Gladers Face New Obstacles in ‘Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials’

Sandra Miska

The Gladers are back and this time the stakes are higher than ever when “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials,” the sequel to last year’s wildly successful dystopian science fiction film “The Maze Runner,” hits theaters this week. This time around, hero Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) is faced with navigating his way through scorched earth, taking down an oppressive organization, and, perhaps his biggest challenge yet, a love triangle.

“The Scorch Trials” is the next chapter in “The Maze Runner” series. When the saga’s hero Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) was last onscreen, he found himself in a large grassy area called the Glade with no memory of how he got there. There, he teamed up with a group of boys called the Gladers to find their way out of the complex maze surrounding the glade, the prize being their freedom. Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), the sole female Glader, soon joined them and became Thomas’s love interest. The Gladers eventually completed their mission, only to learn that their ordeal was orchestrated by a mysterious scientific organization known as W.C.K.D.

In this sequel, Thomas and his fellow Gladers are given an even greater challenge, to investigate W.C.K.D. They travel to Scorch, a desolate piece of earth with plenty of obstacles. This time around the Gladers are joined by resistance fighters, and together they work to uncover the powerful organization’s shocking plans.

In addition to all this action and suspense, audiences can also look forward to some romance in “The Scorch Trials,” as Scorch dweller Brenda (Rosa Salazar) proves to be a rival to Teresa for Thomas’s affections.

In a recent interview with Popsugar, Dylan O’Brien explained why starring in a Blockbuster franchise isn’t as overwhelming as one would think.

“The first one was a lot more under the radar, and that’s the way I always prefer it to be too. I really believe that the success that the movie has experienced is all of our hard work put into it from every angle and everyone’s passion for it. I’ve always been really proud of that, and for that reason, it still feels really intimate. …I think the only reason we caught some people’s attention was because it’s cool. We made it really special, I think. I hope. I still feel like we’re under the radar.”

“The Maze Runner” films are best on the best-selling young adult fiction books by author James Dashner. The Scorch Trials is the second novel in the series. A film adaptation of the third book, “The Death Cure,” is set to be released in February 2017.

“Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials” opens nationwide Sept. 18.