Spartacus and Daredevil Showrunner Will Direct Pacific Rim Sequel

After facing several production hurdles, the follow-up to Guillermo Del Toro’s much-loved sci-fi action movie Pacific Rim has nailed down its new director, Deadline reports.

Steven DeKnight, who many might know as the showrunner for Daredevil’s first season and Starz Sparticus series, has been confirmed as the sequel’s new director.

There were serious questions about whether Del Toro would get studio backing for a second film, but the director remained firm in the notion that Pacific Rim 2 would be happening. But fan anxiety increased again after Del Toro announced his departure from the director’s chair—an odd move, considering the story was so close to him.

However, in recent months, Del Toro has become more vocal about his desire to do smaller scale projects, one of which is his recent attachment to the screen version of Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark. It’s that desire that effectively removes the Pacific Rim sequel from his personal production equation.

In addition to a director replacement, the first film’s co-writer Travis Beachman will also not be returning. The script will instead be penned by the Doctor Strange screenwriter Jon Spaights. Although there have been several behind the scenes changes for the highly anticipated sequel, the first film’s stars Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi are expected to return, while Del Toro will produce. And presumably, the giant monsters will also be back in some format.