three-man rig—one is in the cockpit shooting missiles and bullets from the chest."

Check out photos of the new Jaegers and prepare for Pacific Rim Uprising to hit theaters March 23, 2018.