If you’ve seen the promotional website tied to Independence Day: Resurgence, then you know what happens to Will Smith’s Steve Hiller. The actor knows, too, and he opened up about it in a recent interview. Be wary of spoilers moving forward.
On initially trying to return for the sequel, he told Yahoo Movies. “I was working on Suicide Squad during that time. [Independence Day director] Roland [Emmerich] and I had talked about it. The trailer looks really cool. I’m going to be sitting around with tears in my eyes when that one comes out…It was terrible when I found out my character died.”
Warof1996.com details the events between Independence Day and Resurgence. One of them is the death of Col. Hiller, who died while test piloting the first alien hybrid fighter plane.
Emmerich previously spoke to Cinema Blend about Smith’s decision to leave the sequel, saying, “In the very beginning, I wanted to work with him and he was excited to be in it, but then after a while he was tired of sequels, and he did another science-fiction film, which was his father-son story [After Earth], so he opted out.”
Resurgence picks up years after the first film when humanity is using recovered alien technology to prepare for another potential invasion. When another one does descend, a new group of men and women must rise to defend Earth. The film opens in theaters on Jun. 24.
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