What is the Alita: Battle Angel 2 release date? The long, complicated journey to bring Alita: Battle Angel to the big screen took over 16 years. When the movie was finally released in 2019, it marked the completion of a long-standing passion project for director James Cameron, who had harbored hopes of bringing the manga to life since 2003.
The first Alita: Battle Angel set up a sequel and has an army of devoted fans desperate to see more from their favorite Hunter-Warrior. But filmmaking is not a quick or simple process, so when will we see a follow-up to one of the best action movies of 2019?
New movies hit delays in pre-production due to the 2023 Writers Strike and Actors Strike, but we’ve gathered all the information on the Alita: Battle Angel 2 release date, and much more, to keep you in the loop. What’s more, James Cameron confirmed two Alita sequels. That’s right, plural.
Alita: Battle Angel 2 release date speculation
A summer 2025 release is when we’re expecting the Alita: Battle Angel sequel, at the earliest.
Producer Jon Landau has said the movie is in active development. While pre-production hasn’t started, he claims that it’s still on the minds of himself, director Robert Rodriguez, and star Rosa Salazar. Rodriguez also told The Wrap, “[James] and I always talk about how we’d love to do another Alita.” Considering the first was one of his best movies, we’re on board.
Cameron might have his hands full with the upcoming slate of Avatar movies, but we think that what he says goes. So if he wants more Alita movies, then it’s very likely they’ll see the light of day. Plus, he let slip that there are multiple movies in the works, so if he’s confident, we are too.
That all sounds good to us, but production has not started and strikes in 2023 prevented writers from being hired, if indeed Disney was seeking any out. Because of all of that, it’ll be a few years before a complete, VFX-heavy Alita sequel is on screens.
Who will be in the Alita: Battle Angel 2 cast?
The only certainty for the Alita: Battle Angel 2 cast is Rosa Salazar, the actor who plays Alita. She has spoken about her love of the role and would be essential to a sequel.
“I will fight to make Alita 2 happen until the end of time,” Salazar told The Digital Fix in an interview for her movie Undone. “Thanks to performance capture technology, I could do this movie whenever. I could perform this sequel in five years, but I don’t think it should take that long. I think that it’s a story that should continue.”
We imagine Edward Norton, who was revealed to be the nefarious Nova at the end of the first movie, would also be back for a sequel to fulfill his evil plans.
Of the remaining supporting cast, Mahershala Ali is the least likely to return, as his character Vector died in the first movie. Jennifer Connolly, Ed Skrein, and Jackie Earle Haley would likely return, and if our assumptions about Hugo are correct, Keenan Johnson could be back in some way, shape, or form, too.
The expected Alita: Battle Angel 2 cast list:
- Rosa Salazar as Alita
- Christoph Waltz as Dr. Dyson Ido
- Edward Norton as Nova
- Jennifer Connolly as Chiren
- Ed Skrein as Zapan
- Jackie Earle Harley as Grewishka
- Keenan Johnson as Hugo
What’s Alita: Battle Angel 2 about?
We’re expecting the sequel to focus on Alita’s travel to Zalem to take on the evil Nova.
Watching down on Iron City from his throne, Nova is the big bad guy of the Alita universe, and although he has his puppets to do his bidding, he’s the villain Alita is desperate to get her hands on.
In the climax of the first movie, Alita saw the young man she had fallen in love with, Hugo, shredded to pieces by a serrated defense ring. Hugo, in his attempt to reach the promised land of Zalem, was cut down by Nova. This is, of course, after Alita had been forced to take Hugo’s head and turn him into a cyborg, too.
Relationships sure can be messy, can’t they? Whether Alita will simply avenge Hugo’s death, or go in search of his broken body, remains to be seen. After all, she has fixed him once, so the odds are she would want to do so again. With the skills of her adoptive parents of sorts, Ido and Dr. Chiren, it would certainly be possible to revive Hugo as a robotic hybrid once more.
Is there an Alita: Battle Angel 2 trailer?
Early 2025 is likely the earliest we could see an Alita 2 trailer, but a sequel has not been officially announced yet.
If we’re to continue with our summer 2025 guesstimate (which, to be clear, is very much a guess), a trailer would likely be released in Spring 2025.
Where can I watch Alita: Battle Angel 2?
Alita: Battle Angel 2 will likely be a theatrical exclusive before eventually streaming on Disney Plus.
More recently, Disney has been following Universal’s strategy of a longer window between theatrical exhibitions and streaming premieres, meaning it would take a while for it to hit streaming. While you can’t watch Alita 2 right now, we do have a list of everything new on Disney Plus.
That’s all the speculation and intel we can offer at the moment on any plans for Alita 2. As soon as there is any movement in Iron City, we will keep you updated.
In the meantime, why not check out our guides to other thrill-seeking sequels like the Aquaman 2 release date and The Marvels? We’ve also picked the MCU timeline to bring you a definitive article explaining how to watch all the Marvel movies in order, and we have a guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies too.
Or, you can swap franchises completely and see what’s going on with the Avatar 3 release date. There’s also the best science fiction movies to keep us busy.