A trailer has arrived for Jumanji 3, which is now officially known as Jumanji: The Next Level. The film is a direct sequel to Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which revived the Jumanji franchise in 2017 and went on to become Sony's highest-grossing domestic release of all time - a title that Sam Raimi's Spider-Man had been holding onto for the previous fifteen years.
Welcome to the Jungle updated the series' premise by turning the enchanted board game Jumanji into a magical video game that sucks players into a world of jungle traps and puzzles. Stars Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Jack Black, and Nick Jonas are back for the sequel, as are writers Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg, and director Jake Kasdan. They're joined by the actors who played Welcome to the Jungle's teenagers (Alex Wolff, Madison Iseman, Ser'Darius Blain, and Morgan Turner), along with Rhys Darby as the NPC and players' guide Nigel.
Sony has now released a trailer confirming The Next Level's title, and will attach it to Spider-Man: Far From Home in theaters this week. You can check it out in the space below, along with the film's official synopsis:
In Jumanji: The Next Level, the gang is back but the game has changed. As they return to Jumanji to rescue one of their own, they discover that nothing is as they expect. The players will have to brave parts unknown and unexplored, from the arid deserts to the snowy mountains, in order to escape the world’s most dangerous game.
Said trailer reveals that Spencer (Wolff) is the one responsible for fixing the Jumanji cartridge after he and his friends smashed it at the end of Welcome to the Jungle. It also introduces Danny DeVito as Spencer's grandfather Eddie and Danny Glover as Milo Walker, who appears to be Spencer's next-door neighbor. From there, it confirms that "Fridge" (Blain), Bethany (Iseman), and Martha (Turner) enter Jumanji in an attempt to rescue Spencer, only for Eddie and Milo to inadvertently follow and join them on their adventure. The trailer also provides a glimpse at the newly-uncovered levels/settings in Jumanji, and suggests that Martha plays more of a leading role in the film.
The body-swapping element - where people from the real-world play in-game avatars in Jumanji - was a big part of what made Welcome to the Jungle fun, so it's encouraging to see that The Next Level is trying to keep things fresh by changing which characters end up in which avatars, and adding the amusing combination of DeVito and Glover to the mix. Kasdan also seems to be putting the experience he gained on the second Jumanji film to good use by delivering bigger and more complicated action scenes, while still messing around with Jumanji's video game mechanics. Welcome to the Jungle was an unexpected delight when it hit theaters, but The Next Level footage (which further includes a cameo by new addition Awkwafina) suggests the sequel has the potential to be equally enjoyable.
Source: Sony Pictures
