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First photos from 'Pacific Rim: Maelstrom' set feature Star Wars actor

Rick Marshall
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Cameras are rolling on Pacific Rim: Maelstrom, the sequel to 2013’s giant monsters vs. robots spectacle, and the first photos from the Australia set of the film have now found their way online.

Featured front and center in many of the photos is Star Wars: The Force Awakens actor John Boyega, who joined the cast of the sequel as a member of the next generation of robot pilots tasked with protecting humanity from monstrous invaders.

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The photos aren’t official, studio-sanctioned shots of the film, and were posted to Twitter by French fan news feed John Boyega France. They feature Boyega looking relatively disheveled as he navigates a ramshackle tent village with a strange device in his hand.

#PHOTOS #NEWS : Premières images de John Boyega dans Pacific Rim 2 : Mealstrom !!!! pic.twitter.com/krJVWiSUWE

— John Boyega France (@JohnBoyegaFR) November 21, 2016

In Maelstrom, Boyega plays the son of Stacker Pentecost, the leader of the force fighting giant robots, who was played by Idris Elba (Luther) in the first film. Boyega is joined in the cast by Scott Eastwood (Gran Torino), Cailee Spaeny, Jing Tian (Special ID), and Levi Meaden (Aftermath). Ron Perlman is rumored to be reprising his role as black market kaiju organ dealer Hannibal Chau.

Wesley Wong (Transformers: Age of Extinction) and Zhang Jin (The Grandmaster, Ip Man 3) were also added to the cast recently.

Peut-on prendre une petite minute admirer John sur ces nouvelles images #bts de Pacific Rim 2 x) pic.twitter.com/QM3mbyOhdF

— John Boyega France (@JohnBoyegaFR) November 21, 2016

More photos from the set of the film can be seen at the website for The Telegraph.

Directed by Daredevil and Spartacus showrunner Steven S. DeKnight, Pacific Rim: Maelstrom is based on a script by Jurassic World co-writer Derek Connolly.

The original Pacific Rim, which was directed by Guillermo del Toro, chronicled humanity’s battle against monstrous creatures — called kaiju — that emerged from mysterious, interdimensional portals in the ocean. In order to fight the monsters, humans create gigantic robots called Jaeger that can be maneuvered by a pair of mentally linked pilots.

Pacific Rim earned just $101 million domestically, but $411 million worldwide.

Pacific Rim: Maelstrom is scheduled to hit U.S. theaters February 23, 2018.

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Rick Marshall
Rick Marshall
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
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