Speaking from SDCC 2016, Guillermo del Toro assured that most of the original cast from the first Pacific Rim film would be returning for the sequel. However, del Toro stopped short of naming any specific characters or actors out of respect for Steven DeKnight who's replacing him in the director's chair. "As a producer I learned not to declare anything about a movie I’m not directing. I can tell you this — a lot of the cast from the first movie is coming back. I leave those communications to Steven DeKnight. He’s not only a director, but he’s actually a guy I respect and admire and it’s his movie.”
The most interesting intel provided by del Toro was the fact that the sequel would not be a prequel as first rumored. Pacific Rim 2 will be set after the events of the first film, in a post-war society. "It’s easy to expand cause you have not only the Jaeger-human universe and the Kaiju-alien universe, but (also) the fact that you are now able to play in a very history-filled universe. We started the war with the Kaiju, we won the war with the Kaiju and now it’s a postwar of those two universes.”
Pacific Rim 2 is slated to arrive in US theaters on February 23, 2018.