The world of ‘Jumanji’ expands beyond the familiar rain forest that appeared in ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle‘, and in the upcoming sequel, ‘The Next Level’, Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson) and his companions will journey into exotic new locales. In previously-released photos, we have seen a desert setting. In new photos that arrive courtesy of Total Film magazine, we get a look at the cast in a frozen tundra.
What’s more, we get our first look at Nick Jonas, returning as game avatar Jefferson “Seaplane” McDonough, and Awkwafina. Her role in the movie was unknown, and her character’s name still hasn’t been divulged, but since she is shown with the other avatars, that would seem to indicate that she’s one too.
Check out this photo, depicting Jonas, Jack Black (Shelly Oberon), Karen Gillan (Ruby Roundhouse), Johnson, Awkwafina, and Kevin Hart (“Mouse” Finbar):
As we know from the first trailer, there has been a mix-up with the avatars. While Martha (Morgan Turner) returns to the body of Ruby Roundhouse, burly football player Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain), who had already suffered through one adventure as the out-of-shape Mouse, now finds himself in an even worse predicament– the form of Shelly! But what’s worse is that, at least upon their return to the game, they seem to be separated from Spencer (Alex Wolff) and Bethany (Madison Iseman). Instead, Smolder is “played” by Spencer’s grandfather Eddie (Danny DeVito), and Mouse is controlled by Eddie’s equally cantankerous friend Milo Walker (Danny Glover).
It’s possible that Spencer and Bethany have taken on the forms of “Seaplane” and Awkwafina’s character, and the picture above indicates that the gang manages to reunite in the game.
Discussing ‘The Next Level’ with Total Film, Johnson stated:
“We went to the highest mountaintops in Calgary, Alberta in Canada where it was freezing, and snow was everywhere. We dealt with hailstorms and windstorms, but it makes for a spectacular movie. And then we went to the middle of the desert. We were in the sand dunes. And then we went back to the jungles… The action is bigger, the action is more intense, [and that they have] set up multiple Jumanji universes.”
‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ remains Sony’s highest-grossing domestic movie, managing to perform extraordinarily well even in the wake of the release of ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’. ‘The Next Level’ will be facing opposition from ‘The Rise of Skywalker’. Will this franchise be able to take on ‘Star Wars’ again?
Johnson said:
“The high level of expectation and pressure… that is a blessing that I’m happy to accept.”
‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ boots up in theaters on December 13, 2019.
