While it struggled to obtain much of a domestic following upon its initial release, Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim has gone on to become one of the filmmaker's most beloved films to date over the past few years. Well known for its gorgeous visuals and inimitable monster vs robot fight sequences, it offered an interesting change of pace to the rest of the usual superhero vs superhero action sequences and set pieces that populate a majority of blockbuster films nowadays. It ended up being such a memorable addition to pop culture, in fact, that production on a sequel titled Pacific Rim: Uprising is currently underway in Australia - much to the delight of the franchise's fans - as Steven DeKnight takes over for del Toro as director and an entirely new lineup of actors joins the fray.
Principal photography has been going on for several weeks now and those involved in the project haven't been shy about posting images from Pacific Rim: Uprising's set and teasing the characters and scope of the sequel either. It's an accomplishment in and of itself too, that anticipation for Uprising has been as high as it has been, considering just how integral del Toro's vision and direction was to the first film's success.
Today one of the fans' most burning questions about the sequel has been answered as well, with the first look at Pacific Rim: Uprising's Jaegers finally being released. Debuting in the newest issue of License! Global!, the concept art reveals the designs for at least three of the Jaegers that are expected to appear in the film. Take a look for yourself down below:
Where the first film's Jaegers looked weathered and beaten down often, Pacific Rim: Uprising's versions of the fighting machines look much sleeker than their predecessors. With the sequel set to take place years after the events of the first film - in which the use of the Jaegers was instrumental in saving the world - it only makes sense for there to have been some considerable upgrades made to the design of the Jaegers since then. Now, all that still needs to be seen is if these new versions of the Jaegers are any more maneuverable or versatile than the first film's.
It's never easy for a sequel to maintain the momentum and success of its predecessor, especially when a new director is taking over, and especially when that new director is taking over for a filmmaker whose vision and style is as singular as Guillermo del Toro's is. But Steven DeKnight has proven himself to be a competent and successful storyteller in his own right throughout his career with his work on Marvel/Netflix's Daredevil and even Spartacus, and that experience seems to have been enough for del Toro to give his blessing. Combining that with the casting of talented up and coming stars like John Boyega and Scott Eastwood, and Pacific Rim: Uprising has enough promising talent involved to warrant a fair amount of excitement from its followers. These updates to the Jaeger designs only seem to further back up that sentiment.
NEXT: First Look at John Boyega in Pacific Rim 2
Source: License! Global!
