The sequel to one of this year’s most well-received YA adaptations was only given the go-ahead at the beginning of last week. However, it feels as if production on Maze Runner: Scorch Trials has been in motion for much longer, due to the amount of casting announcements which have rolled in since then. Today, we’ve another new addition to what’s turning out to be a killer cast, as THR reports that Breaking Bad‘s Giancarlo Esposito has now signed onto the movie.
He’ll be joining the returning cast from the first outing (Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario and Thomas Brodie-Sangster), who will all be reprising their roles for the second instalment. The Scorch Trials will pick up where the original left off, as The Gladers – the main group of kids – are now on the run in a ravaged world of disease and decay. Esposito will play “Jorge, a leader of a group of survivors known as the Cranks that encounter the group of teens led by O’Brien.”
I’m most familiar with Esposito’s role as Gus Fring in Breaking Bad, that ruthless drug kingpin who operated out of a chicken restaurant. He made Fring, a thoroughly deplorable character, so damn watchable that I’m excited to see how he’ll fit into Scorch.
Esposito won’t be the only new face to The Maze Runner franchise – we told you there’ve been developments. If you were hoping he’d be revisiting villainous terrain, you’re in for a letdown, as the film’s big bad has already been cast, with Game Of Thrones‘ Aiden Gillen snagging the part of Janson, aka Rat-Man. There have also been two additions to the younger ensemble: Rosa Salazar as the female lead, and Mud‘s Jacob Lofland.
Maze Runner: Scorch Trials is set for release on September 18th, 2015.