In 2013, Idris Elba and Guillermo del Toro teamed up for their first, and so far only, movie, Pacific Rim. Elba played Stacker Pentecost in del Toro’s story about a future where giant robots called Jaegers are piloted to battle the Kaiju that keep attacking Earth (we’ll revisit this world in an upcoming Amazon show). Nearly a decade and a half later, the filmmaker has revealed what the actor does when he doesn’t know his lines, and this has me wanting to be on the lookout for this tell when watching Elba’s movies.

This came up when Guillermo del Toro was participating in a THR roundtable with Bradley Cooper, Clint Bentley, Hikari, Noah Oppenheim and Will Tracy. All six wrote movies released in 2025 that have been getting awards buzz; in del Toro’s case, that was his film adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. During the get-together, he inquired with Oppenheim, who wrote A House of Dynamite, about his experience working with Idris Elba, as he played the President of the United States in the fellow Netflix subscription-exclusive movie. But before asking his question, del Toro recounted:

Guillermo del Toro wanted to know if Idris Elba did this same squinting movie on A House of Dynamite. Noah Oppenheim answered that the actor did learn his lines on this feature, but there was also “some improvisation around the margins of it.” I suppose going back to A House of Dynamite to check if there is indeed none of this squinting would be as good of a reason as any to rewatch it, along with seeing if my opinion has changed about the movie’s polarizing ending.

The squinting is definitely noticeable in Pacific Rim, however, with the screenshot at the top of this article being one of the many examples. So if Idris Elba wasn’t learning his lines, or at least not learning them as well as you expect from actors of his caliber, was the squinting just to mask the fact that he was reading off cue cards being held offscreen? Or was he just memorizing his lines piecemeal throughout each day, and then started to squint when he couldn’t remember them?

Whatever the answers are, maybe I’ll carve out some time to rewatch the Thor movies, Star Trek Beyond and The Suicide Squad, perhaps along with others, to see if I spot this trademark squinting. Not that this will change my opinion about his acting, as he remains one of Hollywood’s best talents nowadays. Among his accolades are a Golden Globe win and being nominated five other times, as well as seven Emmy nominations. My fingers are crossed that he’ll eventually get Academy Award recognition too.

Idris Elba will be back on the big screen when he’s seen playing Man-At-Arms in Masters of the Universe, which arrives to the 2026 movies schedule on June 5. Then he’ll be seen in the fantasy movie Children of Blood and Bone in early 2027, while his survival thriller Above the Below still doesn’t have a release date.

I'm a big fan of Sci Fi movies, and I'm a huge fan of great war movies. Sometimes, those two genres meet. It's not always with spectacular results, if I'm honest, but I still end up looking forward to movies and shows that bring them together. I'm talking about movies like Dune and Starship Troopers, and TV shows like Battlestar Galactica and Silo. This is a list dedicated to movies like that. So grab your gear and let's get into the action.

Dune

There are a lot of things that make Dune one of the best science fiction stories of all time. War is a major theme throughout the whole series and certainly something the recent movies have focused on. The politics of war and various armies across the universe feature heavily.

Ender's Game

Despite a stellar cast, including Hailee Steinfeld, Harrison Ford, and Viola Davis, and rich source material from the original novel to draw on, Ender's Game was a critical and box office disappointment, some of which is because of some controversy surrounding the book's author. However, if you're like me and enjoy this kind of movie, about the young trainees in a futuristic army, you will certainly find things to like about the movie.

Avatar

I'll be the first to say that while many love Avatar, I am not among them. That said, it's a movie that definitely belongs on this list. It's about a military mission, though the critiques of the military are a little heavy-handed, and it's one of the biggest box office draws of all time, so whether I like it or not, I'm including it.

Star Trek

This one is a little tricky, as I'm sure fans of Star Trek will be immediately noting in their heads. The United Federation of Planets, and by extension the crew of the USS Enterprise, are primarily a political organization with a mission to promote peace. That said, the ship has a military-like hierarchy, and the crew often finds themselves battling hostile elements in the galaxy. So there are heavy military overtones in every Star Trek series and movie.

Firefly

Like some others on this list, Firefly is a bit of an edge case. While most of the crew of the spaceship Serenity are ex-military, the show itself doesn't have many of the elements of a futuristic army, more a rag-tag crew of space explorers. It's as much a space western in the style of Star Wars as anything else.

Halo

You knew this one had to be here. Halo, based on the video game of the same name, ran for two seasons on Paramount+ and was a moderate success, though it never reached the same popularity as the game it was based on.

Stargate SG-1

Stargate SG-1, which was a show that was born on the heals of the movie Stargate. It ran for 10 seasons, first on Showtime and later on Syfy.

Aliens

One of the most beloved sci-fi movies of all time, Aliens has some of the coolest military scenes featuring the crew of Marines on the mission with Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). One of the most iconic moments in the movie comes when the Marines all wake up from their long trip and Sgt. Apone says. "Another day in the core!"

Battlestar Galactica

The classic sci-fi show Battlestar Galactica is one of the best examples of a futuristic military, even if it's really just a small piece of what its space force used to be. Led by Admiral Adama (Edward James Olmos), the military members run the ship, and by default, the last of humankind, in partnership with civilian leadership.

Starship Troopers

Are you doing your part? There may be no more obvious movie to include on this list than the cult favorite Starship Troopers. The recruiting video alone puts it near the top of the list of movies about the military in the future, to say nothing of the political overtones and satire of the rest of the movie.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 And 2

The Hunger Games didn't start with a military of the future as a key component, but it certainly ends with two militaries, both the revolutionaries and the army from The Capitol, in the final two movies of the original franchise. It's a great example of two different kinds of armies, as well.

Pacific Rim

I'm not the biggest fan of Kaiju movies, but I absolutely love Pacific Rim from director Guillermo del Toro. This is a bit of an edge case, because it's not really set in the distant future (the 2013 movie was actually set in 2020), the presence of a great military leader like Marshal Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) means it absolutely demands to be on this list. It's not like we have technology like the Mechas in the movie anyway, so it feels very futuristic.

The Terminator Franshise

Throughout the entire Terminator franchise, even when the movies aren't about the coming war between humans and machines, there are heavy military overtones, to say nothing of when we do see the actual war in some of the latter movies. The fourth movie, Terminator Salvation, is especially militaristic.

Doom

When I first saw 2005's Doom, based on the notorious video game from the '90s, I couldn't help but be reminded of Aliens in the way the futuristic Marines are portrayed as they travel to Mars to assist the UAC scientist after the attack. John "Reaper" Grimm and Sgt. Mahonin (Karl Urban and Dwyane Johnson, respectively) ooze the same kind of energy that Hicks and the other Marines in Aliens have.

Edge Of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow seems to either be revered or ignored by film fans, but include me in the former. It's such a great sci-fi war movie. Led by Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, the movie, though not set in the distant future, sees humanity's military come together to fight off invading aliens.

Star Wars

Obviously I had to include Star Wars here. Not only do we get to see the military apparatus of the Empire (and its successor) in all ten of the movies thus far released, but we also see the hierarchy of the Rebel Alliance. The scene at the end of the first movie, when Chewie doesn't get the medal that Han and Luke receive, but that he also deserves, is very much a military-looking ceremony as well.

And yeah, I will acknowledge that technically the movies are "a long time ago" and not in the future...but....c'mon.

Stargate

I'm a huge Kurt Russell fan, and while I loved Stargate when I first saw it, I did not expect it to spawn a franchise. Director and writer Roland Emmerich loves to make movies about futuristic armies, and Stargate is a perfect example of when he is at his best. It's a little cheesy, sure, but that's part of the charm of a good Emmerich popcorn flick.

Babylon 5

Set about 250 years in the future, Babylon 5 is one of those classic '90s TV shows that feels like it's adjacent to the Star Trek universe, but in this case, much more directly military-related. The titular space station is filled with both military personnel and civilians, but it was always the military plotlines that grabbed me the most.

Jupiter Ascending

2015's Jupiter Ascending, from writers and directors Lana and Lilly Wachowski, is a wild movie. It's kind of hard to explain, except to say that the protagonist, a soldier played by Channing Tatum, is part man and part...dog... is a great military character from the future.

Soldier

Kurt Russell and director Paul W. S. Anderson teamed up for 1998's Soldier, about a dystopian military project that turns orphans into killers for the military until things get really weird in the future. Yeah, it's a wild movie, and it was written by David Peoples, who also wrote Blade Runner and considered Soldier to be in the same universe. Yikes

Terra Nova

Terra Nova is a show that got canceled way too soon. It was a big-budget show that looked fantastic and told a super interesting story about a dystopian future that led humanity to open up a portal to another Earth. The military in the show, led by Commander Nathaniel Taylor (Stephen Lang) wasn't the focus, but played a huge role. It's just too bad we didn't get to see more, as the show was canceled after just 13 episodes.

Universal Soldier

Roland Emmerich's first big-budget Hollywood movie, Universal Soldier, has a ton of the DNA that the polarizing director would be known for throughout his career. It's a pretty ridiculous, over-the-top movie about soldiers in the future, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren as the primary soldiers.

SeaQuest DSV

The simplest way to describe SeaQuest DSV is to say it's Star Trek in a submarine. The cast was led by Jaws star Roy Scheider, and the show ran for three seasons in the mid-90s. It was a fun NBC show, and like Star Trek, it was exactly military, but the organization the sub crew represented was similar to the U.N. and acted in a very militaristic way. Though it took place in 2020, that was 25 years in the future when the show aired.

The Matrix Revolutions

The final Matrix movie in the original trilogy, The Matrix Revolutions, is when things really got militaristic. Throughout the whole series, there were always some aspects of a futuristic military, but the series really leans in with what I would consider the weakest movie of the franchise, but still a really fun movie.

Snowpiercer

Imagine living your whole life in the back of an endless train trip as 5th-class "citizens" of the last people on Earth. That's where we find our heroes in Snowpiercer, who are finally forced to take on the train's military when the horrible conditions bring them to a breaking point.

Andromeda

Set hundreds of years in the future, Andromeda was loosely based on work from Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, so as you would expect, it feels like his most famous show, but it also feels a little cheap. Like many shows about spaceships, it's not exactly military, but has a militaristic hierarchy..

The Tomorrow War

The Tomorrow War is a little tricky for this list. It's set in 2022, but it tells the story of time-traveling soldiers from the future. So it kinda counts, right? Sure, why not!

Silo

This is another tricky one, but it's such a great show, I had to include it. Common plays the head of security in Silo, and while they aren't strictly a military organization, they operate very much like one. They are also oppressive and scary, as the military is often shown to be in dystopian futures, like the one in Silo. So it works for me.

Farscape

Farscape is another example of a wild show that was born in the '90s. Though it was canceled after four seasons, cutting short the story, it had legions of fans who still love it today. The story was finally wrapped with a three-hour made-for-TV movie in 2007, called Farscape: Peacekeeper Wars.

The Chronicles of Riddick

Though The Chronicles of Riddick is actually a sequel to Pitch Black, it is far more militaristic in its style than the first movie in the series, which was more of a horror flick. Vin Diesel plays a former bounty hunter on the run from a crew of other hunters who operate very much like a military unit.

The Creator

2023's The Creator is a movie that not enough people have seen. Set in a near-ish future (2065), it stars John David Washington as Sergeant Joshua Taylor, who is part of a force helping to shut down all AI, which has turned against humanity. It's a complicated movie, but it looks amazing, and you should see it just for that.

Defiance

Dystopian futures are always a popular way for shows and movies to show what the future of the military looks like, and sometimes those shows feature rag-tag groups of veterans of a past war just trying to survive, as in Defiance. It's another show that didn't seem to get the kind of attention it deserved from the general public when it ran from 2013 to 2015 on Syfy.

Even though the world of Kaijus and Jaegers has been dormant for almost a decade, the 2025 TV schedule may have just canceled the apocalypse yet again. As it turns out, not only is the previously reported Pacific Rim prequel series still in the works, it’s landed itself a proper home to take flight. That’s not the end of the potentially good news, though, as some pretty ambitious plans have also been revealed.

The Pacific Rim Series Is Now Heading To Prime Video

Rejoice, my friends, as Variety’s new report on the project has planted it in a new home court. Amazon-MGM Studios is the latest party to jump into the business of larger-than-life combat, with confirmation that this will be a prequel after all. While plot details are still absent, I’m willing to place a bet with Hannibal Chau that Idris Elba’s Stacker Pentecost will be the center of this new plot. On second thought, I retract that remark, because if I’m wrong, that’s one of the last people I would want to owe money.

Unfortunately, there’s no timeline provided on when we should expect this Pacific Rim series to go into production. So as a result, we also have no clue on when Prime Video subscription holders should expect its menagerie of gigantic monsters to cross the Breach and kickstart the apocalypse. But at the same time, another notion has been floated that should leave fans of this recurring franchise very excited for the future.

‘Potential’ Pacific Rim Sequel Films Are Still On The Board

In a franchise that has a history of some of the best non-MCU post-credits scenes, Pacific Rim still has some unfinished business in the here and now. With Guillermo del Toro’s first film showing the survival of Hannibal Chau (Ron Perlman), and Steven S. DeKnight’s Uprising promising humanity would take the fight to the Precursors, two gigantic loose threads could be woven into a major motion picture.

For those of you who haven’t given up on a cinematic Pacific Rim 3, this next update is just for you:

While this future TV series is going to be set in the past, there are apparently parties at Amazon-MGM Studios who have the potential for new movies on the brain. Perhaps an executive caught wind of the graphic novel event Pacific Rim: Final Breach, and its plot that continues the adventures of Charlie Hunnam’s Raleigh Becket.

Or maybe Amazon-MGM wants in on those promising MonsterVerse crossover plans; because who wouldn’t want to see Godzilla and his fellow Titans stare down a Slattern before doing battle? The more I think about these plans and hints for the future, it feels like the prequel series will be an appetizer to see if the public really wants those potential continuation movies.

Between the Pacific Rim TV series, as well as Amazon-MGM’s efforts to continue franchises like The Accountant, Blade Runner, and the James Bond movies, I’m starting to feel like I’ve got a new best friend in the entertainment industry. Though I’m going to withhold saying such a thing formally until Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy 3 is potentially resurrected. Anything’s clearly possible at this point, and a fan can dream, can’t they?

One of the best parts about a company like Legendary Entertainment owning the rights to a series like Pacific Rim is the fact that it can do whatever it wants to keep the story alive. While the 2024 TV schedule won’t be seeing any kaiju action, those of you who are amped about that Pacific Rim 3 graphic novel the company is working on should be ready to get even more hyped. That’s thanks to Legendary’s announcement of a TV prequel in development, and I have a good idea on what that story may cover.

Pacific Rim Is Heading To TV… Eventually

Per reporting from Variety, Legendary Entertainment now has a first look deal with production company Chronology. Formed as a partnership between Arrival writer Eric Heisserer and producer Carmen Lewis, all that we know at the moment is that a “Pacific Rim origin story series” is the first project this new partnership is going to explore.

Unfortunately, that’s where the good news ends, at least for the time being. As of this moment, there’s no intended network or streaming service specified for this new excitement. Not to mention, we’re in such an early phase of this project that it’s merely focused on an idea that will more than likely be fleshed out by Eric Heisserer and a writer’s room.

Which means that it's time to talk about canon. And no, it doesn't sound like my Monsterverse/Pacific Rim crossover dreams have come true just yet. Still, as someone who still holds 2013’s Guillermo del Toro directed original in high regard, I think I know where this prequel might be headed with its story.

The Pacific Rim Origin Series Should Follow Stacker Pentecost And The Origins Of The Pan-Pacific Defense Corps

I would be willing to bet a co-writer’s credit that this Pacific Rim series will be focused on the origins of the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps. Shown in broad strokes in the opening prologue for the movie that started it all, this would be the literal best fit for an “origin story” to this saga.

If you don't remember those events, no worries. I'm happy to share that scene below, because who doesn't want to watch Pacific Rim clips on a random afternoon?

Now here’s where things get interesting: if we’re going to head into the early years of the war between humanity and the Precursors, one character kind of needs to come back. An early hero in the PPDC, Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) would be the prime figure to follow. This is where Legendary Comics’ work keeping the Pacific Rim universe alive and well can also be handy, as the graphic novel Tales from Year Zero lays out Stacker’s story in this very period in time.

However, as we’ve seen in the history of this series, the course of events doesn’t always follow a straight line. Let’s not forget how Guillermo del Toro’s original Pacific Rim 2 concept differed from the eventual sequel that would be known as Pacific Rim: Uprising. Though as Legendary has built that comic canon, and feels like it’s going to be honoring the material crafted in books past and future, perhaps we’ll get to see those very adventures adapted after all.

Though us Pacific Rim fans are now in a double holding pattern, at least there’s movement that looks to be cancelling the apocalypse that’s plagued this saga’s development prospects. This excitement definitely means that if you haven’t taken in the reference filled series Pacific Rim: The Black, you should be binging that as soon as possible. All you need is a Netflix subscription, and you can keep the battle going as we wait for the future of this series to pan out.

Legendary Entertainment is one of those companies that likes to play both sides of the aisle when it comes to comics and movies. The 2024 movie schedule saw the company stomp into theaters with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and to some pretty spectacular results. But there’s one potential sequel that the company and actor Charlie Hunnam have been bullish on in the past: Pacific Rim 3. Six years after the last movie hit theaters, the franchise looks to be coming back in an unexpected way.

Pacific Rim: Final Breach Is The Second Sequel We’ve Always Wanted

Over on the Kickstarter page for Legendary Comics, something amazing is happening. A new campaign has been launched to fund what’s now known as Pacific Rim: Final Breach, a three-part series that’ll debut between 2025 and 2027. Serving as the official third entry in the series, the project is already well over half funded, and I can see why with a synopsis like this in the mix:

Ok, so we need to take a minute here and just absorb the coolness of this moment. With Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Joshua Fialkov writing the story, Pacific Rim: Final Breach could make a lot of fan’s dreams come true. That starts with the fact that while Charlie Hunnam’s Pacific Rim 3 wish to bringing back Guillermo del Toro to direct hasn’t been met, the world of comics has Raleigh Becket’s return fully on tap. Like any hero that’s missed a sequel, he’s been in seclusion.

But now John Boyega’s Jake Pentecost is ready to bring him back to join up with his Pacific Rim: Uprising squadmates; which just makes this all so much more exciting. That starts with the fulfillment of this mid-credits scene, which saw the son of Idris Elba’s Stacker Pentecost taking after his old man:

Looking at the test panels for Pacific Rim 3, I noticed that some of the art looked like a four-panel flashback to that very scene between Newt (Charlie Day) and Jake. So if I’m reading this correctly, the story for this new sequel probably kicks off with young Pentacost’s threat of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps taking the fight to the realm of the Precursors. Either that, or that image of what looks like several mech suits marching into battle is one hell of a toy show.

The Bigger Promise Pacific Rim: Final Breach Could Help Make Happen

So you’re probably wondering what’s bigger than finally seeing a threequel to the series that Guillermo del Toro helped put on the ground in 2013? Well, how about the fact that actually having Pacific Rim: Final Breach in play could finally bring about that rad MonsterVerse crossover that’s also been teased in the past? Pacific Rim: Uprising director/co-writer Steven S. Denight helped put that thought into motion confirming his proposed sequel would have laid down the path to a MonsterVerse/Pacific Rim crossover.

Considering that both this rock ‘em, sock ‘em adventure and the MonsterVerse are both under the Legendary umbrella, and plenty of expanded lore comics have given Godzilla and Kong further development, this could be something that Pacific Rim: Final Breach makes all too possible. And why not? It worked for Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong!

Ok, perhaps I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. For now, we need Pacific Rim 3 to become fully funded on Kickstarter so it can make its way into the world. After which point, we can start talking about film adaptations, Godzilla becoming friends with Gypsy Destroyer, and the potential return of Hannibal Chau! His return from being eaten by a Kaiju is considered one of the best non-MCU post credits scenes, and you can't just leave man's legacy hanging on a simple Pacific Rim: Uprising reference.

Also, there are tons of additional goodies in store for those who jump in on the deal; like pins, commissioned art and even a potential recurring role in the series! So if you’re even remotely interested in having another chance to cancel the apocalypse, you have until September 4th to enlist!

But be patient, as we have to keep in mind that Volume 1 won’t be shipped until some point in the next year, with the series playing out up until its 2027 finale. So let's hope that the special add-on companion book The Pacific Rim Mechapedia happens to ship out on the same schedule as Volume 1, as that'll give us plenty to chew over in the interim.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has changed the way people watch movies in many ways, but possibly the most important is the way it has convinced audiences to sit through the credits. Rare is there an MCU movie without an exciting post-credits tease for an upcoming Marvel movie, or at the very least a funny joke.

However, Marvel Studios didn't invent the post-credits scene. Many movies added scenes after the credits began that made it worth continuing to watch. And since the MCU made them popular, a lot more movies have added their own. Here are some of the best post-credits scenes that aren't from Marvel movies. 

Ferris Bueller's Day Off 

Ferris Bueller's Day Off gets the audience to hang around by having an entire extra scene play out throughout the credits. This means there's a pretty good chance most of the audience is still watching when Matthew Broderick's Ferris returns, in his bathrobe, to ask why the audience why they're all still here because the movie is over. 

The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 

The curse, in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is all about pirates who have been cursed with a state of living death after stealing Aztec gold. By the end of the film, the curse has been lifted as all the gold is returned. However, in a post-credits scene, we see Captain Barbossa's pet monkey, Jack, steal one of the pieces of gold back, cursing the little monkey once again.

 Frozen II 

One of the most popular scenes in Frozen II is where Olaf relates the story of the original movie to the people of the Enchanted Forest. It was so popular Olaf got an entire Disney+ show dedicated to him telling different Disney stories. But there is one final Olaf story you missed as if you haven't sat through the credits as Olaf relates the movie we just watched to Marshmellow and the Snowgies at Elsa's Ice Castle. 

Black Adam 

Black Adam was one of the last DC movies released before the decision was made to reboot the DCU under James Gunn. It was especially unfortunate timing since the Black Adam post-credits scene saw the return of Henry Cavill as Superman for the first time since Justice League, and teased a superhero battle with Black Adam we'll now never see. 

 The Muppet Movie 

The Muppet Movie is a movie within a movie, so when the credits roll, the audiences of both films are wrapping up their theater experience. We watch a scene over the credit of the Muppets getting up to various shenanigans. If you got so involved that you stayed through the credits, Animal shouts at you to "Go Home."

Tomb Raider 

Alicia Vikander starred as video game heroine Lara Croft in a 2018 film that failed to relaunch a franchise. The first film was clearly hoping there would be more, as a post-credits scene shows Lara returning to a weapons dealer she dealt with earlier in the film, to buy two identical handguns, a reference to the video game character's classic dual-wielding style. 

Daredevil 

The MCU may have made post-credits scenes cool, but some pre-MCU Marvel movies had them first. The original Daredevil movie starring Ben Affleck in the title role included Colin Farrell as comic book villain Bullseye. The character appears to die in the film, being tossed out a window by the man without fear. However, a post-credits scene reveals a heavily bandaged Bullseye is still alive, teasing a sequel that would never come.

Fast & Furious 6 

Many post-credits scenes are used to tease the villains for future installments, but few have gone as big as Fast & Furious 6. The final scene in that movie reveals that the death of fan-favorite character Han wasn't an accident as believed, but rather caused by a new antagonist, played by none other than Jason Statham, and he was coming for the rest of the team.

Masters of the Universe 

The first attempt at a big-screen live-action He-Man movie did not go well, but that didn't mean Masters of the Universe wasn't ready for sequels. Despite Skelator appearing to die in the movie, a post-credit scene reveals that the villain is still very much alive. He promised, "I'll be back." He was not.

Space Jam 

Space Jam starred Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes, and there's really only way to end a Looney Tunes movie. Bugs Bunny appears in a post-credits scene to say the classic "That's All Folks" before Porky Pig arrives to claim the line as his own. Even Daffy Duck gets in on the action leading to a scuffle over who gets to end the movie. 

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

The box office success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie made a sequel all but guaranteed. Considering the decades of Mario games there are plenty of directions for a second film to go, but a post-credits scene seemed to make at least one thing clear, as it revealed the existence of a Yoshi egg in New York, and it was hatching. 

Ralph Breaks the Internet 

Ralph Breaks the Internet wasn't the best Disney movie but it had some pretty good jokes about the modern internet age. One of the best came after the credits of the film where Ralph teased the audience with scenes from the then-upcoming Frozen II only to Rickroll the audience with a clip of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up."

Venom: Let There Be Carnage 

The Venom movies are not technically part of the MCU, but the post-credits scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage teased that possibility when Eddie Brock and his alien symbiote found themselves transported to a world where Tom Holland played Spider-Man. 

Cloverfield 

What we got at the end of Cloverfield wasn't technically a scene, as it had no visual element. Instead, staying through to the end audiences heard a sound which, when played in reverse, revealed a voice saying "It's still alive." It seems the monster maybe isn't dead after all.

X-Men: The Last Stand 

X-Men: The Last Stand kills off several members of the classic team, but not all of them stay dead. In a post-credits scene, Dr. Moira MacTaggert discovers that Professor X is still alive. After having his body destroyed by Phoenix, his mind has seemingly taken over a comatose patient. 

Pacific Rim 

Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim certainly left a door open to potential sequels, but its post-credits scene is just a hilarious joke that reveals that Ron Perlman's character, who had been consumed by a baby kaiju, is actually still alive. He cuts himself free while wondering what happened to his shoe, which had fallen off while he was being devoured. 

Deadpool 

In a post-credits scene that references another post-credits scene, the final shots of Deadpool are dedicated to a shot-for-shot recreation of the Ferris Bueller's Day Off scene where the Merc with a Mouth informs audiences waiting for a post-credits scene to go home because the movie is over. 

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End 

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End has a somewhat sad ending as it confirms that Will's new responsibilities as Captain of the Flying Dutchman will keep away from his love Elizabeth. But the post-credits scene makes things a bit happier Set years later,  Elizabeth and her child, conceived during their last time together, are seen arriving at the shore for Will's return. Love has won out.

Suicide Squad 

Suicide Squad was a movie that, despite a solid box office, never got the follow-up many fans were expecting. This is even though its post-credits scene included an appearance by Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne, getting information on the Squad for reasons that we would never learn about. 

Lightyear 

Lightyear was Pixar's attempt to take the popular Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear in a new direction, making a more traditional science fiction action movie. While the movie's box office guaranteed no sequel would be forthcoming, the movie has multiple post-credit sequences teasing a future for the character, including a final confirmation that Zurg still lives.

Kong: Skull Island 

Modern post-credits scenes are frequently used to build cinematic universes, to add scenes that are not necessary to the main film but can add flavor or context. Such was the final scene of Kong: Skull Island which officially revealed that Kong lived in the same world as Godzilla and other kaiju, confirming the MonsterVerse that was to come. 

Ghostbusters (2016) 

The 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters featuring an all-female cast was largely its own thing, with a story and characters quite unlike the original, However, if there had been a sequel, it might have dealt with elements from the original franchise as the post-credits scene includes Leslie Jones listening to a tape recording and asking "What's Zuul?"

Airplane! 

It's worth reading the credits for 1980's Airplane!, as many of them are quite funny. If you do stay through, you'll be treated to one final joke. The cab that Ted Striker left at the curb at the airport at the beginning of the movie, is still there, and surprisingly, so is the guy who was planning to take the cab before Ted ran off. He figures he's going to give the guy another 20 minutes, and then he'll leave. 

Wonder Woman 1984 

It's not uncommon for franchise movies that have been on TV or the big screen before to include cameo appearances by the stars who played the roles previously. Wonder Woman 1984 takes that to a new level when a post-credits scene reveals that Asteria, the Amazonian warrior whose armor Diana wore in the main film, is still alive, and is played by the original TV Wonder Woman Lynda Carter.

Big Hero 6 

Until Stan Lee passed away the Marvel Comics creator had a cameo in virtually every movie ever made based on Marvel properties. While Big Hero 6 was the creation of Walt Disney Animation Studios, it's based on a Marvel Comic, and is about superheroes, so of course Stan Lee appears. Lee plays Fred's dad, and in the post-credits scene, Fred discovers his dad is also a superhero.

Jumanji: The Next Level 

After two Jumanji movies brought kids into the game as video game avatars, the post-credits sequence of Jumanji: The Next Level potentially teased something different. After the game is activated once again our human main characters find themselves in the middle of a stampede of ostriches, indicating that Jumanji has now come to the real world. 

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was so popular that fans instantly wanted a sequel, and the movie itself seemed to know that. Its post-credits scene introduced a new version of Spidey we hadn't met in the main movie, Spider-Man 2099, who would go on to become a key character in the sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Finding Dory 

Finding Dory has little direct connection to its predecessor Finding Nemo beyond the main characters. However, the sequel does reveal the fate of some characters from the first film in a post-credits scene. We learn that Gill and the other fish who escaped from the aquarium are alive, though they're still stuck in the bags they escaped in.

Fast Five 

Staying dead in the Fast & Furious franchise is a difficult thing. Nearly everybody who has died has come back to life. The first of those was Michelle Rodriquez's Letty. Believed dead early in the fourth Fast & Furious movie, in the post-credits scene of Fast Five we learn that she is, in fact, still alive. 

Suicide Squad 

Considering the name of the team is Suicide Squad, a surprising number of them don't die in the James Gunn-directed sequel. Two scenes pop in after the credits start. The first reveals that Weasel, despite apparently drowning in the first few minutes of the film, is still alive. The second scene reveals that Peacemaker, who had been shot in the neck and had a building fall on him, was somehow not dead, setting up his HBO Max series. 

Moana 

Moana goes through so much on her journey across the sea that it would be easy to forget about Tamatoa, the crab obsessed with shiny objects that Maui needs to face to get back his magic fishhook. He ends up flat on his back in the altercation, and as a post-credits scene reveals, he's still like that when the movie is over. 

Deadpool 2 

Deadpool 2 deals with time travel, and unsurprisingly Deadpool decides to use the power for his own ends once the future has been saved. In a series of sequences Deadpool saves the love of his life, undoes the events of X-Men: Origins Wolverine, and even prevents Ryan Reynolds from making a really bad superhero movie. 

For starters, I am not necessarily saying that any of these movie characters are outright “bad,” nor am I trying to make a case against any of the films they lead. However, I personally believe that these characters are deeply flawed for one reason or another — either because of the way they are written, the way their respective actors portray them, or even just their moral weaknesses — and what makes matters worse is that they are supposed to the protagonists of their stories. Please bear with me as I explain my reasoning for why these characters make the movies they lead just a bit more of a struggle to follow.

Rick Deckard (Blade Runner)

One of my all-time favorite actors is Harrison Ford who has played some of the most charming characters in cinematic history, but I do not believe Rick Deckard is one of them. Ford does not give a bad performance at all in Blade Runner, but his role — a cop assigned to “retire” artificial humans in a dystopian future — is the least interesting and likable character in Ridley Scott's 1982 film, the real hero of which is Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), if you ask me.

Rose (Titanic)

On The Ringer podcast, The Rewatchables, Bill Simmons and Van Lathan spend more than 10 minutes discussing why Rose (Kate Winslet) is the worst character from James Cameron's Titanic. The spoiled socialite's unimpressed reaction to first seeing the titular ship, her reluctance to immediately explain Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) saved her life as he is being arrested, and her hogging the makeshift lifeboat (a door) that likely could have prevented Jack's death are just a few reasons.

Scott Pilgrim (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World)

Michael Cera's title character from Edgar Wright's hilarious and visually stunning 2010 comic book movie is a smug, selfish, and lazy oaf whose troubles — notably having two unassuming girlfriends at once — are no one's fault but his own. I will say, however, that a main point of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is that the protagonist is deeply flawed and, through defeating Ramona's (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) evil exes, thankfully learns to be a better person.

Bella Swan (Twilight)

It is a shame that Kristen Stewart's stint in the Twilight movies cast cursed her with an undeserving reputation for wooden acting because, in retrospect, it was clearly not her fault. In fact, you could say the future Academy Award nominee's performance as the cinematic version of Bella Swan perfectly suits the role’s astonishing lack of personality and emotional depth in a romance about vampires.

Raleigh Beckett (Pacific Rim)

Charlie Hunnam has turned in many wonderful performances in his career, especially in the Sons of Anarchy cast as Jax Teller. Yet, he gives a decidedly one-note performance in 2013’s Pacific Rim as the hero of Guillermo del Toro’s monsters vs. machines epic, Raleigh Beckett, who certainly does not have his aggressively generic and unmemorable characterization.

Jupiter Jones (Jupiter Ascending)

There are many reasons why The Wachowskis' Jupiter Ascending is one of their most infamous flops and among them is Mila Kunis' title role. The young house cleaner who discovers she is the heir to a royal, intergalactic kingdom is written as not much more than a disengaging damsel in distress.

Jake Sully (Avatar)

The reason why anybody went to see 2009's Avatar, or rewatches it to this day, and showed up for the 2022 sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, was to experience the wondrous world of Pandora. The groundbreaking success of James Cameron's franchise has absolutely nothing to do with its hero, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), whom many regard as one of the most generic action movie protagonists you could imagine.

Julianne Potter (My Best Friend's Wedding)

As the Queen of Rom-Coms, Julia Roberts has played many charming and lovable characters, but Julianne Potter is not quite one of them. The whole plot of My Best Friend's Wedding sees her conspire to ruin the impending nuptials of her lifelong buddy, Michael O'Neil (Dermot Mulroney), after realizing she wants to have him for herself.

Luke Skywalker (Star Wars: A New Hope)

I really, truly hate to include one of the most beloved heroes from George Lucas' galaxy far, far away on this list, but it is a decision that I believe many die-hard fans of the Star Wars movies might be able to understand. They may especially agree that Mark Hamill's performance as Luke Skywalker in the 1977 original is not exactly one of his best and the farmer-turned-resistance-fighter's characterization — specifically at that time — is a bit bland and, at times, annoying.

Ariel (The Little Mermaid)

Is there a single character who represents the most egregious tropes associated with Disney Princesses more than Ariel in 1989’s The Little Mermaid? For one, she literally and willfully silences herself all for the chance to be with her crush, which is far from role-model behavior, as far as I am concerned.

Teth-Adam (Black Adam)

Let alone the fact that Teth-Adam was originally created for DC Comics as a Shazam villain, Dwayne Johnson gives a tonally uneven and one-dimensional portrayal of the extremely powerful Kahndaq "champion" whose verbal rejection of being called the hero of his story grows tiresome. Personally, I would have rather seen a movie that centers on the members of the Justice Society of America than what Black Adam turned out to be. 

Christine McPherson (Lady Bird)

Greta Gerwig's feature-length directorial debut, 2017's Lady Bird, is one of the sharpest coming-of-age dramedies of its time, anchored by a spellbinding, Oscar-nominated performance by Saoirse Ronan. Yet, even the acclaimed A24 movie's biggest fans agree that Ronan's title character (whose real name is Christine McPherson) is often too rude and self-absorbed to enjoy watching.

Bruce Wayne (Batman Forever)

When it comes to the best Batman actors, the bottom of the list, for me, is occupied by Val Kilmer. The normally charismatic and dynamic actor implants little to nothing of his signature talents in 1995's Batman Forever, resulting in one of the most bland and forgettable portrayals of the Dark Knight on record.

Cinderella (Cinderella)

I realize that Cinderella is, essentially, the ideal fairy tale character, and her age-old story inspires people to not give up on their dreams. However, her depiction in the 1950 classic does not have much of a distinct personality, causing it to be one of the few Disney animated movies that pales in comparison to its live-action remake, in my opinion. 

Sam Witwicky (Transformers)

To be fair, Shia LaBeouf really puts his heart and soul into playing Sam — an awkward, nervous teen caught up in a war between shape-shifting alien robots. However, the performance is just a little too convincing and often tends to distract from the true mechanical heroes of 2007's Transformers.

Evan Hansen (Dear Evan Hansen)

While the cinematic adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen certainly has its fans (many of whom already loved the original stage musical), its toughest critics agree the title role is a hard person to warm to by the end. The consensus has less to do with actor Ben Platt (reprising his Tony Award-winning role) being nearly twice Evan's age, and more with how he allows himself to benefit from a classmate's suicide after being mistaken for his friend.

Dante Hicks (Clerks)

I am sure there are many convenience store workers who strongly empathize with Dante (Brian O'Halloran), but his incessant whining and lack of gratitude for his girlfriend, Veronica (Marilyn Ghigliotti), kind of makes it hard to. Not to mention, in competition with Randal (Jeff Anderson), Jay (Jason Mewes), and Silent Bob (writer and director Kevin Smith), he is easily one of the least memorable characters from 1994's Clerks despite being the center of it all.

Sandy Olsson (Grease)

No one can deny that the late, great Olivia Newton-John is phenomenal in Grease, as both an actor and a musical performer. Yet, you could make the argument that her role, Sandy Olsson, is not a great character, especially for the way she submits to changing her personality to be more like her crush, Danny Zuko (John Travolta), while he gets to stay the same at the end.

Adam Jones (Burnt)

If not for a charismatic actor like Bradley Cooper in the lead role, the otherwise delicious food movie, Burnt, might not have been worth taking a bite out of. Cooper's character, a talented chef named Adam Jones, pretty much revels in treating people like scraps and boasts little to no redeeming qualities.  

Leo (Mute)

Duncan Jones, director of acclaimed sci-fi films Moon and Source Code, did not receive as much love in 2018 for his Netflix original futuristic noir, Mute. Much of the complaints were centered around Alexander Skarsgård's lead role, Leo, whose otherwise intriguing trait as a non-speaking character becomes a disadvantage as the role offers just about nothing else of interest to the table.

Steven (The Cable Guy)

Jim Carrey's demented performance is meant to convince you that his character is the "villain" of 1996's The Cable Guy. However, in retrospect, the pathetic, self-centered, hypocritical Steven (Matthew Broderick) is the one we should really be rooting against. 

Newt Scamander (Fantastic Beasts And Where to Find Them)

For a film in which the main draw is watching wondrous creatures run amok, it makes sense that the lead performance would be as understated as Eddie Redmayne's portrayal of Newt Scamander. Yet, even some major Harry Potter fans agree that the Magizoologist is, ultimately, too awkward and dull of a protagonist to carry Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Tom Hansen ((500) Days Of Summer)

To be clear, my main reason for including Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character from 2009's (500) Days of Summer in this list is because many often misinterpret the point of his arc in the modern romantic-comedy classic. Tom is so obsessed with living the perfect love story that he selfishly ignores Summer's (Zooey Deschanel) request to keep things casual and blames her for their breakup.

Ford Brody (Godzilla)

If I am being honest — and the same goes for many examples of disaster and/or monster movies, really — the human characters are easily the weakest part of 2014's Godzilla. However, the otherwise talented Aaron Taylor-Johnson's lead role as Lt. Ford Brody makes less of an impact on the story than anyone else. To be fair, though, I imagine it was hard to stand out amid Bryan Cranston's brief, but memorable, performance as his father.

Frodo Baggins (The Lord Of The Rings)

By the end of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) does achieve the end goal by destroying the One Ring, but is he really the true hero of this saga? When you look at how often Samwise (Sean Astin) came to his rescue and compare him to the fearless Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), the hobbit really does come up short.

P.T. Barnum (The Greatest Showman)

Hugh Jackman's portrayal of P.T. Barnum in The Greatest Showman is, for the most part, extremely charming, and that is precisely the problem. The otherwise dazzling 2017 musical is not at all historically accurate, especially in the way it depicts the founder of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, who, in real life, was a greedy schemer known for exploiting an enslaved woman for his show.

Valerian (Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets)

Luc Besson's highly inventive, visually stunning, and admirably optimistic utopian adventure, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, could have gone down in history as a modern sci-fi classic. Unfortunately, the one-note, generic, frustratingly unimpressionable title hero, played by the otherwise very talented Dane DeHaan, resulted in an ultimately forgettable experience.

Albert Stark (A Million Ways To Die In The West)

Writer and director Seth MacFarlane also stars in 2014's A Million Ways to Die in the West as Albert Stark — an aimless, perpetually dissatisfied oaf whose main character trait is lengthy complaints. If the character was not just, essentially, a live-action, human version of one of MacFarlane's Family Guy roles, Brian Griffin, he might have been stronger protagonist for the Western-Comedy. 

Jack Burton (Big Trouble In Little China)

I can't deny that I have nothing but love for Kurt Russell's hilarious performance as California trucker Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China. Yet, did you ever notice just how imbecilic he is, not to mention, the fact that he achieves not a single heroic act until he kills Lo Pan (James Hong) at the end? His bumbling nature does give the many Asian cast members their chance to shine as the true heroes, but even that only further earns him a lower ranking among Russell’s best characters.

Howard Rattner (Uncut Gems)

Adam Sandler gives one of his most electric performances as Manhattan jeweler Howard Rattner in the Safdie Brothers' 2019 thriller, Uncut Gems. Honestly, if a less likable movie star had played the selfish, self-destructive gambling addict than the charismatic comedy icon, we would have no reason to root for him and the story could have suffered as a result.

Mimi (Psycho Goreman)

The ancient extraterrestrial warrior (voiced by Steven Vlahos and portrayed physically by Matthew Ninaber) may be the title character of Psycho Goreman, but the true protagonist is Mimi (Nita-Josée Hanna). However, as far as I am concerned, the 2020 horror-comedy would have been much more enjoyable if the young girl who awakens "PG" were not such a spoiled, rotten, loudmouthed bully.

Britt Reid (The Green Hornet)

Director Michel Gondry's 2011 reboot of The Green Hornet reimagines L.A. news publisher Britt Reid (producer Seth Rogen) as an absent-minded man-child whose vigilante aspirations seem completely out of place with his character. While this does work as a parodic commentary on Kato (played here by Jay Chou) always being the more obviously capable one in the 1960s series (which starred Bruce Lee in the role), it is a one-note joke that quickly loses steam.

I promise that my intention was not to ruin any of these main movie characters for you, but at least offer some additional perspective regarding how they fit into their stories.

Has a wave of missing persons occurred in your area? Have you noticed any unidentifiable objects flying in the sky above? Have you seen any odd creatures you have never seen before (or even look strangely like your loved one) recently?

Chances are, you could living in an alien invasion movie, which means the end could be near for you and everyone else living in your world. Luckily, having seen enough great sci-fi movies and plenty of classic horror movies, we may able to help you survive (or at least get through it all in a calm manner) by giving you a scoop on what to expect.

The Crazy Conspiracy Theorist Is The One Who Is Right

When irrefutable evidence of the alien invasion comes to light, you may find yourself thinking, Maybe I should have listened to the local “kook’s” warnings about the impending Martian attack. To be clear, in reality, we don’t like to give conspiracy theories much credence, but one of the genre’s most common tropes is seeing those kinds of people getting the validation they hoped for, like Independence Day cast member Judd Hirsch’s character, Julius Levinson.

Your Pet Might Detect Something Is Strange Before You Do

If no “local kook” in your area notices the invasion first, it might not even be a human who does. If you have a dog or a cat, have you caught them acting odd lately? You might want to pay close attention to whatever they could be reacting to.

You See Crop Circles, You’re In Trouble

Maybe you will end up being the first to notice that there is something otherworldly going on and the evidence might appear right outside your door, especially if you live on a farm. If you do and you find any distinct symbol appearing in your crops like in the 2002 M. Night Shyamalan movie, Signs, you should, indeed, take it as a sign.

Don’t Take Radio Interference Lightly

A surefire sign that outsiders are among us (in the movies, at least) is when your radio picks up a sound that defies explanation. This occurs during Roy Neary’s (Richard Dreyfuss) first close encounter in 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind and is the way Everett (Jake Horowitz) and Fay (Sierra McCormick) first realize that they may not be alone in one of the best sci-fi movies of 2020, The Vast of Night.

Beware Of Flying Saucers

If a flying saucer appears above your head, run out of its way immediately because you do not want to get caught in its beam of light. That is how you get abducted and become the visitors’ experimental subject. Take it from Travis Walton, whose alleged experience inspired the 1993 movie, Fire in the Sky.

They Might Not Be From Space, But Another Dimension

Who says that our invaders always have to be extra-terrestrial? Instead of another planet, these creatures very likely could have originated from another corner of the Multiverse, much like the bugs from Frank Darabont’s 2007 adaptation of Stephen King’s The Mist.

Your Loved Ones Might Start Acting Out Of Character

The first sign of an invasion might be something that only you would have been able to notice, such as if your family member or best friend does not seem to be acting themselves. In fact, it might not even be themselves at all, but a perfect duplicate with an alien personality, like in the Invasion of the Body Snatchers movies.

The Invasion May Come In The Form Of A Parasitic/Bacterial Infection

If your loved one does begin acting like they are from another planet, it could be a symptom of a more non-violent and covert plan than lethal flying saucers. To bring up The Body Snatchers once again, the invasion in Jack Finney’s novel is brought on by an extra-terrestrial bacteria that latches on to human hosts and develops clones of them overnight.

The Infection May Cause A Horrifying Transformation

Extra-terrestrial bacteria can begat symptoms that go way beyond psychological manipulation, such as in Slither. In writer and director James Gunn’s feature-length debut, Grant Grant (Michael Rooker) transforms into a grotesque mutant creature who creates a zombie-like outbreak.

Your Loved One Might Be The Alien In Disguise

You may actually find it impossible to detect if someone you know has been possessed or replaced by an extra-terrestrial, just like the research crew from John Carpenter’s The Thing from 1982. Not only can the shape-shifting organism create a perfect visual imitation of those it consumes, but its keen sense of observation allows it to replicate human emotion convincingly. 

The Aliens May Take On A Very Attractive Disguise

There have actually been numerous cases in pop culture of an alien disguise that is not just meant to deceive, but to entice and prey on humans’ natural hormones. In fact, “aliens disguised as attractive people” has basically become its own subgenre with notable examples that include 1995’s Species with Natasha Henstridge and 2013’s Under the Skin with Scarlett Johansson.

The Aliens May Take On A Disguise With A Culturally Relevant Theme

Your alien enemy’s disguise might not be very effectively secretive and, in fact, is more of a stylistic choice. For instance, in 1988’s hilarious creature feature, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, the invaders adopt a wacky, circus-like aesthetic to their ship and their appearance that we suppose they found scary.

The Aliens May Have Already Been Here For A While

Whenever the invaders actually make themselves known, there is a chance that this will not actually be their first visit. For instance, in director Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, instead of the typical descent from the sky, the aliens’ killer tripod machines burst out from underground, meaning they had to be placed there before. In fact, it is possible that they have actually been hiding among us in plain sight for years.

The Aliens Could Be Kept Under Wraps By A Secret Organization

Perhaps, not only is this invasion Earth’s first publicly acknowledged visit by aliens, but previous visits have actually been regulated and closely monitored by a top-secret group that not even the government is aware of. How do we know that the stuff that goes on in the Men in Black movies is not actually happening right now?

They May Claim They Come In Peace

It’s natural for the human race to be alarmed by the appearance of visitors from another planet, but it might not actually be the disaster we expect. For instance, the aliens from Close Encounters meant no harm and, as the ending of 2016’s Arrival reveals, the Heptapods were actually trying to help prevent tragedy.

They Might Have Lied About Coming In Peace

While pop culture has shown us some exceptions, it might be ill-advised to immediately give in to a plea for civility from an extraterrestrial. There are even more pop culture examples — such as Mars Attacks! or the cult favorite V franchise — that prove they have an insidious hidden agenda.

Your Neighborhood Could Become A Warzone

When the invasion starts, get out of town as fast as you can. It probably will take no time at all before your home is no longer homely and serves as the site of conflict between our military and our new enemy. It’s not like they can negotiate a safe place to battle with creatures who have no interest in negotiating.

You Can Expect A Lot Of Traffic

Getting to a safe place might take longer than you may have hoped. With countless civilians seeking sanctuary at the same time, the roads are going to be overflowing with cars, making any potential seem even farther out of reach. Furthermore, this is only assuming that the aliens have not done something to make your vehicle immobile, like when they render all electricity obsolete in War of the Worlds.

The Aliens’ Plan Could Be Psychological

Maybe the visitors have no intention of hurting anybody and violence is beneath them. Perhaps their M.O. is creating a sense of paranoia that begins to consume the human race from the inside, like in one of the best The Twilight Zone episodes, “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.”

The Aliens May Be Manipulating You Subliminally

Paranoia is not the only psychological tool that extra-terrestrials may have at their disposal. In fact, they might have even managed to control you by planting hidden messages in the mass media you comfortably consume on a daily basis. Roddy Piper’s Nada makes that discovery with help from a special pair of glasses in John Carpenter’s They Live.

Humans Might Start Turning Against Each Other

Whether or not the aliens are intentionally trying to manipulate the human race, their presence could very likely have some damaging effects on our mental health. It becomes impossible for us to trust another stranger or even our own loved ones, fearing what nefarious agenda or reptilian features may be lurking underneath.

You May Become Obsessed With The Mystery Behind The Visitors

The psychological effects of the invasion could become a more personal matter. What if they really do come in peace, but you find yourself unable to accept that as the truth, causing you to lose yourself in your obsession with the visitors while the rest of the world lives in unprecedented harmony?

Your Obsession With The Visitors Will Cost You A Few Relationships

Whatever the true intentions of the aliens are (or whether or not their presence is even confirmed fact), if you find yourself obsessed with them for one reason or another, it could still have drastic effects on your life. For instance, in Close Encounters, Roy Neary’s wife, Ronnie (Teri Garr), and two sons leave him out of fear that he is dangerously unstable.

You Might Meet At Least One Friendly Visitor

Even if it is clear that the visitors, indeed, do not come in peace, that does not mean all of them are evil. The V franchise actually includes one of the most classic examples of an alien who defies its race’s oppressive plans and opts to help human beings resist — namely Robert Englund giving one of his best performances as Willie.

The Friendly Visitor Might Just Be Lost

Maybe you are not facing an invasion after all, but the strange activity you have encountered is due to just one harmless alien who merely lost their way. All the titular creature from 1982’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial wants to do is “phone home” and Vin Diesel’s role in 1999’s The Iron Giant is kind of like a little kid in a huge robot’s body.

The Visitor May Form A Bond With A Child

You may discover that all these aliens really need is a friend and no one is better at making friends than children, whether it turns out to be your own or someone else’s. To bring up E.T. and The Iron Giant once again, the central otherworldly characters from both of those classic family movies prove they have some humanity in them when they make a connection with a young human.

You Or Someone You Know Could Find Love With A Visitor

Perhaps it is not just a friendly connection that these creatures are seeking, but a romantic connection, and they could happen to find it with a human, whether they suspect it or not. Interspecies romance is actually a theme of several sci-fi films, both earnest (such as Starman) or comedic (Earth Girls Are Easy or My Stepmother is an Alien).

The Key To Defeating Them Might Be Robots

If they originate from another planet or dimension, we can probably count kaiju as aliens. In the case that they are the invading creature, what better way is there to stop them than by attacking with a gargantuan beast of our own design, just like the “monsters vs. robots” action of Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim?

The Aliens Might Be Robots

Not all extra-terrestrials are made of organic matter, as the warring natives of Cybertron from the Transformers movies have certainly proven. All we can say about that is we hope there is one group of alien robots on your side to defeat the evil side of that war. Otherwise, we hope you can get your hands on a Jaeger from Pacific Rim.

The Key To Defeating Them Might Be Harnessing Their Power

Sometimes, when attempting to figure out how to stop the aliens, the best question to ask is what they are capable of and how it can be used against them. In all honesty, you might need to discover that on accident, much like how Tom Cruise’s character in Edge of Tomorrow becomes imbued with his alien enemies’ ability to relive the same day on repeat.

It Might Prompt A Superhero Team-Up

Hopefully, you won’t need to be the one who takes matters into your own hands to save the planet because there may already exist a group of powerful individuals who just need a reason to come together. When Loki (Tom Hiddleston) caused an invasion of the Chitauri’s attack on New York, it essentially created the MCU’s interpretation of The Avengers.

The Key To Defeating The Aliens Might Be Ridiculously Simple

Do you, by any chance, have a copy of Slim Whitman’s “Indian Love Call”? If so, we recommend playing the song on the loudest speaker possible and seeing if that makes a difference, because that is all it took to defeat the invaders from 1996’s Mars Attacks! If that does not work, maybe just wait a few more days and see how the aliens’ health looks because, as newcomers to this planet, they may not have immunity to even our most common germs and could succumb to a mere cold pretty quickly, just like in War of the Worlds.

If none of these tips prove effective in your war against another world, well, good luck.

The franchise kicked off by 2013’s Pacific Rim is a firm example of a series that, despite an irregular pace of progress, still seems to be kicking around in the hearts and minds of those who love it. Actor and star Charlie Hunnam could be seen as a case study for why that is, especially with his answer to the question of whether he would do a Pacific Rim 3. Both as a journalist and a fan of this series that includes some of the best sci-fi movies, I couldn’t love his answer about doing a third film more. 

Despite the reasons Charlie Hunnam wasn’t in Pacific Rim: Uprising, there’s still a clear love for Guillermo del Toro’s process at the heart of what he had to say about a three-quel. Through Inverse’s TikTok, the Sons of Anarchy vet and current member of the Rebel Moon cast can now be seen delivering the following answer: 

That last part shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who follows del Toro’s work. Charlie Hunnam would actually reteam with his Pacific Rim helmer not too long after the 2013 sci-fi epic, in the underrated 2015 gothic horror/romance Crimson Peak. So clearly it’s not just a case of loyalty to canceling the apocalypse here; as Charlie will gladly reunite with Guillermo whenever called upon.

Personally, seeing both Hunnam and Guillermo del Toro returning for Pacific Rim 3 would be a blazing ball of excitement. Co-writer/director Steven S. DeKnight’s Pacific Rim: Uprising introduced new characters and took things in a slightly different direction. However, the 2018 sequel did have a common goal in mind with where Mr. del Toro wanted to take things for a threequel. Yes, I’m talking about that potential MonsterVerse crossover.

DeKnight admitted to structuring his version of Pacific Rim 3 to end exactly where the two worlds could collide. And in an interview during Pacific Rim’s press rounds, Guillermo del Toro’s extreme enthusiasm for a Godzilla crossover was palpable. With the MonsterVerse’s popularity in full swing, and Legendary Pictures’ stake in both series, it’s kind of surprising to see this pitch not coming to fruition just yet. 

However, if you could get Guillermo del Toro and Charlie Hunnam to sign on, you could be sure that Pacific Rim 3 would probably become a going concern rather quickly. Especially when the excitement for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire promises a world where much bigger obstacles are going to be required to keep the party going. 

While the co-director of Netflix’s Pinocchio film seems to be content with eventually staying in the realm of stop-motion, it’d be nice to convince him to take Pacific Rim 3 as a potential live-action finale to his career of flesh and blood storytelling. Then again, maybe combining Guillermo del Toro and Steven S. DeKnight into a drift configuration of storytelling wonder could see both men pushing this series into the future for some time ahead. In which case, Mr. Hunnam's Raleigh Becket would be a very essential party.

Ok Pilots: from here you’ve got two different objectives you can pursue. If you want to go back to the world of Pacific Rim, the first film is streaming for those with a Hulu subscription at the time of this publication. However, if you want to follow Charlie Hunnam in his new role as part of Rebel Moon: Part 1 - A Child of Fire, then you’ll want to tune in with a Netflix subscription, and blast off! 

Throughout the years that passed between Pacific Rim’s 2013 debut and its 2018 sequel, the hype machine that eventually gave us Pacific Rim: Uprising saw a minor detour that remains one of the greatest “what if” scenarios. As we all know, the second adventure we saw in theaters wasn’t the one that series co-creator/director Guillermo del Toro had intended to send out into the world. Years later, we finally have some clues regarding what that would have entailed, as del Toro has revealed what was going to happen in his version of the sequel. 

Speaking with The Wrap on behalf of the release of Nightmare Alley, the director laid out some details, presumably from the iteration of the project that was named Pacific Rim: Maelstrom. More specifically, the main conflict is the draw in this round of information, as we’d previously been clued into locations, events and even the proposed ending for this version of the project. As far as the new details are concerned, here’s what Guillermo del Toro revealed: 

That’s one hell of a twist to the Pacific Rim series, especially with what Pacific Rim: Uprising eventually did with the Precursors in director/co-writer Steven S. DeKnight’s version of events. However, as noted by Guillermo del Toro in that same interview, some ideas did transfer over into the sequel we eventually got. Most notably, as you can read above, the whole terraforming idea definitely crossed into the goals of the Precursors we saw wrecking havoc. Plus, the Kaiju/Precursor tech idea does feel like a close cousin to the heel turn that Newt Geizsler (Charlie Day) pulled in the finished product. 

However, Pacific Rim fans are going to have to hold onto their hats for this next bombshell. Guillermo del Toro revealed another detail that you probably could have guessed, but it's still lovely to have it confirmed in the light of day. Unlike Pacific Rim: Uprising, the alternate draft in question kept an important character alive, while seemingly upgrading their role. According to this discussion, here’s how Pacific Rim: Maelstrom would have handled Mako Mori: 

Potentially the most controversial decision made in Pacific Rim: Uprising’s story is the fact that Rinko Kikuchi’s character was killed off mid-film, rather than surviving to take the fight to the Precursors and their monstrous assistants. Though it doesn’t feel too far off from what we’ve gotten so far, right down to the intention of crossing the rift in Pacific Rim: Maelstrom’s sequel plans. There’s enough of a difference between these battling concepts that one would want to see, or read, the version Guillermo del Toro was developing before handing things off. 

At this point, even the Pacific Rim: Uprising version of events has a “what if” scenario hanging in the air. With plans to cross the MonsterVerse with the world of Kaijus being laid out for Pacific Rim 3, there’s a chance we might not see that showdown happen at a theater near us. Maybe one day, in the ultimate mashup of talent, Guillermo del Toro and Steven S. DeKnight can collaborate, bringing that next chapter home and allowing for a blowout of epic proportions.

Guillermo del Toro fans can get their next taste of the writer/director’s unique brand of magic with Nightmare Alley, which debuts in theaters this Friday. To seek out the rest of what the final weeks of 2021’s box office has to offer, check out this year’s release schedule. Or, if you’d like to get a jump on planning the year to come, head over to the schedule of 2022’s movie offerings. 

Whether it’s on a show like Sons of Anarchy or in a movie like Pacific Rim, Charlie Hunnam is one of those actors you can’t help but watch whenever he walks into the frame. He has this charisma and almost a certain edge that makes you love him when he’s playing a more heroic character and love to hate him when he’s taking on a more antagonistic and menacing role. 

And while it would be great to go through and talk about all the great Charlie Hunnam movies and TV shows, for the sake of brevity, today we’re just going to dive into 10 of the actor’s best performances from various points in his career that make a case for him being one of the great and underappreciated actors of our time.

Sons Of Anarchy (2008 - 2014)

The landmark FX drama series Sons of Anarchy, which is essentially Hamlet on wheels, follows the titular motorcycle club, also known as SAMCRO, based in the fictional small town of Charming, California, with a main focus on club vice president (and later president) Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam), the son of the group’s late co-founder. Created by Kurt Sutter, the series was one of the most popular around during its seven-season run, and served as a launching pad for young actors as well as a major platform for the likes of Katey Sagal, Ron Perlman, and Taylor Sheridan before he left the show to pursue work behind the scenes that culminated with Yellowstone.

Through it all, Charlie Hunnam’s portrayal of Jax Teller, a man being pulled in every direction, is brilliant and is a good reason why so many associate the actor with the role even years after its final episode aired.

Stream Sons of Anarchy on Hulu.
Buy Sons of Anarchy on Amazon.

The Lost City Of Z (2016)

The 2016 biographical drama The Lost City of Z, written and directed by James Gray, explores the life and times of famed British adventurer Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) as he sets off on a dangerous expedition into the heart of the Amazon rainforest to find and document what he believes to be a lost civilization. Risking his family, reputation, and life, Fawcett, alongside his son Jack (Tom Holland), aims to prove everyone wrong (even his own fears and doubts) in one final attempt to track the rumored “lost city of Z” once and for all.

Though not all that successful at the box office, The Lost City of Z was a critical hit and has since become one of the best movies on Amazon for those seeking thrilling adventure and the exploration of the human spirit.

Stream The Lost City of Z on Amazon.
Rent/Buy The Lost City of Z on Amazon.

King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword (2017)

If you ever wanted to see how Guy Ritchie would handle Arthurian legends, look no further than the 2017 action-adventure film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. In this take on the legendary tale, Arthur (Charlie Hunnam) rises through the ranks to take back his rightful throne after his uncle, Vortigern (Jude Law), claims it as his own following the death of the king, Arthur’s father. Filled with Ritchie’s trademark fast-paced action, smash mouth dialogue, and general sense of coolness, the movie is made all the better thanks to Hunnam’s charismatic portrayal of King Arthur.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword wasn’t the biggest success at the box office and received a great deal of unfavorable reviews, but don’t let that take the wind out of this fun movie’s sails. 

Rent/Buy King Arthur: Legend of the Sword on Amazon.

Cold Mountain (2003)

One of the biggest movies of the year in 2003, the Civil War epic Cold Mountain tells the story of Confederate soldier W.P. Inman (Jude Law), as he fights like hell to get back to the love of his life, Ada (Nicole Kidman), in North Carolina. But W.P. isn’t the only one fighting battles and facing uncertainty as he works his way back home, as Ada is forced to not only keep her modest farm in working order, but also ward off the villainous Captain Teague (Ray Winstone) and his right-hand man, Bosie (Charlie Hunnam), who will do just about anything to take the land and Ada’s hand.

Charlie Hunnam’s take on the creepy and downright deranged character is brilliant here and provides for some of the more intense moments in Cold Mountain, and helps make this one of the best movies on Netflix. 

Stream Cold Mountain on Netflix.
Rent/Buy Cold Mountain on Amazon.

Nicholas Nickleby (2002)

Douglas McGrath’s 2002 adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens serial The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (shortened to Nicholas Nickleby here), follows the iconic, titular 19-year-old (Charlie Hunnam) as he goes from one situation to the next in Victorian era England, making friends and enemies while trying to make a better life for both his family and himself. In addition to Hunnam, the film’s all-star cast includes Anne Hathaway, Jamie Bell, Nathan Lane, Christopher Plummer, and more than a dozen other great acting talents, who are all top-notch here.

Already a rising star by the time he led Nicholas Nickleby, Charlie Hunnam’s career began to reach new heights from here and never really looked back.

Stream Nicholas Nickleby on Amazon.
Rent/Buy Nicholas Nickleby on Amazon.

Queer As Folk (1999 - 2000)

Not to be confused with the Showtime/Showcase co-production of the same name that became all the rage in the early 2000s, Russell T Davies’ 1999 dramedy series, Queer as Folk, follows three gay men — Stuart Allen Jones (Aidan Gillen), Vince Tyler (Craig Kelly), and Nathan Maloney (Charlie Hunnam) balancing life, love, and their various social circles. All three of the leads in the series are phenomenal throughout the show’s 10 episodes, and would all go on to have successful careers in the years following its debut.

The show itself became highly influential and is still talked about more than 20 years after it completed its two-season run in February 2000.

Stream Queer as Folk on Amazon.

Children of Men (2006)

Alfonso Cuarón’s 2006 dystopian thriller Children of Men remains not only one of the best movies to feature Charlie Hunnam in the cast, but also one of the best movies of the past decade-and-a-half. Set in a world that has been ravaged by an infertility epidemic followed by a catastrophic influenza outbreak, the movie tells the story of Theo Faron (Clive Owen), a bureaucrat and former activist who is thrown back into the chaos of his former life when he is asked by his ex-wife, Julian Taylor (Julianne Moore), to escort an asylum seeker named Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey), who happens to be the first pregnant woman in nearly 20 years.

Along the way, Theo and Kee have to evade a group of militant radicals known as the Fishes, including two of their more prominent figures — Luke (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Patric (Charlie Hunnam) — who aren’t as noble as they would make you believe. An absolute emotional gut-punch, Children of Men is more than deserving of a revisit or first watch.

Rent/Buy Children of Men on Amazon.

Crimson Peak (2015)

Guillermo del Toro’s 2015 gothic horror film Crimson Peak follows Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) as she falls in love with Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), a charming, seductive, and mysterious man who comes in and takes her away to a sprawling estate he shares with his equally mysterious (and creepy) sister, Lady Lucille Sharpe (Jessica Chastain). Separated from her family, friends, and everyone and everything she has ever known, Edith attempts to make sense of the strange happenings (and ghost sightings) that plague the mansion, which seems to be falling apart.

While this is going on, Dr. Alan McMichael (Charlie Hunnam), one of Edith’s closest friends back home, begins to investigate the strange brother and sister on his own, leading to him traveling to the remote mansion to confront the evil that lies there once and for all. 

Stream Crimson Peak on Netflix.
Rent/Buy Crimson Peak on Amazon.

Undeclared (2001 - 2002)

Following the cancellation of Freaks and Geeks in 2000 after only one season, Judd Apatow turned his attention to college life with the short-lived comedy series, Undeclared. Over the course of the show’s first and only season, Apatow introduced audiences to a group of college freshmen, with the primary focus on Steven Karp (Jay Baruchel) and his circle of friends. This includes Ron Garner (Seth Rogen), a nerdy Canadian with a dry sense of humor, and smooth-talking Englishman Lloyd Haythe (Charlie Hunnam).

Despite it only lasting 18 episodes before Fox pulled the plug, Undeclared has since become another Judd Apatow cult classic and gave future stars like Kevin Hart, Jenna Fischer, and Jason Segel plenty of time to shine.

Buy Undeclared on Amazon.

Pacific Rim (2013)

And then there is Guillermo del Toro’s 2013 kaiju vs. giant robots action flick, Pacific Rim. Set years after the towering monsters first walked out of the ocean and destroyed countless cities and killed billions worldwide, the movie follows a ragtag group of soldiers who use Jaegers to take on the fearsome beasts.

After years of endless fighting having put humanity on the brink of extinction, it all comes down to one final shot at survival, when Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) and Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) attempt to impossible: connect through the neural bridge to bring an old Jaeger into one final fight before it’s too late.

Rent/Buy Pacific Rim on Amazon.

This is just a small portion of all the great Charlie Hunnam movies and TV shows worth checking out. And, with an actor with his charisma and talented, expect to see even more great performances out of him as the years go on.

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Okay, who had their money on such an intense movie monster battle bringing so many people together? If it’s you, it’s time to collect your returns, because Godzilla vs. Kong is a huge hit. In the past week, Adam Wingard’s MonsterVerse film has become the most successful debut at the box office since the pandemic started, ushering in bright hopes for the summer film season. And after this major movie crossover fight, how about we keep those coming too?

It’s been done before with Alien vs. Predator, Batman v Superman and Iron battling Captain America in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. Although there’s been some mixed results with how these crossover fight films have been received by fans, most, if not all of us can agree they were entertaining and super memorable movie events. So think outside the box with me for a moment. I’m just spitballing, but here's some ideas for more franchises that could collide after Godzilla vs. Kong’s huge match-up.

Deadpool Vs. Wolverine

While we’re happy to see Marvel as one big happy family at Disney and the studio now inching towards introducing mutants into the MCU, we’re also bummed that we never got to see Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine duke it out in a movie of their own. According to Reynolds, there were actual plans for a road trip film between the two anti-heroes, but Disney’s purchase of Fox stopped that from happening. I know a Deadpool vs. Wolverine movie would be brilliant because the actors have already created their entertaining own ongoing feud. Now imagine Wade Wilson getting Logan pissed off and the pair getting their blades out? It would be classic.

Sonic the Hedgehog Vs. Detective Pikachu

In the past few years, there’s been a handful of fun video game adaptations that have done well for themselves following the genre getting a pretty bad rep. Two that stick out are Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog, which managed to be fun family-friendly outings and nostalgic for two popular franchises. Now that both properties have been given proper introductions on the big screen, it would be loads of fun to see them share the same film. Both movies are anchored in wacky worlds, so they could definitely find a way to come together and even throw their own thunder each other’s way during Pikachu’s next case. And while we're on the topic of video games, how about crossing over Tom Holland's Uncharted vs. Alicia Vikander's Tomb Raider?

Dumbledore Vs. Gandalf

Sure, the Harry Potter universe is leading up to Dumbledore vs. Grindelwald’s famed battle within the Fantastic Beasts series, but I’ll do you one better. How about Hollywood gets weird with it and imagines a time and place where Dumbledore and Gandalf were in the same place at the same time and major adversaries? Look, there’s a lot about Dumbledore’s life we still don’t know about, and there’s a possibility he could find a portal to the land of wizards and orcs of Middle Earth. Perhaps he ventured there to find a relic like the ring or hide it away from the Muggle world when he meets Gandalf the Grey. Either way, we just don’t get enough wizard matchups, and this would be the ultimate magician square-off.

James Bond Vs. Ethan Hunt

For all the globe-trotting that these two do, they must have crossed paths somehow. Maybe they rented the same motorcycle on the same day? Ran away from the same explosion? Anyway, James Bond and Ethan Hunt are the reigning kings of secret agent men, and only a movie starring Daniel Craig and Tom Cruise on conflicting missions could truly determine which one of them is better. A James Bond vs. Ethan Hunt movie would be a clever fight that would start off with a round of outsmarting before moving up to high-stakes stunts and seriously awesome action sequences.

Pennywise Vs. Jigsaw

For a truly twisted movie fight, Pennywise vs. Jigsaw would sure to be fun and games. Here's how I think it would go down. The Jigsaw Killer would be on his usual nonsense trapping his victims in unsettling locations to play a game, but this time it would be housed in Derry, which is the IT villain’s turf. Once Pennywise catches on to Jigsaw’s plans, he would hatch an even more twisted one and challenge Jigsaw to a competition of sorts at the expense of their guinea pigs. Somehow the victims would catch wind that they are in a game alongside another group of people and find a way to outsmart them both. It would be the ultimate horror crossover!

Batman Vs. Daredevil

Here’s a wildcard of a Marvel vs. DC face-off to think about: Batman vs. Daredevil! The pair of street vigilantes have actually teamed up before in the comics back in 2000. But wouldn’t it be interesting to see these two collide in either Gotham City or Hell’s Kitchen for a gruesome battle for justice. I’d watch a second round for Batman, especially considering he was quite unfairly matched with the godlike Superman in Zack Snyder’s film. Both he and Daredevil walk this grey area of crime fighting, and it would be interesting to see what happens when they share the screen.

Pacific Rim Vs. MonsterVerse

And the final movie crossover fight I’ll throw out is giant robots clashing with giant robots and monsters for Pacific Rim vs. the Monsterverse. What’s interesting about this is Pacific Rim focuses on man-operated robots created to fight off the Kaiju, and the MonsterVerse is built around some similar ideas. Adding Pacific Rim into the world of Godzilla and King Kong would make the franchise even more action-fueled, and could inspire a number of interesting pairings to go at it. Pacific Rim: Uprising director Steven DeKnight actually had plans to connect the two universes in a third film, so it’s not like it’s never been in discussion!

There’s a lot of solid, and mostly wacky, ideas here, but what do you want to see the most? Which one did I sell you one? Vote for your favorite in the poll below and check out Godzilla vs. Kong on HBO Max. You can sign up for the streaming service using this link and/or check out the film in theaters now.

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Warning: spoilers for Godzilla vs. Kong are going to be present in this discussion. So if you’re not exactly ready to discuss what’s happened, feel free to return once you’re all caught up.

The cities are alive with the sounds of the MonsterVerse! Godzilla vs. Kong is finally here for HBO Max subscribers and theatergoers to enjoy the madness, the mayhem and the majesty of director Adam Wingard’s climactic showdown. But there’s also some interesting threads that, if connected the right way, could finally bring the world of the Titans and the realm of Pacific Rim’s kaiju into an even greater showdown for the ages.

It’s an idea that has been thrown around for quite some time, and even Pacific Rim: Uprising director Steven S. DeKnight has admitted that his half of the equation was shaping up for such an event. Now, a key component of Godzilla vs. Kong seems to have opened the door even wider for such an event to take place. If you haven’t seen the film yet, head to the Spoiler Shelters and ride this one out, because it’s time to talk about how Titans and Kaiju have come closer to the ultimate movie showdown.

The Mind-Bending Plot Twist That Godzilla vs. Kong Drops

Mechagodzilla! Now that I have your attention, yes, the robotic child of Walter Simmons (Demian Bichir) and his Apex Cybernetics family is indeed in Godzilla vs. Kong. You probably already knew that, but that’s not the twist in the tale we’re here to discuss. As it turns out, Mechagodzilla’s purpose and design are built upon something that will sound very familiar to Pacific Rim fans.

One half of what makes Mechagodzilla work is the fact that it’s piloted by Ren Serizawa (Shun Oguri), son of the late Dr. Ishira Serizawa (Ken Watanabe). Strapping into a chair and slipping on a helmet, Ren is able to control the metal beast with the help of an unlikely co-pilot. Remember how at the end of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Colonel Alan Jonah (Charles Dance) procured the severed head of King Ghidorah? Well, that came back to bite humanity in the ass, and hard.

Using the remnants of the villainous would-be Alpha Titan and some sophisticated AI framework, it’s as if Ghidorah’s spirit gets to help pilot Godzilla vs. Kong’s Mechagodzilla. Which really sucks when, after obtaining a crucial energy signature that gives this big bot a massive jumpstart, Ren Serizawa is presumably electrocuted to death, leaving Ghidorah’s AI consciousness in full control. Right there, you have the MonsterVerse testing a key component needed to successfully build a bridge into the Pacific Rim universe: drift compatibility.

What’s Drift Compatibility, And Why Didn’t It Work In Godzilla vs. Kong?

Right now, Pacific Rim fans are probably smiling, grinning or even shouting in delight. But if you’re brand new to the concept of drift compatibility or don’t totally remember how it works, here’s the basic gist and why Godzilla vs. Kong’s experts got it wrong.

The Basics Of Drift Compatibility

In Pacific Rim’s universe, the massive Jaeger robots piloted by the Pan Pacific Defense Corps are operated on the principle of “Drift Compatibility.” Since Jaegers are too much for the brain of one human pilot to take control of, the concept of “The Drift” was created to allow two pilots to sync their brainwaves and pilot their unit as one. That being said, you can’t just throw two pilots together and send them out into the wild. No, they have to be “Drift Compatible.”

Through genetic/familial similarities, pilots sharing similar life experiences or even just the usage of younger pilots, the ideal pair of Jaeger pilots have some sort of mental common ground to share. With that sort of headspace in the works, drift compatibility is better ensured, meaning that the Jaeger pilots can operate as two hemispheres of the same theoretical brain. This is where Godzilla vs. Kong’s version of this tech gets it horribly wrong.

Where Godzilla vs. Kong’s Version Got Drift Compatibility Wrong

If Ren Serizawa and the good folks at Apex Cybernetics had bothered to watch Pacific Rim and/or its sequel materials, they would have realized just how dangerous drift compatibility could be. This lesson is especially true in Pacific Rim: Uprising, where Dr. Newton Geiszler (Charlie Day) eventually finds himself under the control of a Kaiju brain he’s been known to drift with from time to time. Though in terms of where Mr. Serizawa went wrong, his mistake was more fatal than anyone could have imagined.

As if trying to essentially drift with the mind of King Ghidorah wasn’t enough of a risky move in Godzilla vs. Kong’s plot, to do so with the seemingly limitless power signature of the Hollow Earth posed even more of a problem. Ren Serizawa and one third of Ghidorah are the antithesis of what one would call drift compatible, as they have no common ground or experiences. One’s a son working in the shadow of his late father, the other is an invasive species that tried to take over all of Titankind.

Like a truly crafty villain, Ghidorah took advantage of the opportunity given. Lucky for us, Godzilla and Kong were there to save the day this time. But if they aren’t available or if there’s ever a threat so great that not even the Titans could take it on, it’d be nice to have some backup on deck.

How Could The Worlds Of Pacific Rim And The MonsterVerse Cross Over?

Godzilla vs. Kong’s MonsterVerse franchise and the antics of the Pacific Rim series seem to be made for each other. The only barrier that’s really separating the two halves of this scenario, besides potential pushback over a Pacific Rim sequel moving forward outside of Universal, is that these are clearly two different dimensions. That’s a barrier that’s already been discussed in the past, thanks to developments we see in Pacific Rim: Uprising.

With Jake Pentecost (John Boyega) and his Pan Pacific Defense Corps teammates ready to take the fight to the Precursors, dimensional boundaries are about to be crossed. Pacific Rim’s entire franchise is built on such a gate being left open, as the Kaiju came from another dimension and into the world that created the PPDC. As director/co-writer Steven S. DeKnight had every intention of setting up the Kaiju/Titan crossover of our dreams with Pacific Rim 3, all that has to happen is one single film to tie the two worlds together.

Both the MonsterVerse and the KaijuVerse seem to share a lot of similarities, besides both being influenced by the original Godzilla films. This primitive version of The Drift present in Godzilla vs. Kong has hammered this home more than ever, and even the inclusion of “Titan Shelters” is reminiscent of the bunkers we saw in the original Pacific Rim. These two works are knocking on each other’s doors, with even Guillermo del Toro wanting to see them unite. It’s time to open these dimensions up, and let them do their work.

That is a distinct possibility that could happen should Godzilla vs. Kong’s recent success expand into the domestic release that’s set to kick off on March 31. If you’re heading out to the theater, we wish you a fond return to your local cineplex for some larger than life thrills. But if you’d rather sit this one on the couch, that’s fine, as HBO Max will offer the film for the first 30 days of its release. So if you need to get access to that platform, check out a sweet deal involving a discount for six prepaid months!

Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Netflix anime series Pacific Rim: The Black. Read at your own risk!

Pacific Rim: The Black is an exciting new addition to the franchise's universe, and it's currently on Netflix for subscribers and fans alike to indulge in. The short and sweet anime series offers all the Jaeger vs. Kaiju action one could hope for and actually features what seems to be a meaningful and relevant tie to the movie universe.

For the record, we don't have explicit confirmation one way or another whether Pacific Rim: The Black is a canonical addition to the Pacific Rim film universe. With that being said, there is a connection introduced in a couple of key scenes, which makes me optimistic that this series (which has already been renewed for Season 2) may someday be referenced should another film happen.

Herc Hansen Is Responsible For The Events Of Pacific Rim: The Black

The events of Pacific Rim: The Black start with a large-scale Kaiju breach in Australia and the attempts of several Jaeger pilots to help citizens evacuate. Eventually, the Pan Pacific Defense Corps declared the continent "lost" and no longer able to justify spending resources in trying to fight off an overwhelming amount of beasts in the area.

Later in Pacific Rim: The Black, we learn that Pacific Rim character Herc Hansen played a large part in "Operation Blackout," a mega missile strike on the continent. The story explained that the mission was Herc's final mission, so this occurred after the events of the first movie. The scene ends with Hansen pinned under a dead Kaiju in his Jaeger as missiles flew overhead, so it would seem the implication is that he died.

For those needing a refresher on Herc Hansen, he's the Australian pilot of the Striker Eureka alongside his son Chuck in the first movie. After an injury to his arm, Herc was forced to sit on the sidelines while Idris Elba's Stacker Pentecost teamed up with Chuck in an attempt to close a massive breach. While both ended up perishing while closing the breach, humanity was temporarily saved by their efforts. Herc went on to become the Marshal of the Shatterdome, though that's not explicitly mentioned in Pacific Rim: The Black.

Taylor Merges Memories With Herc Hanson

Herc Hanson comes into the story when Taylor Travis needs to pilot his Jaeger solo to save his sister Hayley. Hanson is one of a few names in the Jaeger's A.I. records that has successfully piloted without another individual to share the strain, and Taylor is shown the aforementioned events of Operation Blackout. Armed with the knowledge of how Hanson completed his mission, Taylor is able to briefly solo pilot his Jaeger to save Hayley and his friends.

Unfortunately, the ordeal does not come without cost. Taylor's "ghost pilot" venture merges his mind with that of Hanson, and he later realizes that he retains some of Hansen's memories as a result. Taylor later laments the loss of two pilots he knew back in the training academy upon finding their Jaeger, only to be reminded by Hayley he didn't experience any of that. Taylor gets upset because the memories feel as if they are his own, even though he knows they're not.

Though it's presented as a downside in Pacific Rim: The Black, the memory of Herc Hansen will likely be the teen's greatest asset as they continue to traverse Australia in search of their parents and other humans. Both Taylor and Hayley essentially lived in isolation for the past five years, so they can use about all the extra knowledge they can get from Hansen on the state of the world at large. Given Hansen's ties to the Pan Pacific Defense Corps., one would think he could know a great deal.

Pacific Rim: The Black Nods At Other Prominent Pacific Rim Characters

Beyond the heavy nod to Herc Hansen, Pacific Rim: The Black does make some fleeting references to other characters in the Pacific Rim movies. When Taylor gets the data for the pilots who have successfully solo drifted a Jaeger, we see that Idris Elba's Stacker Pentecost and Charlie Hunnam's Raleigh Becket are both listed as other pilots to successfully solo drift.

Becket's solo drift is actually highlighted in Pacific Rim, in which audiences see him successfully defeat a Kaiju and make his way to safety despite losing his older co-pilot brother Yancy in the midst of battle. Pacific Rim: The Black doesn't get into what became of Becket or what he's up on at the time the series takes place, which leaves the mystery alive of whether he's alive following the events of Pacific Rim: Uprising.

Beyond the mention of prominent Pacific Rim pilots, Pacific Rim: The Black also references a few notable Jaegers fans may recognize. Taylor and Hayley's Jaeger falls into a deep pit, at the bottom of which they find the vacant Jaegers of Valor Omega, Titan Redeemer, and November Ajax. All three of these Jaegers were featured in Pacific Rim: Uprising in some capacity, so their being vacant in the bottom of some pit presents a lot of questions.

What's notable is all these Jaegers were featured in an adventure that introduced the possibility of a Kaiju-Jaeger hybrid, which is exactly what the teens encounter while they're down in the bit. It looks like these Pilots bit off more than they could chew and were forced to abandon their Jaegers after a battle gone awry. The good news is the Jaegers still seem in relatively good shape in the episode, so they could be retrieved at a later date with the right resources. It will certainly be interesting to see how much of that is referenced in Season 2 and if a rescue effort may be put together in order to retrieve some very valuable weapons for humanity.

Overall, Pacific Rim: The Black does a pretty good job telling a self-contained story. The nods to Pacific Rim are great supplemental knowledge to anyone familiar with the franchise, but in no way mandatory to know in order to enjoy this unique and dark animated tale from Netflix. As a fan, I'm personally looking forward to seeing this story deepen in Season 2 and explore some of the weirder elements of this unique property.

Pacific Rim: The Black is currently available to stream on Netflix and has already been renewed for Season 2. It's one of the many great titles to arrive on the streaming service this month, so be sure to check out some of the other promising shows that will soon arrive here.

The moment that the world feasted its eyes upon the Legendary-produced reboot of Godzilla, nothing was ever going to be the same. With the company also having a hand in bringing the Pacific Rim franchise to life, the crossover potential between the Titans and Kaiju in the MonsterVerse has always been a keen point of discussion for fans to talk out from time to time. Today is no exception, as Pacific Rim: Uprising director Steven DeKnight is stirring the pot in a rather exciting way by revealing his intention to make such a showdown happen.

Steven DeKnight isn’t just blowing smoke here, as the man apparently had a plan for Pacific Rim 3 that would have setup the possibility of Godzilla throwing down with Gipsy Avenger. But, as we saw with the performance of Pacific Rim: Uprising at the box office, those best laid plans never happened. Still, DeKnight took to Twitter with his teasing words of what could have been:

When we last left Pacific Rim: Uprising, the Pan Pacific Defense Corps was about to take the fight to the Precursors after foiling their latest efforts to exterminate all life on Earth through their Kaiju army. Keeping that in mind, there’s a small hint as to how all of this Godzilla madness could have collided with the Pacific Rim universe, and it comes down to a word we all know and love: multiverse. Seeing as Godzilla and Pacific Rim are in the same family on the Legendary lot, all that would have had to happen was for Warner Bros and Universal to have played ball, and a trip across the dimensional rift could have seen Pacific Rim 3 help lead to a knockdown prize fight of epic proportions.

It’s an idea that some folks still want to see happen, as original Pacific Rim architect Guillermo del Toro expressed interest, as a fan, in seeing such things happen. No one’s immune to this particular match-up being employed to rock the world, as seen with the recent reaction to Godzilla vs. Kong’s big trailer rollout. Even we here at CinemaBlend have been happy to build a case for that sort of action to come down the pike, and frankly, it’s hard to imagine anyone who’s into Large Scale Aggressors, and the mechs that fight them, not co-signing such a crossover.

Should Godzilla vs. Kong put up the sort of numbers Warner Bros and Legendary want to see it rack up at the end of March, perhaps there’s a chance that this big world moving crossover could still happen. For now, we’ll just have to be happy that we’ve got a showdown of Titans to look forward to in the near future, and hope that somehow the rift between Pacific Rim and Godzilla opens some fateful day.

Godzilla Vs. Kong had already built up enough hype on the heels of its action-packed trailer, but when director Guillermo Del Toro weighed in on the action, things really got out of hand. The director caused a mini-frenzy when he speculated how the Jaegers of Pacific Rim would fare against the beasts, then realized his mistake and denying Pacific Rim 3 is happening.

While we can be sad that one of cinema's only offerings for giant robots vs. kaiju won't be returning soon for a third installment, I do have to wonder if a Jaeger would actually stand a chance against Godzilla and King Kong in the MonsterVerse. I went ahead and did some digging by looking at past matchups, and came to a consensus about how it would fare with each combatant.

Jaeger Vs. Godzilla

This is a matchup that is in the wheelhouse of what the average Jaeger is meant to do. In Pacific Rim, these machines are built specifically to defend the Earth against kaiju similar to Godzilla, though they vary in size. It's not at all rare to see kaiju as tall, if not taller than Godzilla, but the OG doesn't have the name "God" in his name for nothing.

When you look at the weight of the average to even above average kaiju compared to Godzilla, it's not even close. Pacific Rim's Mega-Kaiju comes in at 7864 tons. The modern Godzilla weighs 99,634 tons as of 2019. That's 12 times the weight of one of the larger kaiju in the Pacific Rim universe. Or, in human terms, it's the weight difference between a 300-pound NFL lineman and a toddler.

We've seen Pacific Rim's Jaegers in action and know that they can struggle to take on the kaiju of their own universe. They are drastically undersized compared to Godzilla when it comes to weight, so one swipe could foreseeably obliterate even the biggest and most expensive Jaeger with ease. It would take a team of Jaegers attacking quickly (to take advantage of his slow movement) and also from a distance, paired with the might of the world's army, to stand a chance. Even then, it seems the most that could be done in battling the current Godzilla is to piss him off enough so he just leave, but he's too dense just to be killed through these means.

So as it stands, no individual Jaeger is capable of going toe-to-toe with Godzilla. A fleet could stand a chance, and of course, if the lore created some massive 12-pilot operated machine to take it on, now we're talking. But in current lore, no one Jaeger could stand toe to toe with the King of Monsters and last that long.

Jaeger Vs. Kong

A lot of the problems you see with a Jaeger taking on Godzilla could re-emerge in a fight with King Kong. Current Jaegers are just too puny in comparison to these beefy juggernauts that Legendary is churning out, and nothing's changed in a matchup where they're taking on the biggest and baddest resident of Skull Island.

The major difference is that where Godzilla is a hulking behemoth that relies on his stamina, overall toughness and some feisty atomic breath, Kong is a more humanoid fighter. He's way more agile and capable of operating in the way that a Jaeger would and does in the Pacific Rim world. The only difference between these machines and the giant gorilla is the latter can do his thing with one brain and is, once again, massive in comparison.

In short, I believe Kong would absolutely obliterate numerous Jaegers before they even had a chance to mount a decent attack on him. He's too fast, too powerful and too big for many of their attacks to be meaningful or impactful. I know Kong could be captured by humans in past adventures, though it's worth noting this one is far bigger than those iterations.

With that being said, there is a history of humans being able to trap Kong in captivity, and this is even shown to happen in the Godzilla vs. Kong trailer. While we don't know if Kong let himself be put in chains willingly, we do know that it was possible, and humans are a lot smaller than Jaegers. I don't think it's crazy to think some Jaegers loaded to the gills with chloroform might find a strategic way to subdue Kong, and at the very least, pacify him if he's having a rough day. Overall though, these Jaegers stand no chance of surviving a fight against Kong, even less so than against Godzilla.

Could Humans Of The Monsterverse And Pacific Rim Collaborate To Make A Bigger Robot?

If there's one thing the humans of Pacific Rim and the Monsterverse have in common, it's that they're both capable of technology far beyond what humanity has achieved in reality. Pacific Rim lore eventually shows humans integrating kaiju biology with Jaeger technology. The work done by Shao Industries would have to be of interest to the Monsterverse, which has its own share of fancy scientists.

I've harped on and on about how the Jaegers we know in Pacific Rim are undersized, but they aren't the only humans around that can construct massive robots. In fact, the Godzilla lore is chocked full of mecha beasts that have stood toe to toe with Godzilla, though again, this Godzilla is much bigger. Still, it's more or less an open theory now a mech may come into play in Godzilla Vs. Kong after a clip in the trailer seemingly shows something massive and shiny in the background.

We don't know whether this massive mech will appear in Godzilla Vs. Kong (though we have theories), but if one could indeed be built, then I think it's logical to assume a massive Jaeger is possible in the MonsterVerse with the right amount of ingenuity. In the hypothetical situation that a Jaeger big enough can be created, I still can't imagine a duo or however many humans it would take to operate such a machine could emerge victorious over a single sentient being, especially ones as clever as Kong and Godzilla. I'd still give them a better shot, though, than with a regular Jaeger, and I can't deny I'd like to see how it would all shake out.

Of course, the odds of this dream-team matchup actually happening feels super unlikely given the confirmation that no plans are in place for Pacific Rim 3. There's also no guarantee Godzilla or Kong escape this encounter alive, though I'd like to think Legendary won't traumatize its audience watching one of these iconic characters get obliterated.

Obviously this is all speculative on how Jaegers would fare against Godzilla or King Kong. If you have different thoughts on the matchup, I'd love to read about them down in the comments. For everyone else, be sure to read more on Godzilla Vs. Kong and learn how the larger-than-life blockbuster is already breaking records for Warner Bros.

We live in an age of Titans, and that era of blockbuster is being hyped up yet again through the marketing machines for director Adam Wingard’s Godzilla vs. Kong. The trailer is still fresh in the minds of the world, and with an insane handful of images to stoke the fires for the March 26th release, some other ideas are starting to come back to the forefront when it comes to the future of the still developing MonsterVerse. Which means it’s time for someone to once again suggest a mega/mecha crossover between Godzilla, King Kong, and Pacific Rim. Because how awesome would that be?

The excitement surrounding these Legendary-produced properties crossing over could come from anywhere, as this idea has been thrown about time and again since the early days of the MonsterVerse. But this time out, Pacific Rim architect and magic maker himself Guillermo del Toro has thrown the latest pitch in the game to end all games. Reacting to some fans calling for this monstrous mashup, del Toro took to Twitter and made the following comment:

While the famed genre filmmaker isn’t in the cards for a franchise return just yet, Guillermo del Toro’s fanboy heart couldn’t help itself when suggesting how Godzilla vs. Kong’s big return to colorful Titan bashing-action might act as a door to a greater battle in the future. Obviously inspired by those monster films of the past, Pacific Rim owes a creative debt to movies like Godzilla and King Kong. So with all of those properties in play and Legendary holding the keys to each of them, a team-up movie doesn’t seem all that far off.

Perhaps the only complication to getting the Pacific Rim end of things into the works is the fact that the latest film in that series, Pacific Rim: Uprising, underperformed at the box office for Universal. So unless Godzilla vs. Kong does so well that Legendary wants to get as many monster movies off the tarmac as they can, it feels like the days of seeing Gypsy Avenger in action might be done. Which is exactly why the release of this latest MonsterVerse movie is so important to an idea that, should it come to pass, could bring a lot of attention back to the major monster action that Warner Bros is hoping to cash in on.

Ideally Godzilla vs. Kong is supposed to act like The Avengers, in the sense that this gigantic team-up movie would be the best launching pad for further MonsterVerse installments. Building a cinematic universe akin to that of Marvel Studios requires as deep of a bench as possible, and melding the worlds of Pacific Rim and Godzilla vs. Kong would be one of the best ways to ensure that there’s no shortage of stories to be told involving creatures so large they could only be done justice in large format.

Between corporate wrangling and box office performance metrics, there could be a chance that this gigantic team-up between the worlds of Jagers and Titans may never happen. After Godzilla: King of the Monsters put the MonsterVerse on its own patch of thin ice, there’s a possibility that depending on how Godzilla vs. Kong fares, we might see these giants go back into cinematic hibernation. Based on what we’ve seen in the trailer for what could be the last, best hope for the existence of the MonsterVerse, that would be the greatest shame. After all, Adam Wingard’s offering to the movie gods looks like it’s hit such a confident stride that not following up with a Pacific Rim crossover would be a crime.

Of course, that’s an opinion held by the author of this very column you’re reading. Which means it’s a great time to put the question to you, the audience, as to whether or not you’d like to see Pacific Rim, Godzilla, and King Kong all cross paths for a knock down, drag out battle royale. So vote in the poll included below, and don’t forget to back your vote with some constructive comments at the bottom of the page. Godzilla vs. Kong will revive the world of Titans and their toy box battles on March 26th, in theaters and on HBO Max, for a limited time.

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Not too long ago, we here at CinemaBlend partnered with the streaming service Plex to highlight some of the best movies it had to offer on their platform. But streaming libraries being what they are, new and exciting stuff gets added and taken away on a regular basis, so we felt like it was a good idea to check in and see if anything new and cool was added. Plus, give that the Halloween season has concluded, the horror movie binges we’ve just finished have us all ready for some genre adjacent thrills in the way of some great sci-fi movies. Get ready to stream, as this list has 10 awesome picks just waiting to meet your acquaintance at this very moment.

Minority Report

One half of one of the greatest Steven Spielberg double plays ever, Minority Report adapts Philip K. Dick’s short story into an action mystery that is pure Spielberg. As Tom Cruise’s law enforcement protagonist is on the run for a crime he’s supposedly about to commit, his detective skills will be put to the test in order to clear his own name. The message, and the set pieces, absolutely hold up; and it boasts an ending that still has audiences debating its true meaning, as well as whether it fits the film or not.

Pacific Rim

Monsters come in all shapes and sizes, even those created by the colorful mind of director Guillermo del Toro. Nowhere has that action gotten its largest and most comprehensive workout than in the anime/Godzilla-inspired Pacific Rim, where a group of brash and determined pilots set out to cancel the kaiju apocalypse. A lot of mad science makes its way into this fun-filled ride, as large scale aggressors require some pretty big solutions, and an even larger sense of resolve, to be defeated.

Cube

Sci-fi is one of the great genres where no matter what size or scale the ideas are presented in, the right idea comes across like a charm. Writer/director Vincenzo Natali’s Cube embodies that scrappy spirit, telling a tale of puzzles of imprisonment which sees a group of strangers struggle to survive in a maze that has tons of nasty surprises awaiting them around every turn. If you’re a fan of the Saw franchise and/or the more recent thriller Escape Room, you can thank Cube for helping those movies come to life.

Stargate

Before it was a wildly successful television franchise across multiple spinoffs, Stargate started out as a theatrical blockbuster that wowed fans at the multiplex. With Kurt Russell and James Spader respectively originating the iconic roles of Colonel Jack O’Neill and Daniel Jackson in director Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi adventure, the story of how humanity first used the Stargate, and where the world that eventually spawned Stargate SG-1 came from, are both built from the ground up in this picture. So if you’re looking for a new series to binge or want to see how the franchise began, Stargate is a great choice to indulge in.

Star Trek: First Contact

There are several of Paramount’s Star Trek films to choose from on Plex’s extensive library, and they’re actually some of the fan favorites from the franchise. Perhaps the best one on offer is 1996’s Star Trek: First Contact, which kept the series tradition of using time travel as an exciting story device going with the Next Generation crew. Action packed, extremely humorous and even a bit frightening at times, the eighth Star Trek movie is one of the entries that fans continually heap praise onto, even after all of these years. Resistance is futile.

Monsters

Another example of low budget origins making sci-fi magic, writer/director Gareth Edwards tangled with gigantic beasties before he even set eyes on the director’s chair to the 2014 reboot of Godzilla. In Monsters, Edwards not only wrote and directed the story of a world where monstrous invaders pose a rather inconvenient threat to the human race, but he also tackled the roles of cinematographer, production designer and visual effects powerhouse. This indie darling packed such a punch that Gareth Edwards found himself tangling with Titans and the forces of the Empire, as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story also enlisted his talents upon the results of his humble, but impressive beginnings.

The Dead Zone

One of Stephen King’s best-selling novels, The Dead Zone, is another one of those successes that eventually found itself on both the big and small screens. But even after doing pretty well for itself as a USA original series, the David Cronenberg-directed film is still a chilling masterpiece of grounded tension. With Christopher Walken playing the central role of reluctant clairvoyant Johnny Smith, he delivers a landmark performance as his school teacher-turned-psychic tries to prevent an apocalypse the likes of which we’ve never seen. Political paranoia and heartbreaking drama take the stage in this adaptation of a King classic.

Vanilla Sky

What if we told you that Cameron Crowe and Tom Cruise made a sci-fi movie that nearly defies explanation? If we were around to spread that message back in 2001, maybe Vanilla Sky might have been a bigger hit than it turned out to be at the box office. However, it’s never too late to discover the truth about this cult classic for yourself, as Cruise’s charming millionaire David Ames goes from schmoozing power brokers and famous friends to having a rather unique crisis of personality. We’re being vague here, but it’s best to go into this one with as little knowledge as possible.

Paycheck

Another charming defiance of expectations comes from the John Woo/Ben Affleck pairing that’s known to the world as Paycheck. Also torn from the pages of Phillip K. Dick, this sci-fi mindbender shows a world where looking into the future is possible, but it comes with a lot of strings. Affleck’s Michael Jennings is the man that creates this technology, but the only problem is, he doesn’t remember a thing. All he has are a series of clues his past self has left him, with a ticking clock hounding his every move.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence

We close our rundown of great sci-fi movies with another one that’s gained quite the following in its post-release life. Meant as a tribute to his late friend and mentor’s work, Steven Spielberg’s A.I.: Artificial Intelligence was a project that originated as a Stanley Kubrick picture. But over the course of several decades, Kubrick would try to convince Spielberg that the film was something that was more aligned with the blockbuster director’s sensibilities. It’s a haunting riff on the Pinocchio legacy, with young Haley Joel Osment delivering a hell of a performance in the afterglow of The Sixth Sense.

Before we go, we’d like to remind you that if you saw a movie on this list that caught your eye, you can start watching it immediately through the Plex service right this very moment. So don’t think we’re just hyping you up for coming attractions that have a bit more of a wait time on their debut. You now have all you need to either start enjoying this streaming service, or to continue where you left off when we last spoke of it. Stream responsibly, and don’t forget, there’s plenty more where these came from. So be sure to check Plex real carefully, as all titles are subject to change and availability.

Is there anybody cooler than Idris Elba? Whether it be Idris Elba movies or Idris Elba TV shows, the British actor can swoop into any project and class it up. In fact—and I have no shame in saying this—but Idirs Elba even made the movie Cats kind of cool as Macavity. And yes, I just said that.

But how could I not? Ever since he blew up on The Wire as Stringer Bell, Idris Elba has been endlessly captivating. He’s currently set to appear in James Gunn’s upcoming The Suicide Squad as a still-unnamed character and will probably knock it out of the park. But in the meantime, what are his current best performances? Step inside. I’ve got you covered.

10. Roland Deschain - The Dark Tower (2017)

I love the Dark Tower series with my full heart and soul, but even I have to admit that the movie adaptation was pretty terrible. Almost none of it worked. The action was boring, the story was bland, and there was no real grand sense of the adventure that Sai King set up in his novels. But I said almost none of it worked, didn’t I? And the one thing that did work was Idris Elba as the series protagonist, Roland Deschain.

Now, Roland in the book is actually a white man who was drawn from Clint Eastwood’s character in the Man With No Name trilogy. But Idris Elba as Roland still just works. When he says, “I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father. I kill with my heart,” I still get chills. Idris Elba’s portrayal as Roland is just one of the many reasons why I think he would be an amazing James Bond. Apparently, Idris Elba can play anybody. It just stinks that the rest of the movie doesn’t live up to how good he is in it.

9. Heimdall - Thor (2011)

Playing “the whitest of the gods,” (which I just find hilarious), Idris Elba plays Heimdall like a boss. As the all-seeing, all-knowing Asgardian god, Heimdall stands guard at the Rainbow bridge, Bifrost, and doesn’t let anybody through if they don’t belong there. He was in all three Thor movies, but his presence was best felt in the first film when Loki somehow got past his guard.

Idris Elba is great in this role since his calm, but intimidating demeanor shines through here. It just proves that even just standing in front of a spinning orb and holding a sword can be badass. Plus, very few people can pull off yellow eyes and not look ridiculous. Spoiler alert, but he was greatly missed in Avengers: Infinity War. Thanos did you dirty (and too early), Heimdall. But thankfully, he’d take on the part again if they offered it to him. You hear that, Marvel/Disney? He'd take the role again!

8. Shere Khan - The Jungle Book (2016)

Remember when I said that I liked Idris Elba in Cats? (No regrets, by the way). Well, I know I’m mostly alone in that opinion, but one cat that most people did enjoy was when Idris Elba played Shere Khan in the live-action The Jungle Book movie. Even as just a voice, he dominated that movie and struck fear in the hearts of everybody, both on the screen and in the audience.

Shere Khan is the perfect example of just how intimidating Idris Elba can be when he wants to be. Plus, the mangy features that were given to his face only added to the thick, heavy voice that Idris Elba lent to the big tiger. Fun fact: My son actually asked me to turn off the movie when Shere Khan started talking. Poor boy.

7. Brixton Lore - Hobbs and Shaw (2019)

At one point in this Fast & Furious spin-off, Idris Elba’s character, Brixton Lore, calls himself the black Superman. And while we may actually one day have a black Superman on screen, Idris Elba will have to do for now. Thankfully, he makes a convincing argument.

Idris Elba was born to play this part. There are moments where he’ll have explosive outbursts, and other moments where his steely glare is enough to cut a mountain in half. Sure, the movie is pretty ridiculous, and all of the characters are larger than life. But if you’re going to have a man claiming to be the black Superman, then you damn well better make it Idris Elba.

6. Charles Miner – The Office (2009)

The new Vice President of the Northeast Region, Charles Miner seems like a nice and friendly guy at the onset, but deep down, he doesn’t take any crap. He sees Dunder Mifflin as a place that needs to get its act together, especially when it comes to Michael Scott, who he thinks is a joke and even causes the poor guy to leave. But at least the ladies like him.

It’s strange to say, but you don’t often get to see Idris Elba in a comedic setting. He’s always playing the tough guy, or the smooth guy, but never just the hard-working, soccer loving, normal dude who comes from a steel background and occasionally cancels anniversary parties. And you know, that’s a shame.

5. Stacker Pentecost – Pacific Rim (2013)

Speaking of cancelling things, how about we cancel the apocalypse? That’s what Idris Elba’s character, Stacker Pentecost, said anyway in the big-in-China movie, Pacific Rim. In a world (and can you please imagine the movie trailer voice when I say that?) where giant kaiju are wreaking havoc to the earth, Stacker Pentecost, Marshal of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps, will not allow this world to come to an end, even if it means sacrificing himself for the greater good.

Pacific Rim is a really ridiculous (but really fun) giant monster movie where people get in massive mechs and fight them off (“The Drift is silent”). So you know that you need somebody stern and serious to sell this hokey picture. And Idris Elba is that man. Who else can stand in a nice military suit one minute, and a mech suit in the next and still look entirely badass in both? Idris Elba, that’s who.

4. John Luther – Luther (2010)

Forget the black Superman or the black James Bond for a minute. On the BBC show Luther, Idris Elba is the black Batman! Hear me out. Luther is a Detective (like Batman), he gets the criminals by means that sometimes go beyond the law (like Batman), and he is against guns (like Batman!) Hell, Alice Morgan (played by Ruth Wilson) might as well be Catwoman given her relationship with Luther.

It’s not often that we get to actually hear Idris Elba’s accent, but since this is a BBC show, he doesn’t have to change how he sounds, which is cool, since he sounds about ten times cooler as Luther. Plus, he’s a badass who tries to remain calm, but sometimes flies into fits of rage. So you never know when Luther will snap, which is pretty scary.

3. Nelson Mandela – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Playing historical figures is usually a thankless job (unless you count the Academy, of course), since your performance is often measured on what people think a person was like in real life. In other words, do you kind of sound like the historical figure? Do you look like them? If I squint, will I forget that you’re you and think that you’re that other person? And that’s why Mandela is interesting, since Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom covers a long span of the man’s life, from when he was younger, to when he was thrown in jail, to when he was eventually released and became the man that most younger people think of him as.

But Elba plays ALL of these variations of the man, and honestly, if anybody was robbed of an Academy Award nomination, it’s Idris Elba, since he’s amazing as Nelson Mandela. So much so, that even the man himself was said to have said “Is that me?” when he saw Elba’s performance. And you know what’s funny? I often say the same thing whenever I see Idris Elba on the big screen. Is that me? Just kidding. ...Or am I?

2. Commandant - Beasts of No Nation (2015)

You have to be one smooth son of a bitch to play a man who enlists children to fight wars and not be the most hated character in all of cinema. But leave it to Idris Elba to play the all but nameless “Commandant” and still seem somewhat (only somewhat) noble in whatever war he’s trying to fight.

And let me tell you something. Idris Elba is freaking terrifying in Beasts of No Nation. Since we see the story from a child’s perspective, Idris Elba is seen as both a leader and a ruthless murder, often in the same scene. War is obviously hell, but Idris Elba makes it look like Hell is not only normal, but even necessary. I feel like very few actors could pull off the cocksure bravado to make that work, and Elba does it effortlessly.

1. Stringer Bell – The Wire (2002)

The Wire is the greatest TV show of all time, and Stringer Bell is one of the greatest characters of all time. Playing a second-in-command to a drug empire, you get a sense that Stringer is really the one in charge, and he knows it, too. He reads, tries to better himself, and doesn’t fit the description of many of the drug dealers who do business in Baltimore. At the same time, he’s not above killing kids if he feels it’s necessary. No doubt about it, Stringer Bell is Elba’s most ruthless character ever.

But he’s also the most fascinating. This is a man with layers, and Elba has no problem with revealing only slivers of who he is throughout the course of his time on the series. When most people think of Idris Elba, they immediately think of Stringer Bell, and for good reason. It’s a standout performance in a cast of standout performances. What else could you possibly want in a performance?

Everybody loves Idris Elba. But what’s your favorite performance of his? Sound off in the comments.

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For a long time, it didn’t seem like a sequel to Guillermo del Toro’s 2013 Kaiju vs Giant Robots movie Pacific Rim was going to happen due to its modest box office performance. And when a sequel finally did with last year’s Pacific Rim Uprising, it looked a lot different than originally intended. Guillermo del Toro was no longer directing and Charlie Hunnam was no longer returning as Raleigh Becket. Needless to say, that changed the original story idea for the film and what would become Pacific Rim Uprising.

What was that original story idea? According to Pacific Rim screenwriter Travis Beacham, he wanted the sequels to go to the other side of the rift, as he explained:

The whole concept of the Pacific Rim films is that there is a breach between dimensions in the Pacific Ocean, a portal through which flow giant destructive creatures known as Kaiju. At the end of Pacific Rim, Charlie Hunnam’s Raleigh Becket closes this rift by exploding his Jaeger Gipsy Danger inside. Pacific Rim Uprising opens this breach back up, but Travis Beacham wanted to eventually see a story take place on the other side of the rift.

Apparently he and Guillermo del Toro were playing around with a lot of ideas for where the Pacific Rim sequels could go, and journeying to the other side of the rift with Raleigh Becket, Rinko Kikuchi’s Mako Mori and Idris Elba’s Stacker Pentecost was just one of them. However, as he told Slash Film, Travis Beacham isn’t sure that this idea would have been for Pacific Rim 2 and could have instead been something that in an ideal world the sequels could have built to.

That makes sense since going to fight the enemy on their home turf seems like a last resort kind of move that a franchise could save for its concluding chapter. There the heroes could have faced off with the Precursors that we learned more about in Pacific Rim Uprising. This race of aliens from the Anteverse created the Kaiju and opened the rift, and would make for great final bosses in the series.

It’s a fascinating idea and one definitely falls into that lamentable category of ‘what might have been.’ It would have been interesting to see Guillermo del Toro have some real fun by flexing his wild imagination with a movie that takes place in another dimension.

A sequel on the other side of the rift isn’t the only idea Travis Beacham had in mind though; he was also interested in a Pacific Rim prequel, as he explained:

Although admittedly not a fierce advocate of prequels in general, Travis Beacham would be interested in going back to the beginning of the fight between the Kaiju and the Jaeger. In the first film, we learn that the first Kaiju first landed in San Francisco and how that was just the beginning of their attacks, which forced humanity to develop a new kind of weapon to fight them.

It would be fascinating to see the development of the Jaeger program and how that first battle played out, when the Jaeger was very much untested in the field. However, given that a lot of this was covered with Raleigh’s voiceover in the first movie, maybe it would be a story better suited to a comic.

Whether we’ll ever get to see any more Pacific Rim stories on the big screen is unclear after the disappointing performance of Uprising, but there is a Pacific Rim anime in development at Netflix, so those wanting to experience more from this world will eventually get a chance.

Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see what’s headed to theaters this year and for the latest movie news, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

The monster movie: it's a genre that goes back to the beginning of Hollywood. Classic monsters like King Kong and Godzilla never really go away; they always come back. Plus, there is a whole slew of classic b-movies like Creature From The Black Lagoon and The Blob that helped define movies of their era.

Today, the monsters are bigger and scarier than ever, but many of those classics still remain among the best. There is a really an art to making a scary monster. They don’t have to just be larger than life, as sometimes the scariest thing about them is when you don’t even see them.

So here is our list of the best of the best, in no particular order, starting with one of the greatest movies of them all, and it's not just as a monster movie either.

Jaws (1975)

This is the movie that made Steven Spielberg famous. Jaws remains just as terrifying and incredible as it was almost 45 years ago when it was first released. It scared people out of the water then, and it’s still doing it today. No one goes swimming in the ocean without thinking about what could be lurking in the dark under them, and that’s all thanks to the shark in Jaws.

One of the scariest things about Jaws is how you actually very rarely see the shark in the film. The very THOUGHT of a killer Great White like the one in Jaws is enough to scare the wits out of most people. By the time Roy Schieder, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw do finally track down the shark, audiences are so on edge about it, the payoff of finally getting a good look at the shark is incredible, even if the special effects and the robot shark seem a little dated. It’s still one of the scariest monsters in movie history.

Pacific Rim (2013)

Pacific Rim, directed by the always brilliant Guillermo del Toro, is a modern riff on the classic Godzilla flick. A rift in the ocean floor has opened up and with it, monsters from the middle of the Earth are emerging and destroying cities on the Pacific.

With an all-star cast led by Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Charlie Day, and Ron Pearlman, the beautifully shot movie, as you'd expect from del Toro, is a pure joy to watch. It has everything anyone would want in a Godzilla-like movie. Even the names of the monsters, “Kaijus,” are a tribute to the classic Japanese giant monster movies from the '50s and '60s. As to be expected, Pacific Rim has a sequel, though it didn't live up to the original.

Jurassic Park (1993)

Jurassic Park came in the middle of an incredible run by director Steven Spielberg and it immediately ranked among his best work when it was released in 1993. The original that spawned an enormous franchise and still has us holding on to our butts a quarter of a century later remains one of the best.

Jurassic Park changed the game when it came to special effects in monster movies. Even today, when you watch the movie, it’s amazing how life-like and realistic the dinosaurs look. The days of cheesy looking giant lizards and gorillas were definitely over. Just like when the original Star Wars rewrote the book on special effects in science fiction, so too did Jurassic Park in monster movies.

Predator (1987)

In the 1980s, a decade packed with larger-than-life action stars, one name rose way above the rest: Arnold Schwarzenegger. With a run of hits like the Conan movies, Terminator, Commando, The Running Man, and, of course, his classic monster movie, Predator, Ah-nold was king of the box office musclemen.

Predator is everything anyone would ever want in a monster movie, filled with action, bad acting, accidentally hilarious dialogue and one awesome monster, that, like the dinos in Jurassic Park, would launch an enduring franchise that audiences still love today. That monster, The Predator, is as scary as they come. An alien from an unknown planet that can make itself almost completely invisible, but don’t worry, if it bleeds, they can kill it.

Aliens (1986)

Yet another classic monster movie franchise, one that eventually cross-pollinated with the Predator series, really got its start with 1986’s Aliens. Of course, it’s not the first in the series (that would be Ridley Scott’s Alien), but it is the one that turned the franchise into a box office smashing behemoth. While James Cameron takes a hard time from series film buffs these days, there is no question that he was on top his game in this one.

Set 57 years after the first Alien movie, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is discovered floating in her ship in stasis by a mining crew. After a series of events force Ripley to accompany a crew of tough marines to a colony in space, all hell breaks loose as the alien and its offspring reek havoc down on everything, killing almost everything, except Ripley, of course, in its way. Aliens is scary and filled with silly (but still awesome) dialogue just like a good monster movie should be.

Cloverfield (2008)

Cloverfield is a very 21st century kind of monster movie. Using the “found footage” approach to show the attacks and, more often, the reaction to the attacks, Cloverfield does one thing really well, it keeps the monster hidden, with just enough teases to having us begging to finally see it. Shaky, blurring footage is all any really sees for much of the movie. It’s also a classic Kaiju-type monster that destroys everything in its path, including the Brooklyn Bridge and much of Lower Manhattan.

Like a lot of other movies on this list, this one also launched a successful franchise. It may not be on the level of some of the others, but it has spawned two sequels, though it may be a while before there is another one, as the most recent Cloverfield film, The Cloverfield Paradox, wasn’t well received. But don’t worry about that, the original is still epic.

Gremlins (1986)

Gremlins is a different kind of monster movie, as this list goes, because it’s not one giant monster like so many on here, but instead it’s a whole mess of nightmarish lizard-like evil little jerks that run rampant all over town terrorizing the citizens of Kingston Falls. It’s also a black comedy set at Christmas, which could put it on a couple other “best of” lists as well.

The monsters start as cute furry mogwais, of course, but once they multiply after getting wet and turning into the malicious Gremlins upon eating after midnight, the destruction is on! Plus, the movie is filled with creative cameos and a cast made up of some actors that go back to the some of the classic '60s monster movies, like Jackie Joseph and Dick Miller, who starred in the original Little Shop Of Horrors plus lots more, and Belinda Balaski, who was in The Howling and the cult classic Piranha.

The Fly (1986)

Director David Cronenberg is mostly known for doing weird, small and quirky movies like Naked Lunch and Scanners. 1986’s The Fly ended being his biggest commercial success to date and it spawned a sequel, a comic book and even an opera, though Cronenberg wasn’t involved in the sequel or the comic book.

Based on a short story by George Langelaan, which also inspired a version of the story on film in 1958, The Fly stars Jeff Goldblum as a scientist that accidently genetically merges with a fly. The movie is more of a psychological thriller than pure monster movie, as Goldblum tries to figure how to reverse his DNA curse, but only continues to make things worse for himself until there is almost nothing left of the man and he is almost all fly.

Tremors (1990)

The original Tremors, starring Kevin Bacon and Reba McEntire, was a bit of a bomb at the box office when it was released in 1990, but over the years, the movie cultivated a huge cult following because of its humor and it’s over the top, ridiculous action. Because of its enormous success on video, a straight-to-video franchise was born.

In the original, the members of a small desert town in Nevada are terrorized by an underground monsters, called Graboids, that, like the best monsters movies, are unseen for most of the movie. It’s almost like a Jaws set in the desert with the terrifying monster lurking below the rock and dirt instead of the water. It causes the same helpless feeling that shark did, like, you’re in ITS territory now, so watch out for cracks in the desert and large tongues emerging from them.

King Kong (1933)

We end the list where the genre arguably began, with the king of them all, King Kong. There is no more iconic scene than the one in King Kong when the giant ape is climbing up the Empire State Building searching for safe place for Ann, played by the one and only Fay Wray, the human he has fallen for.

While that scene is the most remember, the rest of the movie is also filled with monsters. Kong is discovered on “Skull Island” where he rules over the few human inhabitants and a number of huge dinosaurs that confront the search party looking for Kong, to bring back to New York as a circus attraction.

King Kong has since taken a spot among the greatest movies of all time and not only created a franchise that has lasted almost a century, but was also at the nexus of the whole monster movie genre and for that it, and Kong, will forever be on lists like this.

You can be sure that until there will be many more monster movies in the future and for that we are grateful, because the genre is one of the true classics, with a shapeshifting ability to fit into any generation.

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With a fresh Coachella set, a Netflix original series and a slew of films on the way, it's a good time to be Idris Elba. The actor is doing a lot these days, so much so that it may be hard to keep track of every franchise he has a hand in at the moment. For that reason, we've compiled a list that highlights what all he has a hand in, and some of the things we'd like to see from him in the future.

Franchises Idris Elba IS In

Let's start off with all the major franchises he's already appeared in or officially has lined up for the future, like this first entry.

The DCEU

Idris Elba has joined the DCEU via James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, and was originally slated to replace Will Smith and play Deadshot. That plan has since changed, and Elba will be playing a different character, although we can only guess who. Hopefully whoever is picked has some crossover potential into other projects, and maybe the ability to get Elba his own spinoff movie.

The MCU

Idris Elba entered The MCU via Thor in the role of Heimdall. After heroically sacrificing his life in Avengers: Infinity War, one would assume his time in the franchise is over, but who can ever know when it comes to superhero features. With that said, Elba's had his complaints about the role as far back as Thor: The Dark World, so don't be surprised if his death tends to stick in the events following Avengers: Endgame.

Pacific Rim

In the role of Stacker Pentacost, Idris Elba delivered one hell of a speech that solidified Pacific Rim's status as a cult classic. Unfortunately, his death meant no future appearances in a sequel, but there are opportunities for Stacker to return should the Pacific Rim franchise venture into the prequel territory. That's a possibility given the amount of source material on the events before Pacific Rim, so fingers crossed Elba's feeling the urge to kick some kaiju ass again.

Disney/Pixar

While it's not necessarily as specific of a franchise as other entries, Idris Elba has done a decent amount of work for Disney and Pixar. Outside of his MCU work, he's exclusively played an animal in The Jungle Book, Finding Dory and Zootopia. That's a crazy coincidence, although maybe not given how many Disney films tend to revolve around animals in general. We're always down to see him in more projects. Perhaps next time in a live-action feature?

Star Trek

For Star Trek Beyond, the third adventure featuring the Kelvin timeline version of the original USS Enterprise crew, Idris Elba hopped in as Krall, an alien warlord who sicced his minions on Captain Kirk’s crew, destroyed their ship and stranded them on his planet. Later revealed to be a Starfleet captain from more than a century ago, Krall nearly succeeded in carrying out his revenge against the organization, but he was defeated and killed before that could happen. So one can logically surmise Elba won’t be popping back up in this franchise.

Fast & Furious

Soon, the world will get to see Idris Elba in the world of Fast & Furious, although probably not in a way some would've thought. Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw features Elba as a villain who has been genetically enhanced and basically has super powers. Somehow we've reached a point where this franchise isn't about fast cars, although there's few people complaining. After seeing Elba in action, it isn't hard to see why.

Alien

This is one of the only roles in which Idris Elba played a character that shared his first name, as the actor portrayed Idris Janek in Prometheus. It was a one and done role, and surprisingly, ended in the way similar to Pacific Rim. Given his character's death and the Alien franchise's massive aversion to Prometheus, it's pretty safe to say that we shouldn't expect any more appearances from Elba in this franchise.

Honorable Mention: Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance

The Ghost Rider movies aren't considered part of the MCU, but we'd be remiss if we didn't mention the other Marvel character he played before the MCU really got legs. Idris Elba played Moreau, who offered to remove the "Spirit of Vengeance" curse from Johnny Blaze. He ended up being unable to fulfill the promise, and ended up dying at the hands of Blackout.

Franchises We'd Love To See Idris Elba In

That concludes the current franchises Idris Elba is/has been involved in, although we're sure he'll be a part of some in the future. With that in mind, here are a handful of film franchises the actor has yet to join that it'd be great to see him in.

James Bond

Was there any doubt this would be on the list? Folks have called for Idris Elba to be cast as James Bond for ages, and his name floated around quite a bit following Daniel Craig's confirmation that he was leaving as Bond. Unfortunately, Elba has been pretty adamant that he won't be replacing him, but there's still hope he could join one day as another character. He'd make a killer Bond villain!

Star Wars

Idris Elba is a bit late to the game to be a part of the Skywalker saga, but there's still a chance he could appear in a Star Wars film in the future. Personally, I think he'd be a great fit for the Game of Thrones showrunners' trilogy, which is rumored to involve The Old Republic. Imagine Elba playing an ancient Jedi, Sith or bounty hunter in an era before the Empire!

Fantastic Beasts

The Harry Potter spinoff series is still rolling strong despite less than favorable reviews of the last film, and why shouldn't it? It'll take more than one bad movie to turn fans off to this franchise, and bringing in someone like Idris Elba could make some forget all about how The Crimes of Grindelwald was a bit of a letdown outside of that one twist. He'd make a great villain or Auror.

Austin Powers

Idris Elba's comedic prowess is a highly underrated aspect of his acting, and one that could really shine in the Austin Powers franchise. With Mike Myers interested in getting a fourth movie made, Elba could appear in a comedic role for some spy-filled adventure. This may be the closest we'll ever get to seeing him play James Bond, so producers should try to get him involved if Austin Powers 4 actually has a shot at happening.

Pirates Of The Caribbean

As Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean reboot continues development, they're going to need a few big names to convince audiences to jump back into this franchise so soon after the the original run. Idris Elba is a name that can put butts in seats, and considering he's already ingratiated within the Disney family, getting in touch with him shouldn't be too hard to do.

Those with other wishes for franchises they'd like to see Idris Elba join can share their thoughts in the comments below. Stick with CinemaBlend for updates on the actor, his films and other goings on in the entertainment world.

Netflix is always one to surprise its audience with unique adaptations and spinoffs, and this news is no exception. The streaming service revealed that it's in the process of developing anime spinoffs for the Pacific Rim film franchise, as well as its Netflix original series Altered Carbon. The spinoffs are a result of a collaboration with Asian entertainment, which will export both of these shows to subscribers worldwide.

The Altered Carbon spinoff doesn't have a ton of details but is said to explore "new elements" of the story's mythology. That description, plus the fact that the live-action series is currently developing Season 2, could mean this is an adventure separate from the one of Takeshi Kovacs. It could also be a tale that dives into Takeshi's life before the events of Season 1, before he was re-sleeved and put to work for Laurens Bancroft.

Netflix enlisted some top-tier anime talent for its Altered Carbon series, as writer Dai Sato will pen the upcoming anime. Sato is known for his contributions to works like Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, various installments of Ghost in the Shell, and many other notable anime shows. Sato will be joined by writer Tsukasa Kondo, and animation will be handled by Anima animation studio.

As for the Pacific Rim anime, a few more details are out on the franchise's latest venture. The project will be set during the battles between Kaiju and Jaegers and will unveil a new story that promises to expand upon the first two films in the franchise. The tale follows an "idealistic" teen boy and his "naive" younger sister as they travel in an abandoned Yeager across dangerous lands in search of their missing parents.

The Pacific Rim anime has Thor: Ragnarok writer Craig Kyle sharing a co-showrunner gig with former head of writing for X-Men: Evolution Greg Johnson. Legendary Entertainment will be overseeing the production of the project, and no animation studio is listed at this time. Regardless, it's exciting to think what this show can become with both these men at the helm.

The Pacific Rim and Altered Carbon spinoffs were two of five announced anime Netflix intends to collaborate on in Asia. The others, while not as buzzworthy of the first two, still sound like something fans of anime will be excited for. Beyond the previously mentioned, Cagaster of an Insect Cage, Yasuke, and Trese will arrive on the platform somewhere down the road. Netflix also announced the development of some live-action originals that will be produced in Thailand and China.

The Altered Carbon and Pacific Rim spinoffs are currently in development, but it may be a while before we see either on Netflix. For a look at what's happening on television in the meantime, head on over to our fall premiere guide. Our 2018 Netflix premiere schedule is worth a look as well.

James Gunn let the cat out of the bag shortly after Pacific Rim Uprising hit theaters. The Guardians of the Galaxy shepherd was lending his talents for an on-screen cameo in Steven S. DeKnight's high-powered sequel. And yet, no sooner did Gunn reveal it, then he also shared that the scene in question had been cut. So, with Pacific Rim Uprising hitting DVD this week (today, to be specific), we hopped on the phone with DeKnight and asked if Gunn's cameo would be made available as a deleted scene, and he graciously confirmed:

As much as I love the idea of James Gunn playing a Malibu deejay at a house party hosted by John Boyega's spoiled military brat, Jake Pentecost, I will say that the sight of original Pacific Rim helmer Guillermo Del Toro behind the turntables would have been a clever cameo, and a sweet passing of the baton from the first director to his successor. Still, the Gunn cameo will be a nice treat once we pop the DVD into a nearby player. Want a tease? Gunn tweeted this shot of him in character earlier this year:

Now we're eager to see the scene in full, to see how James Gunn would tear it up as SoCal's nasty record-spinner. The rest of the movie's pretty great, too, so this is just colorful gravy. Pacific Rim Uprising is available on digital, 4K Ultra HD, 3D Blu-ray, and DVD as we speak, and is absolutely worth a pick up.

It took a few years for Universal Studios to roll the dice on a Pacific Rim sequel. The original movie did OK at the box office (earning a chunk of its overall change at the international markets), and the clamor from the fan base was loud enough that Pacific Rim Uprising received its greenlight. Several threads connected the sequel to the original, from the return of Rinko Kikuchi to the elevated role of quirky scientist Charlie Day. But one memorable character from the first movie did not show up, though Uprising director Steven S. DeKnight tells CinemaBlend that he DID try to lure Ron Perlman back into the fold to play alien organ dealer Hannibal Chau, and even had a clever way of featuring him. DeKnight recently told us:

While a hologrammed cameo by Ron Perlman would have been a nice touch by Pacific Rim Uprising director Steven S. DeKnight, it also wouldn't have quite given us the Full Perlman, which is what made Chau's role in the original Pacific Rim so delicious. Chau trades in alien parts, and it's to Chau that Charlie Day goes in the first movie to acquire a fresh kaiju brain, to potentially drift with.

Seeing as how the idea of Charlie Day's character drifting with a kaiju brain plays a major role in Pacific Rim Uprising, I'm surprised that Steven S. DeKnight didn't fight harder to work Hannibal Chau into his narrative. However, he did tell me that if his plan of moving ahead with Pacific Rim 3 happens, he has a place for Chau, and more. DeKnight said:

Pacific Rim Uprising is available on digital as we speak. It will reach 4K Ultra HD, 3D Blu-ray, and DVD on June 19, and is absolutely worth a pick up. We are really hoping that Universal finds a way to continue this series, as Steven S. DeKnight leaves Uprising off on a tease of where the story could go, and we really want to see the resolution, if only so it can finally take our Jaegar warriors to the land of the Precursors, and bring the battle to the aliens. Fingers crossed that this somehow works out in the future!

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It took a little longer than expected to get a Pacific Rim sequel off the ground, but back in March, Pacific Rim Uprising finally arrived in theaters. While it wasn't received quite as critically and commercially well as its 2013 predecessor, Uprising laid the groundwork for another follow-up, but months later, there still hasn't been any word on if Pacific Rim 3 will actually happen. When CinemaBlend's own Sean O'Connell asked director Steven S. DeKnight if a third Jaeger vs. Kaiju tale is on the way, DeKnight said that while nothing is set in stone yet, he wants Pacific Rim 3 to be made, whether he's the one overseeing it or not. DeKnight responded:

Steven S DeKnight inheriting the Pacific Rim directing reins from Guillermo del Toro, but it sounds like even if Pacific Rim 3 does get the green light, he might not necessarily retain that position due to his schedule becoming busier (and might potentially include a God of War movie). Regardless, DeKnight hasn't kept track of Pacific Rim Uprising's box office performance (it only made $290 million worldwide), but he's hopeful that Universal will give this franchise a proper conclusion, though he's also talked in the past about how Pacific Rim 3 could be the springboard for a full-blown shared universe. For now, though, such a decision is out of his hands, and there's no timetable on when Universal will provide a Pacific Rim 3 update.

Warning: SPOILERS for Pacific Rim Uprising are ahead!

Just like with the first movie, Pacific Rim Uprising ended with humanity thwarting another Kaiju invasion. Except this time around, it was characters like John Boyega's Jake Pentecost, Scott Eastwood's Nate Lambert and Cailee Spaeny's Amara Namani who led the charge. However, during the sequel, it was revealed that the Kaiju were created by the Precursors, and at the end of the movie, the imprisoned Precursor Emissary, who had taken over Dr. Newton Geiszler's mind, declared that they would keep attacking Earth until they successfully destroyed it. Jake responded that next time it would be humanity attacking the Precursors, suggesting that Pacific Rim 3 might see our heroes traveling to the Precursor homeworld to take care of these alien menaces once and for all.

Pacific Rim Uprising is now available for digital purchase, and the Blu-ray and DVD copies will hit shelves on June 19. Rest assured, if there's any major news concerning Pacific Rim 3, we here at CinemaBlend will be sure to let you know about it. In the meantime, be sure to look through our 2018 release schedule to learn what other movies are coming out this year.

Warning: light spoilers for Pacific Rim Uprising are present. If you haven't seen the film, and want to remain unspoiled in the slightest, bookmark this page and come back after your showtime.

Despite being a direct sequel, Pacific Rim Uprising kind of stands on its own two feet, as there were only three Pacific Rim characters who returned for Pacific Rim Uprising. However, there were two more that were there in spirit, thanks to being mentioned in passing during crucial scenes in the film's events. The first and more noticeable was Jake Pentecost invoking the name of Raleigh Becket in his speech designed to stir the young Pan Pacific Defence Corps in the second act. But there's one reference you may have very easily missed in the first act, as Ron Perlman's black market charmer Hannibal Chau was mentioned as a figure in Jake's past, as well.

When trying to salvage a particularly profitable Jaeger part in the beginning of Pacific Rim Uprising, an associate of Jake's mentions how he's given the run-around to various shadowy figures in the underworld of the Kaiju ravaged future. Among the names dropped, Chau is mentioned by last name only, which had the potential to be a callback to the first film, while still needing some clarification. So just to be sure, I asked director Steven DeKnight on Twitter, to see if this was indeed the truth, and he verified that with the following tweet:

So there you have it: Jake Pentecost and Hannibal Chau have not only met, but Jake did him dirty during an exchange in their shared past. By confirming this connection, DeKnight has not only provided another bridge to the past history of Pacific Rim's criminal underground, he's also kind of given us a potential pathway to fulfil something we want to see in the proposed third entry: the return of Chau and his black market empire. The fact that Jake crossed Hannibal and survived is pretty impressive, considering how intimidating Chau's operation was portrayed in Pacific Rim. So we're naturally going to want to know how he feels about this betrayal, and just how Jake managed to pull it off in the first place.

Most importantly, we just want to see Hannibal Chau back on the big screen again. There's no doubt that Ron Perlman's portrayal of the enterprising Kaiju enthusiast was one of the most memorable and colorful characters in Pacific Rim's first installment. So while Pacific Rim Uprising was definitely an entertaining experience, it was kind of disappointing not to see him return after the post-credits for Guillermo del Toro's previous film took the time to show us that he did indeed survive being eaten by baby Kaiju. You can watch that experience again for yourself, in the clip below.

After surviving a hungry Kaiju, and a young thief's well-honed skills, Hannibal Chau is a character more than ripe for being reprised in a future Pacific Rim film. His story could grow exponentially, and if the creative team really wanted to, the team over at Legendary could probably give him anything from his own comic mini-series to a tie-in novel explaining what he's been up to in the decade since he cut his way out of a monster's stomach. No matter what is done with this character though, the fact remains that Chau is another one of the various connective tissues that make the Pacific Rim universe what it is today. Still, seeing as he was originally written into the script for Pacific Rim Uprising, it's nice to see someone shares our desire to see his triumphant return.

Pacific Rim Uprising is in theaters now, so be sure to watch carefully, as there are probably other hints and references that are still waiting to be discovered.

This weekend saw a movie where massive robots fought another massive robot and lots of things exploded. No, you didn't miss a Transformers movie, that was last year. This year our giant robot fix came courtesy of Pacific Rim Uprising, and in watching it one thing became clear, Pacific Rim is so much better than Transformers. While the Michael Bay explosion-fest does infinitely better at the box office, the fact is that Pacific Rim has made for much better movies. How exactly have giant robots been handled so much better in one franchise versus the other? Here are all the reasons that Jaegers are better than Transformers.

Jaegers Are Just Cooler

Jaegers are just empty shells that are controlled by people, and Transformers are actual sentient creatures, but the empty shell is actually a more diverse and interesting mech. Each one is uniquely designed and engineered and so they are very different. They look different, they have different weapons and attacks, which leads to more interesting battles. Transformers can, well, transform into cars, and that's cool, but that's their only real defining characteristic. The only thing that sets them apart is the sort of vehicle they can become. When it comes time for the robots to fight in Transformers, the battles aren't nearly as creative because the robots all have basically the same abilities, shoot guns and punch things.

Pacific Rim Embraces the Destruction

In the world of Pacific Rim, the Kaiju are a way of life. People who live in coastal cities are conscious that they can be attacked at any time, and thus, they are prepared for the eventuality. We know that underground shelters exist to protect people, which means that we know that the cities where the battles happen are evacuated. This gives the Jaeger's the freedom to do whatever is necessary to defeat the Kaiju, even if that means some pretty serious destruction. Collateral damage is rarely a concern that gets brought up in the Transformers movies, but it's certainly an issue. As far as we know, countless civilians end up getting killed every time a battle starts up between the Autobots and the Decepticons, and that just makes the whole thing less fun.

The Kaiju

When it comes to world-ending threats, it's hard to beat the Kaiju. While the characters are just mindless destruction machines, they are monsters bent on destroying Earth. By contrast, in the Transformers movies the Earth isn't really a focus, instead, it's just the unlucky planet where the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons happens to be taking place. Also, the fact that the Kaiju cannot be reasoned with makes them feel like the bigger monsters. There is no option but to fight them. The Decepticons are only a threat to humanity as collateral damage. They want to beat the Autobots and occasionally the magical MacGuffin they want is here, but otherwise they don't actually care about us, so they're less scary.

Humans With Agency

Both the Pacific Rim movies and the Transformers movies aren't actually about giant robots. Instead, they're about people. The problem is that in Transformers the people mostly just find a place to hide when the giant robots start fighting. In Pacific Rim, the people get inside the giant mechs and start swinging. The people are directly involved in the fight in Pacific Rim, which makes them infinitely more compelling as characters. The Transformers movies try to be more relatable to the audience by making humans the main characters, but all they do is separate the audience from the action when the fun stuff starts because the Transformers are the ones doing the real fighting.

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As a sequel, Pacific Rim Uprising has an interesting bit of distance from its predecessor. Not only is it set a full decade later, but returning stars are exclusively in supporting roles as new characters (played by John Boyega and Cailee Spaney) show up as the leads. Of course, that doesn't mean writer/director Steven DeKnight didn't still feel the need to deeply reflect on the first film, and he recently explained to me how rewatching the 2013 blockbuster influenced his work:

Steven DeKnight was given a formidable task when he was handed the reins of the Pacific Rim franchise, and earlier this month I had the opportunity to discuss the job with him during the Pacific Rim Uprising Los Angeles press day. Discussing what he got out of rewatching the first movie, DeKnight noted that it inspired him to create a different kind of blockbuster than Guillermo del Toro, focusing less on the scary monster aspect of the universe, and instead more on the fun, brightly-lit action led by youthful characters.

Of course, fidelity to source material is incredibly important in the world of franchise filmmaking, and this was something that Steven DeKnight fully recognized in the making of his feature directorial debut. While he knew that he wanted to change Pacific Rim Uprising tonally compared to its predecessor, he also knew that he wanted to keep all of the original, impressive ideas that made the 2013 blockbuster stand out in the first place -- using the concept of "The Drift" as an example. Said DeKnight,

You can watch Steven DeKnight talk all about his process rewatching the original Pacific Rim -- including its effect on the immensely important international/multicultural aspects of Pacific Rim Uprising -- by clicking play on the video below!

If you're personally a Pacific Rim fan, this is definitely the weekend to give the original a rewatch, as Pacific Rim Uprising is now out everywhere ready for your viewing enjoyment. Give it a look at your local theater, and stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more from my interviews with the cast and director of the new blockbuster.

Pacific Rim came out back in 2013 and it hasn't been the sort of franchise to keep itself current by inundating us with media over the last six years. As such, it's very likely that even if you saw Pacific Rim back then, and even if you liked it, the story has probably faded from your memory beyond the basic set up of "giant robots vs giant monsters."

To be sure, "giant robots vs giant monsters" sums up Pacific Rim pretty well, and considering how few members of the first movie's cast will be returning, the sequel is likely to go off in its own direction. However, it will still be building on the events of the first movie, so here's a refresher course going into this weekend's Pacific Rim Uprising. Here are the key things to keep in mind.

The Kaiju War

The story of Pacific Rim starts in 2013, which is when, in this timeline, the first Kaiju appeared to wreak havoc on Earth. The planet banded together to create the Jaegers, massive robots used to fight and defeat the Kaiju. We then cut to seven years later to see the Kaiju adapt their attacks to overcome the Jaegers, killing Yancy, the brother of Raleigh Becket, the first film's lead character played by Charlie Hunnam. We then jump an additional five years into the future to watch humanity's last stand against the Kaiju. This put the end of the first movie in 2020, making the sequel take place sometime later.

Jaegers

Jaegers, from the German word for hunter -- as the movie makes sure to tell you -- are massive robots piloted by humans almost as a large exoskeleton. The pilots move their legs to walk the Jaegers and swing their arms to punch the Kaiju. Each Jaeger has a pair of pilots because it was discovered that a single pilot couldn't handle the mental load of piloting alone. The two pilots are mentally synced together via a process called drift, that allows them to work together seamlessly. However, this process also gives pilots a peek into the mind and the memories of each other. This means pilots have to be willing to get very close personally so compatibility is important.

Pan Pacific Defense Corps

The Pan Pacific Defense Corps is the global organization created to deal with the Kaiju threat. It's run in the first film by Marshal Stacker Pentecost, played by Idris Elba. The organization is very nearly scrapped entirely after the Kaiju threat becomes stronger, but when the alternate plan of building a massive sea wall proves to be useless, the PPDC is given one last chance to use the Jaegers to seal the rift once and for all. What happens to the organization by the end of the film is unclear, though trailers for Pacific Rim Uprising would seem to indicate the PPDC is going strong.

Where The Kaiju Come From

The Kaiju come through a rift in the Pacific Ocean sea floor. They're massive creatures that appear to exist only to destroy. During the events of Pacific Rim, the research division of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps, Dr. Newt Geiszler and Dr. Hermann Gottlieb, use the same drift technology as Jaeger pilots to interface with a Kaiju brain and discover that the Kaiju are artificial creations of an alien race that seems to be coming from an alternate dimension on the opposite end of the rift. The aliens travel from world to world stripping them of resources before moving on, and they want to make Earth their next home. They're responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs, though Earth wasn't ready for their life form then, and now they're back.

Stacker Pentecost

We won't see Stacker Pentecost in Pacific Rim Uprising, but that doesn't mean the character won't be important. The former head of PPDC dies sacrificing himself so that Raleigh Becket and Pentecost's adopted daughter Mako Mori can make a run at closing the rift. He was going to die anyway as a result of radiation exposure as part of being an early Jaeger pilot. Mako Mori is one of the few characters that we do expect to see again in Uprising, but we also know that John Boyega will join the film as Jake Pentecost, son of Stacker. Stacker makes no reference to having a son in the first film, though he does tell Raleigh Becket at one point that Becket has "no idea" who Stacker is or where's come from, so there clearly is a lot to the character that we don't see in the first movie, part of that appears to be his estranged son.

The Rift Was Sealed

While many blockbuster movies make a point to leave a door open for any potential sequels, Pacific Rim did not do that. At the end of the first movie, the last working Jaeger, Gypsy Danger, goes nuclear in order to seal the rift between the dimensions. The rift collapses and the four Jaegers that were still functioning at the beginning of the final assault have all been destroyed. The story would seem to have reached a conclusion, but obviously, that's not the case. Somehow the Kaiju will return, and some all-new jaegers will be needed.

Back in 2013, Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim became the Little Blockbuster That Could. While it had a bit of a slow start at the summer box office, it slowly but surely was able to keep bringing audiences in, and by the time it was done in theaters, it had made over $400 million globally. Now, a little less than five years later, we are now getting a sequel, Pacific Rim Uprising, but if it were up to writer/director Steven DeKnight, this will only be the first follow-up that we see arrive in coming years. He recently told me,

I had the pleasure of sitting down with writer/director Steven DeKnight earlier this month for the Los Angeles press day for Pacific Rim Uprising -- and it was literally at the very end of our conversation that we had the opportunity to chat about the future. Recognizing the level of detail in the movie's world-building, and certain events that go down in the third act, I asked for the filmmaker's thoughts on future installments in the franchise, and he revealed that he has some absolutely massive plans for the universe of Pacific Rim, should he get the opportunity to execute them.

Looking at Steven DeKnight's filmography, this all makes a lot of sense. While the filmmaker has actually made his feature directorial debut with Pacific Rim Uprising, he is hardly new to the industry, having worked for decades in the world of television on shows like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, Spartacus, and the first season of Daredevil. On the small screen, narratives can run for years, with all kinds of twists and turns happening to the characters, and that kind of storytelling generally involves long-term planning. And while there are never any guarantees in the world of theatrical releases, that didn't stop him from thinking about what could be done not only with a Pacific Rim 3, but a whole broad universe of different projects.

You can watch Steven DeKnight talking about the potential future of the Pacific Rim franchise and his thoughts on Pacific Rim 3 by clicking play on the video below!

Pacific Rim 3 will probably only happen if Pacific Rim Uprising is ultimately deemed a success -- and we'll find out the fate of that particular project now, with the film arriving in theaters as we speak. So if you're excited by the idea of a wide-ranging franchise with a whole lot of Jaeger vs. Kaiju action, do yourself a favor and catch the new movie on the big screen this weekend.

John Boyega stars as an entirely new character in Steven DeKnight's upcoming Pacific Rim Uprising -- but one very important element of the part is how he connects to one of the heroes in the first film. If you couldn't tell from the last name, Jake Pentecost is the son of Idris Elba's Stacker Pentecost, the leader of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps in the 2013 blockbuster. And while the new movie picks up 10 years after the events of the last movie, in which Stacker died, Boyega recently told me how the performance was used as a reference point:

Pacific Rim Uprising does some notable things very differently than the original, but it does have its tie-backs -- one specifically being the impact that Stacker Pentecost had on his adult son. I had the chance to sit down with John Boyega at the new movie's Los Angeles press day earlier this month, and one thing we had the chance to discuss was the influence of Idris Elba's performance in the last movie. I asked the young actor about looking back at the first film and studying Elba's performance for his own, and he explained how he decided to go about it.

As noted by John Boyega, when we first meet Jake Pentecost in Pacific Rim Uprising, he really couldn't be more different than his father. Confident that the breach that was spewing giant monsters into our world has been closed permanently, he has dedicated himself to a life of luxury -- living in abandoned houses on the coast, scrapping and stealing anything he needs, and generally not caring about anything in the world. That all changes when he is brought back into the fold of the PPDC following a run-in with the law, and is put in charge of training new recruits. It is here where Jake really begins to find himself, and also, in Boyega's words, become his "daddy's boy."

You can watch John Boyega discuss the impact of Idris Elba's Pacific Rim performance on his own in Pacific Rim Uprising by clicking play on the video below!

After years of waiting, Pacific Rim fans are finally about to see the follow-up on the big screen, and watch the film expand the franchise far beyond where it began. Starring John Boyega, Cailee Spaney, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman, Rinko Kikuchi, and more, Pacific Rim Uprising will arrive in theaters this weekend, March 23rd.

This upcoming summer is jam-packed with sequels, reboots and superheroes (Oh my!...sorry). And among the heavy competition, Pacific Rim: Uprising is just one of the films looking to make an impact. Despite starring John Boyega, the giant robot sequel has just not seemed to build up much hype for its upcoming release. That more or less tracks with the first Pacific Rim, which didn't have a very strong performance domestically. Unfortunately, a new report is predicting that things will be even worse for Uprising, which is tracking to earn about half of Pacific Rim's total domestic debut.

According to BoxOfficePro, Pacific Rim Uprising is tracking to open domestically for a three-day weekend total of $20 million. Comparatively, Pacific Rim opened to $37.3 million, creating a pretty sizable gap between the two movies. Sequels sometimes don't make as much money as the first movie in a franchise, but they often do make more money, making these numbers surprising. In addition, the overall projection in terms of the domestic total for Uprising is at just $50 million. That's about half of Pacific Rim's overall domestic gross of $101 million.

Should the report prove true, those numbers certainly don't look good for Pacific Rim Uprising, but there are a few factors to consider. First, Uprising was likely never really expected to open big in the states. The true source of the original film's success came mostly from overseas, where it scored $300 million. This is Uprising's real target market. The above report only predicts the domestic performance, so we'll have to wait and see how the sequel plays internationally. Still, a movie that cost $150 million to make doing poorly in the U.S. is probably not good news for the studio.

As for why the numbers are as low as they are, one reason could be that it's been five years since the first Pacific Rim. That's a long time, and the gap doesn't create much urgency to see this sequel. Plus, the original didn't hold much box office weight to begin with. We also have to consider that there isn't much buzz right now, and wider audience members don't seem particularly impressed by the trailers.

It also doesn't help matters that March is a packed month of high-profile movies. Disney's highly anticipated A Wrinkle in Time plays two weeks before Uprising, and Tomb Raider comes one week after that. Then, a week after its own release, Uprising will have to contend with Ready Player One. That's some tough competition, and it will be difficult for Uprising to make an impact when its surrounded on all sides like this.

We'll see how accurate this report ends up becoming when Pacific Rim Uprising arrives in theaters on March 23, 2018.

If there's anything Guillermo del Toro's movies have taught the world, it's that monsters are people, too. And much like the creatures of his films, del Toro has taken what's normally considered genre filmmaking and turned it into a brilliant, lush playground for his imagination to truly run wild. But out of all of his children, which ones does he value the most? Well, according to a recent Q&A, the man himself ranked his six best films as follows:

This was in response to a specific criteria though, as the Reddit commenter who asked Guillermo del Toro about his ranking of his films based on how close they came to his vision, as well as how passionate he was about the film's creative process. Out of the 10 films that he's directed, those six films were selected and ranked accordingly. While each film is a winner in its own right, as well as in the eyes of their creator, Pacific Rim was apparently the most fun and most artistically aligned to what del Toro intended for audiences to see.

Looking at that list of films as a movie fan, it's hard to rank those films on face value. But looking at some of the pitfalls and stories behind some of those films, you can see where they may have fallen behind. Take Pan's Labyrinth, for instance. While the film did go on to make a big splash for Guillermo del Toro's career, it was almost sabotaged by the fact that several possible studios were willing to offer more financing if the film was made in English, and with bigger stars. Even The Shape of Water ran into some studio-suggested changes, as his original black-and-white vision was swapped for the more colorful approach that the film currently inhabits.

But sitting right at the top of the list, in all of its towering glory, is Pacific Rim;__a movie that suffered its own problems, but more on the box office receipt end. And yet, that film was so much of a product of unbridled faith and limitless imagination that Guillermo del Toro feels like it's the best film he's put out there. Though there are no losers in this line-up, as del Toro clearly loves all of his children, there are clearly some films that were easier and more satisfying to make than others. It happens when you're a director known to push the boundaries of the monster realm, exploring the places few others venture out to.

The Shape of Water is in limited release now, and it will expand to more theaters this Friday, December 8.

There is little in pop culture that is more universally loved than giant robots. The awesomeness of giant robots translates across seas, borders and languages and it never gets old. When you get to see giant robots fighting giant monsters, well, that just speaks to the 10-year old in all of us. So it is with great excitement that we get a look at the Pacific Rim: Uprising reel from Tokyo Comic-Con. This video should get you hyped for all the gigantic battles this movie has in store. Take a look.

Man, this is almost like a military recruitment video for the Pan Pacific Defense Corps' Jaeger program. It's got great action, amazing visuals and inspiring speeches. Sign me up. The people involved in Pacific Rim: Uprising are saying all the right things here, too. Everyone seems to be passionate about the material and looks like they are having fun with the movie. Steven S. DeKnight is taking over directorial duties from Pacific Rim's Guillermo del Toro and he is exactly the kind of person you would want directing a giant robot movie. He mentions growing up watching these types of stories and that he's a fan of giant robots and monsters (who's not). For those who don't know, Steven S. DeKnight was the showrunner on the Starz TV series, Spartacus, and anyone who saw that show can testify to his ability to create a story with incredible, beautiful action that still has complex and well-developed characters. It looks like that is what we are getting here with the new cast.

John Boyega, who is a fanboy through and through, looks great as Jake Pentecost, the son of Idris Elba's Stacker Pentecost from the first film. It's cool to see him get to use his natural accent here and standout in a new role. John Boyega's statement in the video that this is the most action he's ever done should make everyone's ears perk up. He was in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi, I don't know if you've heard of them but they have a fair bit of action in them. If the action is all as good as it is in this video and is well-balanced with quality character interactions, this movie could surpass the original.

The new elements we see here also give us an idea of how this film will differ from the original and give us something fresh. The Jaeger's seem more lithe and mobile to me and there also is, as we've heard, more of a focus on the excitement of piloting the Jaegers. Seeing Jaeger on Jaeger action is a welcome addition, as well as the new makeshift Jaeger piloted by Cailee Spaeny's Amara. The actress mentions that we'll be getting new things from the Kaiju as well, creatures that we initially thought were defeated at the end of the first film but will be returning here, and will be badder and far bigger to boot.

Overall what we see here looks like some of the best elements of the first movie, amplified and improved upon for the sequel. While Guillermo del Toro isn't directing this movie, it is nice to see the world he created continuing on. The tone looks fun and exciting with new and interesting characters. And while this word is vastly overused, Pacific Rim: Uprising looks flat out epic. Pacific Rim: Uprising hits theaters on March 23, 2018. For all the biggest movies coming to theaters next year, check out our 2018 release schedule.

As you would expect, the world in the Pacific Rim universe was completely changed with the arrival of the destructive monsters called as Kaiju. The technology and pilots behind the Jaeger program were able to stop the creatures and close the portal to their dimension, but still years later people aren't sure how to feel about it, and fear what the future could hold. This is an important aspect of the setting in director Steven DeKnight's upcoming Pacific Rim Uprising, but as we learned from producer Cale Boyter on the set of the sequel earlier this year, there are a number of layers to that atmosphere. Said Boyter,

Pacific Rim Uprising completed its production in Sydney, Australia earlier this year, and it was on a weekday in January that I joined a small group of other journalists to visit the set, observe filming, and do interviews with the cast and filmmakers. We had a lot of time with Cale Boyter, who is a producer at Legendary Pictures, and he did a great job breaking down how the world has changed between the events of Guillermo del Toro's movie and Steven DeKnight's.

As we learned in Pacific Rim, the operation of the giant robots known as Jaegers isn't exactly simple. The size of the enemy dictates that they be so big that they require two pilots to operate -- but they aren't exactly using buttons and dials. Instead, the two individuals in the cockpit (or Conn-Pod) are mentally linked through what's called The Drift, and the Jaeger directly responds to their shared actions. This is obviously a rather intense process, so you can totally understand why a company might think that the future is operating the machines as drones. But just like many having the debate in the military today, there is an argument that drones simply cannot be as effective as trained pilots at the wheel.

It's worth noting that this dispute continues despite the fact that the world has not actually seen a Kaiju attack in nearly 10 years. As the trailers for Pacific Rim Uprising show, however, those who are constantly paranoid about their return very much turn out to be correct -- and it turns out to be a very good thing that the Jaeger program was kept alive and that new pilots were consistently being trained.

On that note, it's worth noting that the Jaeger technology has also continued to evolve in that same time frame, and the new creations are sporting some fun toys that the world has never seen before. Head on over to Page 2 to find out more about what we learned on the Pacific Rim 2 set!

Fans were introduced to some amazing Jaeger designs in the first Pacific Rim, such as the legendary Gipsy Danger and the three-armed Crimson Typhoon, but director Steven DeKnight and producer Cale Boyter told us that particular game was being stepped up in Pacific Rim Uprising. At the time they couldn't tell us too much about what they were cooking up, but they did tease some unique special abilities for each one.

While we were sitting down with Cale Boyter, Steven DeKnight used one of his breaks during production to come over and speak with us as well. During that conversation, we asked about what we could expect from the new designs in the Pacific Rim sequel, and the filmmakers teased,

John Boyega, who stars as Jake Pentecost in Pacific Rim Uprising, also added his two cents to the conversation when we spoke to him alone later in the day. Using video game terminology, he also noted that each of the new designs have a special trick up their sleeve. Discussing his own ride, Gipsy Danger, Boyega said,

Fans have been waiting years for a return to the world of Pacific Rim, but that time is almost at an end. Pacific Rim Uprising is schedule to arrive in theaters in early 2018 -- on March 23rd to be exact -- and you should definitely stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more of our coverage from the set.

After a few years of failed starts, a new Pacific Rim movie is on the way-- but it does come with some caveats. The biggest loss to the sequel was Guillermo del Toro, director and creator of the original movie who was unable to come back for Pacific Rim: Uprising. Steven S. DeKnight stepped in to helm the sequel starring John Boyega, but that doesn't mean that del Toro didn't contribute. Del Toro still served an important role in getting the sequel off the ground, and frequently collaborated with notes and developing the script.

Guillermo del Toro may not have been able to direct the sequel to his Monsters vs Robots geekfest, but he still had a voice in the making of Pacific Rim: Uprising. While talking to ComingSoon, producer Cale Boyter revealed that del Toro was involved in the creative process, which ranged from giving notes on the various drafts of the script to weighing in on the designs for the new Jaegers and Kaiju. He also apparently really loved John Boyega, but honestly, who doesn't?

This should hopefully be good news for skeptical fans of the original Pacific Rim. Some have voiced their opinions that Pacific Rim: Uprising looks more like a Transformers movie than a Pacific Rim movie. Those concerns are understandable; Guillermo del Toro has a unique voice and vision, and that went a long way in establishing the look and feel of the super nerdy Pacific Rim. Knowing that he at least had a voice in the sequel could ease any worries people may have. If it makes you feel any better, del Toro is getting major Oscar buzz for his next film, The Shape of Water, so he's going to be doing alright.

Pacific Rim: Uprising is set several years after the events of the first film and follows Jake Pentecost, the son of Idris Elba's character from the first movie. There hasn't been an attack since the breach was closed, but when the enemy suddenly arises, Jake will have to pilot Gipsy Avenger and lead a new generation of pilots to stop the apocalypse...again.

Pacific Rim: Uprising is set to hit theaters on March 23, 2018. To learn about what 2017 still has to offer, here's what's coming to theaters for the rest of the year.

After years of development, Pacific Rim fans are finally getting a sequel to Guillermo del Toro's 2013 hit -- specifically Steven DeKnight's Pacific Rim Uprising. The story is set 10 years after the original, and centers on a new pair of leads, but does feature important tie backs to the first film, narratively, and with certain characters. That being said, those expecting more of the same from the follow-up may be surprised, given that the filmmakers behind the project are giving a different vibe that generates a more awe-inspiring feel. Or as producer Cale Boyter put it when we spoke to him on the set of the film earlier this year,

While Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim centered on a hot-shot pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and the new trainee he is working with (Rinko Kikuchi), the dynamic between the leads is much different in Pacific Rim Uprising, lending to the film having a different kind of feel than the last movie. Both John Boyega and newcomer Cailee Spaeny are notably younger than their predecessors, and as I learned while visiting the Sydney, Australia set of the film earlier this year, it has the effect of changing the upcoming blockbuster's attitude.

As far as capturing "the magic of the idea," from what we were told on set it seems that a lot of that concept will come from the role played by Cailee Spaeny. A 15-year-old girl from California, Amara is an orphan who has spent the last 10 years living on her own following the death of her parents -- but is essentially obsessed with Jaegers. She has not only managed to build one of her own, which she dubs Scrapper, but has an intimate knowledge about all of the different models and their abilities. Naturally, entering the Shatterdome where all of the Jaegers are kept is a mind-blowing event for her, and the film hopes that the audiences will get to share in her wonder and astonishment.

Just watching the trailer for Pacific Rim Uprising, you do feel that the movie has less of the scary monsters-meet-Top Gun vibe that Guillermo del Toro's feature accentuated -- but that's to be expected. Steven DeKnight is a very different filmmaker (this is actually his directorial debut after a long career in television), and it makes sense that the project would reflect that:

Pacific Rim fans will have their opportunity to marvel at Uprising when the feature arrives in theaters on March 23, 2018. Between now and then, be on the lookout for more from our time on the blockbuster's set!

In the Pacific Rim universe, piloting a Jaeger is no easy feat. Because of the massive size of the machine, it's not a job that can be handled by one person alone, and all of these operators have to be neurologically compatible in The Drift -- a technologically-created shared mental space that allows a pilot to see the entire mind of their partner. A side effect of this is that the work is made harder if you're carrying a lot of emotional issues... but in Steven DeKnight's upcoming sequel, Pacific Rim Uprising, the world has found a fix for that. As explained by producer Cale Boyter,

I learned a ton about Pacific Rim Uprising back in January, when I joined a very small group of other reporters to fly out to Sydney, Australia and visit the set of the film while it was still in production. One of the big things that was discussed during interviews was the fact that the sequel is skewing a bit younger, particularly with the introduction of Cailee Spaeny's character, Amara, and it turns out that it fits into a much bigger element of the Pacific Rim world. As Cale Boyter explained, one of the big initiatives moving forward in the story is an attempt to mobilize younger Jaeger pilots, as they have a tendency to operate a bit better while functioning in The Drift.

As noted by the producer, Pacific Rim Uprising is set a full 10 years after the events of the first movie, and finds a world that is conflicted regarding the recent historical events. While the last decade has been free from any attacks from the interdimensional monsters known as Kaiju, there is still a lingering fear that they will find a way to return to Earth. Because of this, the Jaeger program is kept active, and new initiatives are created. One example is the Hopefuls -- which is a group that the young protagonist Amara will wind up joining through the course of the movie.

Before that happens in the movie, however, it should be recognized that the character manages to accomplish something rather amazing. Amara is a 15-year-old orphan who has been forced to learn to survive by being on her own, and develops a knack for engineering as a result. She builds her very own diminutive Jaeger that she names Scrapper, and what's most amazing about it is that she can actually operate it all by herself. Clearly this makes her an excellent fit for the Hopefuls program, but speaking to Cailee Spaeny on set, she explained that Amara's incredible technological breakthrough is actually kind of lost on her. Said the actress,

Pacific Rim Uprising will introduce the world to its new class of young Jaeger pilots when it arrives in theaters on March 23, 2018 -- and between now and then, be sure to stay tuned for more coverage from our visit to the set!

As awesome as it often is, Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim is a film that is definitely not without its faults. Take, for example, the big action sequences, where piloted robots called Jaegers take on giant interdimensional aliens called Kaiju. Badass as these sequences are, there is definitely a disconnect between what's going on outside, and what's happening to the pilots, and it ultimately has an effect on their stakes. This is an issue that the upcoming sequel, Pacific Rim Uprising, is actually tackling head on, as producer Cale Boyter told us when we visited the set earlier this year:

Back in January, I joined three other reporters flying to Sydney, Australia to visit the set of director Steven DeKnight's Pacific Rim Uprising while it was still in production, and we had the pleasure of hanging out with Cale Boyter a lot during the day. The filmmaker was very open and honest about how the sequel is building on what was established with the first film, and part of that was addressing how the follow-up would be fixing certain issues. After noting that part of the movie's larger story would involve bringing in younger pilots, and discussing the action in the cockpit of the Jaegers (known as Conn-Pods), he specifically explained how the new movie would make it feel like the pilots are more directly in the action.

So what is the answer to making it feel like the pilots are inside the Jaegers doing battle and not just in some far-away control room? As you can see from the image at the top of the article -- taken from the teaser trailer -- one big part of it is the use of holograms. What is happening to the Jaeger the pilots are controlling will be specifically represented as CGI projected inside of the Conn-Pod. Cale Boyter explained,

While Pacific Rim has some great Kaiju vs. Jaeger battles, even the biggest die-hard fans will understand what the producer is saying here. There was some unquestionably amazing production design at work in the movie, and the whole concept behind the operation of the giant robots is great, but it did sometimes create the look of Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) and Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) using equipment at the gym. Pacific Rim Uprising looks like it will be taking those ideas and upgrading them to give the audience a better experience watching the Jaeger pilots work.

After years of waiting, Pacific Rim Uprising, starring John Boyega, Cailee Spaeny, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman, and Rinko Kikuchi, is almost here. Thanks to our wonderful, extensive interviews with the movie's cast and filmmakers on set, we have tons more to share from the experience, so be on the lookout for that, and prepare for the blockbuster's theatrical arrival on March 23, 2018.

Cinematic Universes are all the rage in Hollywood today, and for years there has been speculation about what might come together over at Legendary Pictures. After all, the studio is currently developing franchises with Pacific Rim, King Kong, and Godzilla, and many have suggested the idea of having parts of all three come together in one epic blockbuster. It turns out that this isn't something that is really in the cards right now, but earlier this year Legendary producer Cale Boyter hinted at another massive possible future for the Pacific Rim brand. He told us,

Along with three other reporters, I flew out to Sydney, Australia back in January when Steven DeKnight's Pacific Rim Uprising was still in production, and it was there that we had the chance to meet and chat with Cale Boyter. Literally noting that it's not every day that I get to sit down with a producer from Legendary Pictures, I asked about the potential for a Pacific Rim, King Kong, and Godzilla crossover, and his response is what you read above. Sadly, he didn't provide any further hints about what was in the works, but he certainly sold it as something special.

Frankly, there have always been some logistical issues here -- and I'm not solely referring to the fact that Pacific Rim Jaegers stand nearly 100 feet shorter than the newly introduced Godzilla. It all has to do with studio politics. While it's true that the original Pacific Rim was made during the partnership between Legendary and Warner Bros., the brand has since moved over to Universal, which will be releasing Pacific Rim Uprising early next year. Meanwhile, Godzilla and King Kong both remain over at Warners thanks to a deal a few years ago that set up the developing Monsterverse with the studio, despite their main partnership with Legendary coming to an end. Of course, studio cooperation could have resolved this issue, but it definitely would have created some notable issues during development.

So if inclusion in the Monsterverse isn't going to happen, what is the big, secret future for Pacific Rim? Right now we have no idea, but it's entirely possible that we will start to pick up some more hints and clues -- if not the full answer -- when Pacific Rim Uprising is released next year. The new film is set 10 years after the events of the Guillermo del Toro-directed original, and finds a world incredibly uneasy about whether or not the deadly Kaiju will ever come back (hint: they do). The blockbuster stars John Boyega, Cailee Spaeny, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman, and Rinko Kikuchi, who all may or may not be a major part of Cale Boyter's teased developments.

We're kind of bummed that we may never get the chance to see Kong suit up in his own plus-sized Jaeger, but we're also definitely excited for the future of the Pacific Rim series. You'll be able to see Pacific Rim Uprising in theaters on March 23, 2018, and be sure to stay tuned for more of our set visit coverage here on CinemaBlend!

While Pacific Rim is a property that feels like it always had franchise potential, the reality is that the first movie didn't exactly leave any clear path to a sequel. The heroes of the Guillermo del Toro-directed blockbuster successfully defeated the Kaiju with a good amount of sacrifice, but didn't really leave audiences with a big, dangling cliffhanger. This may have fans wondering exactly how it is that the upcoming Pacific Rim Uprising will be able to continue the story, but director Steven DeKnight laid out how it could all happen when we spoke to him on the set of the film:

Back in January, I was part of a very small group of reporters -- four in all -- who were given the incredible opportunity to fly out to Sydney, Australia and visit the set of Pacific Rim Uprising while it was still in the middle of production. In addition to observing filming (and standing inside the Conn-Pod of the redesigned Gipsy Avenger), we also had the pleasure of talking to the cast and filmmakers -- and it was while interviewing Steven DeKnight that we learned how the sequel picks up from the events featured at the end of its 2013-released predecessor.

Pacific Rim Uprising is set 10 years after the events of the first movie, and as the director pointed out, the timing has led to a tense atmosphere around the globe. While Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) and Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) were certainly successful in closing the inter-dimensional breach that led to the original alien invasion, people know that the other dimension is still out there, and there remains the looming question of whether or not another invasion will begin again. It's this fear that keeps the Jaeger program alive and funded -- and it's a good thing, because as the upcoming film will show, the Kaiju are definitely making their way back for vengeance.

And, of course, you can get a taste of that vengeance watching the action-packed trailer that was released in the last few weeks:

Pacific Rim Uprising, which stars John Boyega, Cailee Spaeny, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman, and Rinko Kikuchi, is still a few months away from hitting theaters -- set to arrive on March 23, 2018 -- but don't you fret. We'll have plenty more coverage from our visit to the set here for you in the coming days, so stay tuned!

Warner Bros is juggling quite a few franchises right now, including the MonsterVerse, which stars beasts like Godzilla and King Kong, and the Pacific Rim universe, where humanity uses the towering Jaegers to fight back against the invading Kaiju. With two blockbuster properties (both from Legendary Pictures) centered around giant monsters, no doubt some of you have thought that the pieces are lined up for Warner Bros to do a potentially cool crossover. Well sure enough, Pacific Rim Uprising director Steven DeKnight revealed that there have been talks about bringing the MonsterVerse and Pacific Rim franchises together. DeKnight said:

Judging by Steven DeKnight's comment to Collider, there don't appear to be any concrete plans for a MonterVerse/Pacific Rim crossover anytime soon, but at least the option is still on the table. Given the different histories between these two franchises, no doubt some parallel universe shenanigans would be required to bridge these worlds together, but that's a small price to pay to see a Jaeger brawling with Kong in New York City, or a similar scenario. And hey, if a movie crossover doesn't work out, this could be prime material for a comic book, a medium where it's significantly easier to bring fan-favorite properties together.

For right now, both of these monster-centric franchises have bright futures ahead of them on their own. The first Pacific Rim movie was released in 2013, and while it took a while for Pacific Rim Uprising to get off the ground, the sequel, which has Steve DeKnight taking over directing duties from Guillermo del Toro, will continue the saga. As for the MonsterVerse, that began in 214 with the Godzilla reboot, and this year's Kong: Skull Island turned the clock back to the early 1970s to introduce its version of the huge gorilla. Godzilla: King of the Monsters will bring back the energy-breathing reptile, and in 2020, Godzilla will clash with Kong in the appropriately-named Godzilla vs. Kong. It sounds like once that movie, as well as the discussed (but not yet greenlit) Pacific Rim 3 is out of the way, then the discussions regarding such a crossover might gain more traction.

The MonsterVerse will continue on March 22, 2019 with the release of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Pacific Rim Uprising arrives much sooner, dropping in theaters on March 23, 2018. Look through our 2017 premiere guide and 2018 premiere guide for more information concerning theatrical releases over the next year.

It's a good time to be a Star Wars fan. J.J. Abrams' The Force Awakens signaled a new age of Star Wars films, and introduced a new trio of protagonists to carry the torch from the likes of Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher. One of the newcomers is John Boyega's Finn. The character is charming and flawed, and The Force Awakens was the first time that many audiences were introduced to Boyega. He's since been booking high profile movies left and right, and recently revealed why he's been so eager to take on more acting jobs on his breaks from the Star Wars franchise: he wants to be more than just Finn to moviegoers.

John Boyega has been doing a fair amount of press for his role in crime drama Detroit. When speaking with THR about the project, he revealed why he signed on, saying:

This seems like a pretty great plan, and shows what a good head John Boyega seems to have on his shoulders. Similar to asking Robert Downey Jr. on how to properly handle fame, Boyega seems to be really thinking about how to optimize his budding career in the lime light, and he's picked some fantastic projects to join.

To start, John Boyega is attached to another popular sci-fi franchise: Pacific Rim. He'll be playing the lead male in Pacific Rim: Uprising, which is set to arrive in theaters this coming March. This role will likely help keep Boyega at the front of the minds of nerd-culture obsessed audiences, which is no doubt his main demographic of fans. He's also a producer on the film, which will help him cement himself as a real player in Hollywood.

John Boyega also took roles in two dramas: The Circle and Detroit. The former was an ambitious (albeit poorly received) thriller that allowed him to work with the likes Tom Hanks, Karen Gillan, and Emma Watson. Unfortunately the film failed to perform at the box office or critically, but it still helped moviegoers associate Boyega in a role other than Finn.

On the other end, Detroit has received a ton of positive attention. The film is based off of real events during the infamous 1967 Detroit Riots, and was released on the 50th anniversary of the real life events. So John Boyega is certainly on his way to becoming a versatile actor known for a variety of different roles.

Detroit is currently in theaters, and you can catch Star Wars: The Last Jedi on December 15th. In the meantime, check out our 2017 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Fans of the original Pacific Rim spent years hoping that a sequel would come along, and while it's finally on the way, it's missing a lot of the characters that made the original movie so good. Chief among them is Charlie Hunnam who played lead character Raleigh Beckett in the first film. The actor explains that the reason he couldn't make the sequel is because the plans for it went from zero to sixty so fast that when he finally asked about reprising his role, he couldn't because he was already attached to make a new version of prison escape movie Papillon. According to Hunnam...

For the longest time Guillermo del Toro was trying to drum up support for a sequel to Pacific Rim, and while there always appeared to be some interest, the trigger was never getting pulled on the idea. With the new timeline that Charlie Hunnam explained to Den of Geek, everything now becomes a bit clearer. The sale of Legendary Entertainment happened in January of 2016, and the announcement that Pacific Rim 2 was going to happen, but without del Toro as a director, happened only a month later. This is what the actor is talking about when he says the new owners wanted to see the sequel happen rapidly.

However, this new expediency didn't work for Charlie Hunnam. He was already involved in making a movie about the famous escape of Henri "Papillion" Charriere from Devil's Island. The problem was, he already had a contract to make the new Pacific Rim movie as well. The good news for the actor is that the studio was happy to let him out of the contract when he explained how much he wanted to make the other film.

Instead of Charlie Hunnam, we will see John Boyega as our lead character in Pacific Rim: Uprising. He'll be playing the son of Idris Elba's character from the first film. We are expecting a few of the characters from the first film to return, including Burn Gorman, Charlie Day, and Rinko Kikuchi. Hopefully, that will be enough to satiate the fans of the original.

Though the movie didn't have a strong theatrical run stateside--despite having a strong cult following--Pacific Rim made the majority of its money overseas, leading to the giant robot fight-fest doing well enough to warrant a sequel. It wasn't a smooth road, with the movie trapped in development hell for a long time and eventually needing a new director (Guillermo del Toro wrote and directed the original), but the production seems to have gone swimmingly for Pacific Rim: Uprising. Rising star John Boyega was cast as the lead role and, after months of filming, has announced that he has officially wrapped production. Check out his epic announcement below.

John Boyega is following his career-making performance in Star Wars: The Force Awakens with Pacific Rim: Uprising, where he stars in the lead role of Jake Pentecost. Boyega took to Twitter to announce that he has officially finished his scenes for the sequel and though there are no giant robots or monsters, he still found a pretty badass way to make his departure. "It's been an amazing six months! That's a wrap on #PacificRimUprising," his tweet reads. He accompanied the post with a picture of himself in all black walking away from the Chinese version of the Hollywood sign. That's a pretty spot-on way to close out your time in China.

Fun Fact (depending on your definition of fun, I guess): That sign in the post sits on top of Movie Metropolis Hill, which overlooks the Wanda Qingdao Movie Metropolis in China. It's China's premiere international filmmaking destination and is aiming to be world's largest movie studio. Though still unfinished, the studio is basically meant to be Disney World for filmmakers. Meant to capture the spirit of Hollywood's iconic sign, the giant white kanji atop the hill read: "Movie Metropolis of the East."

Not too much is known about Pacific Rim: Uprising, but John Boyega leads a cast filled with up-and-comers as Jake Pentecost, the son of Idris Elba's Stacker Pentecost, who perished at the end of the first film. Jake is a Jaeger pilot like his father before him, but other than that his character is a mystery. Boyega showed huge leading man potential in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, possessing lots of charisma and heart that he will no doubt apply to Pacific Rim: Uprising.

Pacific Rim: Uprising is directed by Steven S. DeKnight and very little is currently known about the plot. However, you can bet that it will involve giant robots fighting something, which is enough of a draw in of itself. The film stars John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, and Jing Tian, with Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, and Burn Gorman returning in their roles from the original movie.

Pacific Rim: Uprising is currently scheduled to hit theaters on February 23, 2018. To learn more about the film, here's What We Know So Far.

Pacific Rim: Uprising is currently filming in Australia. While the film will be a sequel, we know that much both in front of and behind the camera has changed. However, maybe not quite as much as we thought. A new image would seem to imply that at least three members of the original Pacific Rim cast may be appearing in the sequel after all.

Dan Mindel is the Cinematographer for Pacific Rim: Uprising and as filming is now underway, he posted an image of one of his camera setups to Instagram. What is interesting about the image, which was pointed out by Slashfilm, is that on the right-hand side of the frame we see a piece of paper listing several cast members of the film. Thee's a name that looks like Scott Eastwood and another that is pretty clearly Cailee Spaeny. Since we already know that both of them will be appearing in Pacific Rim: Uprising, we can, with some confidence, believe that's the set this image comes from. However, there are three additional names that peak our interest even more.

Three of the names on this sheet are for actors that were in the first film, which would seem to imply they'll be reprising their roles. Two of the names absolutely belong together. The scientist pair of Newt and Gottlieb, played by Charlie Day and Burn Gorman. Only seeing one of these guys return would have been unfortunate as the pair worked so well off of each other. Day, played the radical, risk-taking member of the team while Gottelib was more of the proper Englishman who didn't have time for those sorts of actions. Both of them were key to the events in the fist film and it will be wonderful to see them both again.

However, it's the third returning name that has us really excited. At the bottom of the list we see the name of Rinko Kikuchi. She had a breakout role in the original Pacific Rim as Mako Mori. The character was so popular with fans that it would have seemed like a no-brainer to include her in the sequel. However, up to this point, there's been no evidence that she was returning.

However, there's something else here that has us wondering what's going on. While Rinko Kikuchi's character name is obscured in the image, the part of the name we see appears to end in the letters KKO. This could simply be a different spelling of the name Mako than we've seen before, who knows who created this list, or it could mean that the actress isn't actually playing Mako Mori. It would seem odd to have her doing anything else, so we're guessing it's the former situation, but who knows.

It's great to see that least a few more folks from the original Pacific Rim will be back for the new movie. Filming in underway in Australia as we speak and the movie is set for release on February 23, 2018.

Pacific Rim was on of those popular films that it seemed we'd never actually see a sequel to. And yet, here we are with the film finally in production. In case you needed proof, we know have an image of John Boyega in his Jaeger driving uniform. It's not an official image, but instead, it appears to have come from somebody who is checking out the location.

The picture was shot by a resident of Sydney, Australia, where Pacific Rim 2: Uprising is currently filming. Shot from a distance, it's clearly somebody who is at the location, but being kept back while they film. The user, tessalucyy, isn't even that sure that the person she got a picture of is the film's star John Boyega. However, it certainly looks like him, and he's wearing an outfit similar to those we saw in the first Pacific Rim being worn by the Jaeger pilots.

Over the summer we learned that John Boyega would be adding Pacific Rim to his franchise collection alongside Star Wars. While we don't know much about the new movie, we do know that Boyega will be playing a character who is the son of Idris Elba's character from the original film. Elba played Stacker Pentecost, the Marshall in charge of the Jaeger force in the original film. While Pentecost sacrificed himself in that movie, it appears he left at least one biological child alongside his adopted daughter Mako Mori.

Beyond John Boyega himself, there is one other thing of note in this image, which would be the series of green balls set on the ground in the other lane next to Boyega. Those appear to be markers set in place for digital effects, meaning that when and if we ever see this moment on the screen in Pacific Rim 2: Uprising, it won't necessarily look anything like what we see here. Boyega could be walking past a massive Jaeger, or they could be replacing the street he's walking on with another one entirely, made up of different buildings that will be created inside a computer. About the only thing we can know we'll see for sure will be John Boyega and his uniform.

This image not being everything it appears to be, fits nicely with the film as a whole, as we have little idea what it's really going to look like either. While the movie is a sequel to the original Pacific Rim, the cast is going to look almost entirely different when compared to the original. None of the leads from the first film will be back. As it stands, the connection between John Boyega's character and Idris Elba's character is the only link to the original film that the new one will have. While this is slightly disappointing, as pretty much everybody who loved the first film would want to see Rinko Kikuchi again, it does create the opportunity to tell entirely new stories that aren't necessarily tethered to the original.

Pacific Rim 2: Uprising is set for release on February 23, 2018.

After a few years of rewrites and director changes, the sequel to 2013's Pacific Rim is finally underway. Recently revealed to be titled Pacific Rim: Maelstrom, the science fiction blockbuster has been building a new cast with director Steven S. DeKnight at the helm. With production currently filming in Australia, the film has added a new actor to the growing cast. Spartacus fans will recognize him as Nick Tarabay, who played Ashur on the popular show.

As reported by Variety, Nick Tarabay is the latest actor to join the cast of Pacific Rim: Maelstrom. No details were given about his character, but fingers crossed that he's a cool Jaeger pilot and not just some guy who doesn't drive a giant robot. Tarabay joins a cast that's headlined by John Boyega (who wet his feet in sci-fi last year in Star Wars: The Force Awakens) as well as Scott Eastwood and Jing Tian. After a bit of back and forth, Pacific Rim creator Guillermo del Toro opted not to return to direct the sequel, but still remains attached as a producer. Steven S. DeKnight is instead handling Pacific Rim: Maelstrom.

Nick Tarabay has made his name through a variety of recurring and guest roles on several genre TV shows. Pacific Rim: Maelstrom will be his biggest film project to date. Tarabay has appeared in television shows such as Arrow, Castle, Person of Interest, and Longmire, and he will star in a recurring role in Season 2 of Syfy's The Expanse. Tarabay is arguably best known as Ashur from Starz's popular TV series Spartacus. Not so coincidentally, DeKnight was the showrunner of Spartacus, so he probably had a small hand to play in getting Tarabay into a Jaeger.

Very little is currently known about the plot of Pacific Rim: Maelstrom. We know that it centers around John Boyega's Pentecost, who is the son of Idris Elba's character from the original film. It's unknown how many years this sequel takes place after the first film, or if any characters from that film will return (though Ron Perlman is rumored to be coming back). We can only guess what will take place, but Gullermo del Toro once said he'd like to see what a Jaeger-Kaiju hybrid would look like.

The original Pacific Rim ended with Charlie Day and Rinko Kikuchi's characters sealing the Kaiju portal to Earth, so the sequel will likely deal with that in some way. It's unclear how the Kaiju will return, or if the human race will have to fight back an entirely new enemy. In the meantime, stick with CinemaBlend and we'll keep you updated as new information becomes available.

There's a lot that hasn't been revealed yet about Pacific Rim 2, but one of the bigger questions on our minds is which characters from the first movie are coming back. Late last week, Guillermo del Toro said that "a lot of the cast" from Pacific Rim will return, but a lot doesn't equal 100%. That's because Charlie Hunnam has revealed that he won't be reprising Raleigh Becket in Pacific Rim 2.

Although there was a time when Hunnam was going to be involved with Pacific Rim 2, he revealed to Yahoo Movies at Comic-Con that he was forced to drop out because of scheduling issues. He explained:

Even though he won't be appearing in Pacific Rim 2, Hunnam wished the sequel well, adding that they're on to something "very exciting" that's a "serious progression" from what moviegoers saw in 2013. Pacific Rim 2 is scheduled to begin production at the end of the year, and while Hunnam's latest public release is next year's King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, which as already finished principal photography, evidently he has another project planned for the near future that prevented him from appearing in Pacific Rim 2.

Charlie Hunnam's Raleigh Becket was one of the main players in Pacific Rim, co-piloting the Gipsy Danger Jaeger with Rinko Kikuchi's Mako Mori against the Kaiju. Becket made it out of the movie alive, so we'll have to wait and see how they explain his absence. Was he killed off screen? Did he simply retire from Pan Pacific Defense Corps? Ideally he'll get fitting closure.

Pacific Rim 2 plot details are scarce, but the sequel is expected to follow the "postwar" era of this universe after the first movie's massive conflict. The only actor who's been officially cast in Pacific Rim 2 so far is Star Wars: The Force Awakens' John Boyega, who will play the son of Idris Elba's character, Stacker Pentecost. Suicide Squad actor Scott Eastwood is also reportedly in negotiations to play a "key role." Aside from Hunnam, none of the original actors have said they're returning or not participating, but if Guillermo del Toro (who is staying on as a producer) is to be believed, there will be plenty of familiar faces back.

Directed by Steven DeKnight and written by Emily Carmichael and Kira Snyder, Pacific Rim 2 hits theaters on February 23, 2018.