Independence Day 2 adds William Fichtner

William Fichtner has joined Roland Emmerich’s alien invasion sequel in a leading role. After dedicating a large portion of his career to solid supporting turns, he’s now stepping into the spotlight for Independence Day 2.

Deadline reports that Fichtner will play an Army General and has signed on to reprise the role in a further two sequels. Seeing as he clearly won’t perish in ID2, he’s expected to command a bigger part in those follow-ups. Of course, he’ll have to slot that in alongside his commitment to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, the totally tubular sequel in which he’s back to terrorise those sewer-dwellers as their nemesis Shredder.

In any case, Fichtner is set to join a gallery of familiar faces on ID2 - Jeff Goldblum, Vivica A. Fox, Bill Pullman - alongside a new cast line-up that includes Liam Hemsworth, Maika Monroe, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Jessie Usher. The story picks up twenty years after the events of the original and will no doubt involve those pesky invaders attempting to snuff out mankind.

Independence Day 2 opens on June 24, 2016.

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Gem Seddon

Gem Seddon is GamesRadar+'s west coast Entertainment News Reporter, working to keep all of you updated on all of the latest and greatest movies and shows on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Outside of entertainment journalism, Gem can frequently be found writing about the alternative health and wellness industry, and obsessing over all things Aliens and Terminator on Twitter.