Jake's adoptive sister and Japanese Senator Mako Mori persuades him to return to PPDC as an instructor to avoid prison, with Amara as his recruit.

Upon removing its reactor, they find that Obsidian Fury was controlled not by humans, but by a Kaiju's secondary brain, which testing shows was grown on Earth.

When the drones reach their respective locations, their piloting operations are hijacked by cloned Kaiju brains secretly mounted onboard.

While attempting to disable the drones, Dr. Hermann Gottlieb discovers that Newt, whose mind is possessed by the Precursors due to the scientists' drift with Kaiju brains, is responsible for the attack when he commands the Kaiju-Jaeger hybrids to open multiple breaches across the Pacific Rim.

The team realizes that the Precursors' true goal is to detonate Mount Fuji with the Kaijus' blood which will cause every volcano lining the Ring of Fire to erupt, releasing volcanic matter into the atmosphere and wiping out all life on Earth.

Although the Jaegers, including Gipsy Avenger, initially repel the three Kaiju, Newt merges them into a "Mega-Kaiju" using robotic parasites from one of Liwen's factories.

[27] After the sale of Legendary to Chinese Wanda Group for $3.5 billion,[28] observers noted an increased likelihood of Pacific Rim 2's production being revitalized because the first film was so successful in China.

[32] Cast announcements began in June 2016, with John Boyega accepting a role,[9][33] and news that Scott Eastwood was in talks appearing later that month.

[44] Production designer Stefan Dechant tried to push "the look and the feel" of the Jaegers, stating that while in the original film they resembled tanks, the new generation of robots tried to be more like a fighter jet, adding more speed and strength and combining them into one.

[ISBN missing] Pacific Rim Uprising premiered on March 21, 2018, at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

[5] In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Midnight Sun, Sherlock Gnomes, Unsane, and Paul, Apostle of Christ, and was projected to gross $22–29 million from 3,703 theaters in its opening weekend.

[5] Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press called the film "cheer-at-the-screen fun" and awarded it 3.5 out of 4 stars, lauding Boyega's performance and his chemistry with Spaeny, while also commending DeKnight for using daylight instead of the rainy night settings of del Toro.

"[64] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, saying: "The climactic battle drags on forever and looks like a high-tech update of a monster movie clash of the titans from a half-century ago.

Even the sight of the residents of Tokyo scrambling for their lives as a giant lizard monster stomps through the city serves only as a reminder we're sitting through a glorified B-movie with nothing new to say.

"[65] David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a "C−", calling it a "generic and diverting sequel that corrects some of the original's biggest mistakes while also highlighting some of its more eccentric charms.

"[66] Cary Darling of the Houston Chronicle gave it 1.5 out of 5 stars and called it the worst film of 2018 so far, being especially critical of its bland premise and pandering attempt at international marketability.

Darling concluded, "Pacific Rim Uprising is a lot like the city-crunching monsters it stars: big, loud and as dull-witted as Homer Simpson roused from a medically induced coma.

Club called the film an "impersonal sequel," stating "simply put, it lacks its predecessor's curiosity about its world—its fascination with colorful backdrops and machines.

Del Toro's movie [...] had an idealistic vision for its anime-influenced hobby-store pursuits [...] Pacific Rim Uprising offers only its spare parts.

"[68] Similarly, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle noted that "DeKnight doesn't attempt to invest his monsters with majesty, the way Guillermo del Toro did in the previous film.

[76] On November 8, 2018, Netflix announced Pacific Rim: The Black, an original anime series that expands upon the story and universe of the two live-action movies.