Guillermo del Toro Assigns Pacific Rim 2 To Daredevil Showrunner

Steven S. DeKnight, the showrunner behind Netflix’s Daredevil Season 1, will direct the upcoming Pacific Rim sequel.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim was an absolute blast, and perhaps the most fun I’ve had watching robots fight monsters in years. So it’s more than a little exciting to witness the slow kaiju-like crawl of Pacific Rim: Maelstrom to a 2017 release date. And while del Toro won’t be directing the sequel, there’s one hell of a potential upside: Daredevil‘s Steven S. DeKnight will take charge of the project when filming starts in November.

DeKnight was previously the showrunner behind Netflix’s Daredevil, and a major contributor to its success. (He’s the reason Kingpin was slowly introduced over three episodes instead of right away, for example.) He also created the TV series Spartacus, and wrote and produced shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Dollhouse. Pacific Rim: Maelstrom will be his theatrical debut as a director.

Obviously giant robots fighting monsters is an exceptionally distinct field from dark superhero tales, but del Toro himself was confident enough to make the selection and announce it on Twitter. And considering Maelstrom will be a fresh take on Pacific Rim‘s concept, perhaps DeKnight has some new ideas which might prove a strong fit. All the same, I’ll be looking forward to the results when Pacific Rim: Maelstrom hits theaters on April 17, 2017.