The filmmakers behind Pacific Rim Uprising, which takes place a decade after the events of the 2013 original, revealed to IGN why only select characters from the first film returned for the sequel. During two separate, recent phone interviews, producer-star John Boyega and director Steven DeKnight each spoke about why Rinko Kikuchi's Mako Mori was the most important character to bring back for the sequel, which sees Boyega play Jake Pentecost, the son of Idris Elba's late, great Stacker Pentecost. "Mako was a no-brainer.