John Boyega might now have his drift-compatible partner: Pacific Rim 2 has officially cast Australian actress Cailee Spaeny as its female lead.
Spaeny, a relative newcomer, was revealed by Variety earlier today. There’s no details on who she’ll play, other than the fact that she’ll play opposite Boyega (who is playing the son of Stacker Pentecost, the child of Idris Elba’s character from the first film) as the movie’s female lead.
That inevitably implies that Rinko Kikuchi’s Mako Mori, the lead of the original film, is either not in Pacific Rim 2 or plays a reduced role to give way to a younger generation of giant robot pilots. Her co-star Charlie Hunnam recently confirmed that the script for the sequel was heavily reworked after scheduling issues caused him to drop out of the project. Whether Kikuchi was written out entirely or still has a part to play remains to be seen.
Pacific Rim 2 is scheduled to hit US theatres 23 February 2018.