While many in the geek community are getting excited for Pacific Rim 2 and the return to the bizarre world that Guillermo del Toro created for the first film, we can also start talking about the upcoming Pacific Rim animated series. According to del Toro himself, the TV show will create a bridge between the first film and its sequel.
Del Toro (via Collider) recently spoke at length on the subject of the animated series, even as he moves into pre-production on Pacific Rim 2. Here’s what he had to say about the new characters (and new kaiju) that the animated series will feature:
We are right now in the middle of talking and negotiating with a few Japanese companies for the animation. We are talking to a couple of showrunners that have a strong animation background, [we’re] casting the writers room. What’s great is it’s a great set-up and a link between the first movie and the second movie. It really enhances the mythology of the characters; we have cameos of characters from the first movie, but mostly it’s a new set of characters. New jaegers, except for one or two, [and] new kaijus. It’s really fun.
Del Toro has not really revealed much of what the series will actually entail, but he does go on to say that they’re planning for a long arc narrative for the show, rather an episodic “story of the week” structure. The idea seems to be to connect the events of Pacific Rim with Pacific Rim 2 via the planned 13 episodes of the animated series, and then to carry on with the series if it “connects.”
Movies using planned TV series to further their plot arcs is nothing new, especially since Marvel expanded its universe to the small screen with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and the upcoming Agent Carter series. Although I was not a huge fan of the first Pacific Rim, del Toro has a good narrative sensibility and will probably make the series work.
The Pacific Rim animated series is still very much in the planning stages, with Legendary Pictures seeking out an appropriate network. Given that del Toro mentions that the show will probably “skew younger,” it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing this on HBO or FX.
We’ll keep you posted when we hear more.