Netflix’s Pacific Rim: The Black continues the monster franchise with an animated sequel, but this entry in the Pacific Rim timeline raises questions on how to watch the Pacific Rim movies in order. The original Pacific Rim movie directed by Guillermo del Toro kicked off the war between Kaiju and Jaegers with a story set in 2025. Next, Pacific Rim: Uprising jumped forward a decade. Three years after Pacific Rim: Uprising, the franchise was able to continue thanks to Netflix with the animated Pacific Rim: The Black. This series follows Taylor and Hayley Travis as they travel across Kaiju-infested Australia in search of their parents.
Season 1 expanded the mythology of the Pacific Rim franchise in some fascinating ways with minimal movie connections, and Pacific Rim: The Black season 2’s Kaiju messiah storyline took even further horrifying liberties. Pacific Rim: The Black works well on its own without needing to pinpoint where it falls in the Pacific Rim order of movies, and the show actually refrains from signaling how it fits into the timeline. However, there are context clues that hint when Pacific Rim: The Black takes place.
How To Watch The Pacific Rim Movies In Order (By Release Date & Chronologically)
- Pacific Rim (2013)
- Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)
The release order of the Pacific Rim films matches the chronological order of the movies’ stories. The first Pacific Rim states in the opening voice-over that humanity’s first contact with the Kaiju occurred in 2013. It was that first attack that led to the creation of the Jaegers and the eventual defeat of the Kaiju in 2025. Pacific Rim: Uprising takes place in 2035, 10 years later. It’s in this year that Dr. “Newt” Geiszler is discovered to have orchestrated the return of the Kaiju and the Precursors to wipe out life on Earth.
While the threat is eventually defeated and once again humanity triumphs over the Jaegers, Pacific Rim: Uprising ends with a warning. Newt lets it be known that the Precursors will return despite the Jaeger pilots’ efforts, which sets up the events that are shown in Pacific Rim: The Black.
When Does Pacific Rim: The Black Take Place?
There are many clues that point to Pacific Rim: The Black coming after Pacific Rim: Uprising in the Pacific Rim timeline. For starters, it is established in the movie canon that there were no Kaiju attacks between Pacific Rim and its sequel, so this immediately rules out the chance of it fitting in there somehow. The appearance of Herc Hansen through a flashback to Operation Blackout pushes back how early in the timeline it can take place, too. The show also repeatedly mentions the Uprising Wars, which is what the events of the sequel are known as in-universe. The Travis siblings even discover several destroyed jaegers who fought in that war. All of this further supports Pacific Rim: The Black taking place after Pacific Rim: Uprising and representing the farthest point in the Pacific Rim timeline that the franchise has gone.
Despite these references, nailing down an exact year for Pacific Rim: The Black‘s events is more difficult. Taylor and Hayley go to find their parents five years after they were last seen right before Operation Blackout commenced. The show doesn’t clarify if Operation Blackout is tied to the Uprising Wars at all or if that event happens well after the attack featured in Pacific Rim: Uprising. With the movie’s events falling in 2035, the earliest Pacific Rim: The Black can take place is 2040. However, it is equally possible that Operation Blackout occurred decades later. Since there won’t be any more seasons after Pacific Rim: The Black season 2’s ending, the exact setting of the show could remain a lingering question.
Pacific Rim: The Black Is Over – Here’s What That Means For The Pacific Rim Timeline
Since season 2 was Pacific Rim: The Black‘s last, the show may be as far as the Pacific Rim timeline ever gets. While a third film was planned at one point and could have potentially linked the original franchise to the animated series, Pacific Rim 3 looks unlikely. The only hope for Pacific Rim continuing at this point would be its rumored crossover event with the Godzilla/Kong MonsterVerse, but that’s also looking doubtful since Pacific Rim 3 was supposed to set it up. What Pacific Rim: The Black‘s conclusion ultimately means, then, is that the Pacific Rim timeline (and the franchise) might be over. With Kaiju Messiahs arriving on the scene, perhaps the series has reached peak robot ridiculousness, and it’s the right time to power down.
