Unless you've been hiding under a protective dome for the last decade or so, you are no doubt aware that dystopian science-fiction stories are having a moment. As major studios continue to invest in the genre, so do young moviegoers, flocking to theatres on opening weekends to swoon for heroes in whose hands so often lies the fate of the future world.
The Maze Runner series is an exercise in precisely that, and we're excited to see what befalls Thomas and his renegade Gladers in the forthcoming chapters. Here at Exclaim!, we have a few ideas of our own about what might happen in the wake of the first film's event. Below, find some of our predictions, mixed with a healthy dash of selfish hope. (Spoiler alert!)
Exclaim!'s Predictions for Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
1. Rescued?
Busting out of the Glade better have some payoff, especially when it happens to be surrounded by a colossal industrial labyrinth. As Thomas leads the Gladers through the Maze and battles a wave of killing machines (Grievers), a number of lives are lost. When they're finally met by an organized and heavily armed group of rescuers, it seems all might be well after all — but we think that's a little too convenient. We predict these seeming white knights are somehow connected to the oppression.
2. K-I-S-S-I-N-G
In the first Maze Runner film, Thomas and Theresa's chemistry begins sitting in a tree that she was chased up by a group of teenage boys that populate the Glade; they've had very little experience with the fairer sex, and the terrified young girl had to fend them off with a machete from a tree house. The apparent chemistry between Thomas and Theresa is barely a flicker at this point — we predict the steam-o-meter will rise beyond the current handholding between these two in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.
3. Flaring Up
In The Maze Runner, there's a nasty bug circulating, known to its characters as the flare. As we know it, it was the result of an experiment gone wrong, and after a massive solar flare, it was released from captivity and into the world. It turns its victims into bloodthirsty killers, but we're not so sure it was an accident. We anticipate a deeper connection to this outbreak — one that will really pull back the curtain — in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.
4. Turning the Paige
We love Patricia Clarkson, who delivers a solid performance as Ava Paige, the Chancellor of WCKD (World Catastrophe Killzone Department). But, as we see at the end of Maze Runner, the rescuers infiltrate her stronghold. Ava Paige dies, appearing to take one for the team, and that's a shame — her screen presence will be missed. But you don't sign up talent like that simply to have them stricken from the roster. Our hope is that we've been misled, and we get some more of her seasoned chops in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials will land in theatres on September 18. With Thomas and his team finally out of the Maze, the massive cover-ups will continue, raising the question of whether they will discover the truth.
The Maze Runner series is an exercise in precisely that, and we're excited to see what befalls Thomas and his renegade Gladers in the forthcoming chapters. Here at Exclaim!, we have a few ideas of our own about what might happen in the wake of the first film's event. Below, find some of our predictions, mixed with a healthy dash of selfish hope. (Spoiler alert!)
Exclaim!'s Predictions for Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
1. Rescued?
Busting out of the Glade better have some payoff, especially when it happens to be surrounded by a colossal industrial labyrinth. As Thomas leads the Gladers through the Maze and battles a wave of killing machines (Grievers), a number of lives are lost. When they're finally met by an organized and heavily armed group of rescuers, it seems all might be well after all — but we think that's a little too convenient. We predict these seeming white knights are somehow connected to the oppression.
2. K-I-S-S-I-N-G
In the first Maze Runner film, Thomas and Theresa's chemistry begins sitting in a tree that she was chased up by a group of teenage boys that populate the Glade; they've had very little experience with the fairer sex, and the terrified young girl had to fend them off with a machete from a tree house. The apparent chemistry between Thomas and Theresa is barely a flicker at this point — we predict the steam-o-meter will rise beyond the current handholding between these two in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.
3. Flaring Up
In The Maze Runner, there's a nasty bug circulating, known to its characters as the flare. As we know it, it was the result of an experiment gone wrong, and after a massive solar flare, it was released from captivity and into the world. It turns its victims into bloodthirsty killers, but we're not so sure it was an accident. We anticipate a deeper connection to this outbreak — one that will really pull back the curtain — in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.
4. Turning the Paige
We love Patricia Clarkson, who delivers a solid performance as Ava Paige, the Chancellor of WCKD (World Catastrophe Killzone Department). But, as we see at the end of Maze Runner, the rescuers infiltrate her stronghold. Ava Paige dies, appearing to take one for the team, and that's a shame — her screen presence will be missed. But you don't sign up talent like that simply to have them stricken from the roster. Our hope is that we've been misled, and we get some more of her seasoned chops in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials will land in theatres on September 18. With Thomas and his team finally out of the Maze, the massive cover-ups will continue, raising the question of whether they will discover the truth.
