Turns out, we’re not canceling the apocalypse just yet—there’s more Pacific Rim incoming. Except, it’s not exactly Pacific Rim 3, a second sequel film in the kaiju franchise. The universe is instead expanding in a different way than we anticipated.
Guillermo del Torro’s monster sci-fi film has had a strong fan base since its release in 2013, spanning a franchise that included a sequel—Pacific Rim: Uprising—and a two-season anime-style series Pacific Rim: The Black. For six years now, since the release of Uprising in 2018, fans have been clamoring for some news on a third film in the franchise, one that director Steven DeKnight had expressed interest in back in 2017, and again in 2022 as a crossover with the MonsterVerse movies.
Can you imagine? We could’ve gotten a crossover with Godzilla! However, the making of the third film was heavily dependent on the success and box office collections of the second, which as we know, didn’t live up to expectations. So does that mean this trilogy won’t ever be complete?
Well, not exactly. You see, the franchise’s biggest heroes and villains played by Charlie Hunnam (Raleigh Becket), John Boyega (Jake Pentecost), Burn Gorman (Hermann Gottlieb) ,and Charlie Day (Dr. Newton “Newt” Geiszler/The Precursors) will return, not for Pacific Rim 3 the movie but for a graphic novel series that will be set up as the third part in the franchise.
Legendary Entertainment, which produces the franchise, and is known for comic book expansions of some of its titles, has announced Pacific Rim: Final Breach, a three-volume graphic novel series that will bring back some of our favourite characters to save the day once again, pitting them against the formidable kaiju and their alien overlords, the Precursors. It will be written by Joshua Fialkov (Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender) with art by EJ Su (Transformers).
The graphic novel series is up for pre-sale on Kickstarter, where it is incredibly close to achieving its goal. On the Legendary website, an official synopsis for the series states,
“Humanity faces its ultimate threat as the Precursors unleash a new wave of devastating Kaiju assaults on Earth in Pacific Rim: Final Breach! After years of failed attempts to enter the Anteverse, the trans-dimensional realm from which all Kaiju emerge, Jake Pentecost and Hermann Gottlieb conceive a daring last-ditch plan whose success hinges on finding legendary Jaeger pilot Raleigh Becket—the only human being to ever survive behind enemy lines. Living in exile off the grid, Raleigh must choose assured annihilation or confront his past and team up with a new generation to pilot the brand-new Gipsy Destroyer, the last Jaeger standing. Tensions escalate and old wounds reopen as the PPDC finally crosses the breach to confront what lies on the other side… It’s time for humanity to meet its true enemy and cancel the apocalypse once and for all.”
The project’s page on Kickstarter also includes a glimpse of what the novel will look like. Fans will be quick to make the connection between the test pages and the post-credits scene from Pacific Rim: Uprising, where Jake comes to speak to Newt, who warns him that the Precursors won’t back down, to which Jake confidently assures him that this time, humanity will be ready for war, and on the offensive. The graphic novel series might just pick up from this very point!
Honestly, this is a cool development for fans of the franchise who’ve been waiting a long time for some closure after that scene between Jake and Newt. But here’s something even more to hope for. The comics could just reignite interest in reviving the movies and perhaps we might even get the MonsterVerse crossover we’ve been teased with, since both franchises are under the Legendary banner.
Earlier in the year, during the Rebel Moon promotions, Charlie Hunnam had stated that he wouldn’t mind returning for another Pacific Rim film if Guillermo del Torro was directing it and wanted him. The actor, who played Raleigh Becket in the first film had mentioned how he was in talks for the sequel until the director changed and his dates were no longer available. Hunnam’s character will now return for the graphic novel series, with the legendary Jaeger pilot living in exile until Jake and Hermann find him and convince him to fight one again.
While the graphic novel series might make it look like this is it for the franchise, we could always keep our fingers crossed for a resurrection.
*Let’s out a kaiju-sized prayer*
Published: Aug 13, 2024 05:59 pm