'Independence Day' Sequel: Everything You Need To Know About The Cast And Story

There have been a ton of casting announcements over the last month for Roland Emmerich's upcoming Independence Day sequel, some of which we have missed reporting on. With the news today that William Fichtner is joining the ensemble which is currently filming, I thought now is a good time to do a round up of the Independence Day sequel cast, giving you all of the details on who is involved, returning, not returning, and what roles they may have in the upcoming sequel.

The Plot: Independence Day sequel picks up roughly 20 years after the original when reinforcements of the original alien race arrive near Earth after finally receiving a distress call. Anew generation of fighters must gather to battle the next wave of extraterrestrials. FilmDivider has previously stated:

Because of some conceit with faster than light travel for the aliens, the new storyline will essentially pit the same generation of invaders against the next generation of Earth's defence. That's a good part of the premise, from the idea that humanity has assimilated alien technology in the last two decades, to the fact that the new, young characters, including members of the military, have all grown up in a post-invasion world.

The Creatives Involved: Roland Emmerich directs once again, and wrote the first draft of the script with Dean Devlin. Since then, James A. Woods, Nicolas Wright, and James Vanderbilt have all had a hand in the screenplay as well. Emmerich and Devlin are additionally producing with Harald Kloser.

The Release Date: Filming began on April 20, 2015. Independence Day 2 opens June 24, 2016, just in time for the actual Independence Day, and almost exactly 20 years after the opening of the original Independence Day. Emmerich has said that the movies will be called ID Forever Part I and ID Forever Part II, although the studio has not confirmed those titles.

William Fichtner (Colonel Willie Sharp in Armageddon, The Bank Manager in The Dark Knight, Eric Stacks in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) will be playing a lead role in the upcoming film according to Deadline. The well-known character actor will play "a top general in that film and take an even larger role in the two films that will follow."Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games) is playing the lead role of the film, Jake Morrison, a "hotshot pilot". We know very little about Hemsworth's character other than he is set to play former first daughter Patricia Whitmore's love interest and Pullman's son-in-law, the key role in the new cast.Jessie Usher (When the Game Stands Tall, Survivor's Remorse) will play Dylan Dubrow, the stepson of Will Smith's character Marine pilot Steven Hiller. It was originally rumored that actor Michael B. Jordan was considered for this role in the film. This is supposedly a key role in the new film. Emmerich's producing partner Harald Kloser noticed Jessie in between sets of pushups at the gym and gave him the audition.Travis Tope (Boardwalk Empire) will play a new role, a character named Charlie. No word on how this character fits in the new story but the filmmakers have said that a gay character would be prominently featured, and this is likely the role.Maika Monroe (It Follows, The Guest) will take over Mae Whitman's role as the former first daughter Patricia Whitmore and the love interest of Liam Hemsworth's character Jake Morrison.

With President Whitmore out of the oval office, there is a new commander in chief – Sela Ward (The Day After Tomorrow, Gone Girl) has been cast as the new President of the United States, President Lanford, successor to Bill Pullman's character in the original film.

UK actor Deobia Oparei (Game of Thrones) will play Dikembe, the Oxford-educated son of an African warlord.

Charlotte Gainsbourg (Nymphomaniac) has been cast in an unknown role.Joey King (OZ: The Great and Powerful, White House Down) is also joining the cast in an unspecified role.

8-year-old actress Mckenna Grace (The Young and the Restless) will play Daisy, but nothing else is known about the character.

Find out who is returning and not returning for the Independence Day sequel from the original Independence Day film after the jump.

Jeff Goldblum reprises his role as David Levinson, the brilliant computer expert who helped President Thomas Whitmore beat back the invading alien forces in the first film. We have seen a photo of Goldblum on the set of the film. We have heard David will have a new love interest in this film, but we're not sure which older female character will serve this role, possibly Sela Ward?Brent Spiner (Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation) will be reprising his role as Dr. Okun from Independence Day. Producer Devlin has implied the character is merely in a coma when he appears to have been killed by an alien in the original film. We don't know what the character will be doing in the new film, but its easy to assume the unkempt and excitable scientist is still in charge of extraterrestrial research somewhere, if not still at Area 51.Judd Hirsch will be reprising his role as Julius Levinson, the father of Jeff Goldblum's character David Levinson.Vivica A. Fox is returning to reprise her role as Jasmine Dubrow, who was the wife of Will Smith's character Steven Hiller in the original film. With Smith not set to return, we don't know exactly what kind of part her character may play in the upcoming story but considering Jessie Usher is playing her son, you could assume there will be a mother/son story at play here. I'm also assuming her character has moved on from her former job as a stripper.Bill Pullman will reprise his rile as the former President of the United States Whitmore. He is no longer the commander of the free world, but it seems like he has some next generation money in the game as his daughter and son-in-law play key figures in the new plot.

Despite the fact that both Emmerich and Devlin had publicly expressed a desire for Will Smith, who played Marine pilot Steven Hiller, to return for the sequels, the actor was reluctant to return after Fox supposedly refused to provide the $50 million salary demanded by Smith for the two sequels. The film was rewritten to not include Smith's character.

Mae Whitman (Parenthood) wasn't even on the short list for the sequel to reprise her role as the former first daughter Patricia Whitmore. This move angered fans of the actress and even earning an angry tweet from her Scott Pilgrim co-star Anna Kendrick.