Meg 2: The Trench ending explained – What it means for the future of the franchise

The Meg 2: The Trench is a sequel to the Jason Statham under-sea actioner The Meg. It seeks to up the ante by giving audiences more of everything. There are more megs, more characters to loathe, more implausible scenarios, more massive sea creatures, and more storyline. Higher heights, and greater depths, so the official line goes.

You can read our review here. While here’s what Warner Bros has to say about the film via the official synopsis: 

“Dive into uncharted waters with Jason Statham and global action icon Wu Jing as they lead a daring research team on an exploratory dive into the deepest depths of the ocean. Their voyage spirals into chaos when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival. Pitted against colossal Megs and relentless environmental plunderers, our heroes must outrun, outsmart, and outswim their merciless predators in a pulse-pounding race against time.”

With The Meg 2: The Trench now in cinemas, we’re going to explain the ending. Beware, there are SPOILERS ahead… 

The Meg 2 ending explained

At the beginning of The Meg 2, it’s established that there is a megalodon that has been held in captivity since the conclusion of the events of the first film, in which the existence of these prehistoric creatures thought extinct was discovered. The species was originally disturbed when a team explored the Mariana Trench, and found that its ‘floor’ was a false bottom. It was, in fact, a thermocline – a layer between the water above, and water below. 

The Meg 2 introduces us to the Oceanic Institute, a research organisation headed up by director Jiuming Zhang, brother of Bingbing Li’s Suyin from the first film, and the man responsible for the welfare of the captive meg. We learn that Suyin died in 2021, following her father’s death, which we saw on screen in The Meg. Jiuming is also the uncle of Meiying (Shuya Sophia Cai), Suyin’s young daughter in the first film, now a teenager. 

The captive meg is a young pup that Jiuming has named Haiqi. He insists that he’s been training her and she’s been responding. He asserts that the two of them have a special bond. We see Jiuming fearlessly demonstrate this to his team, which includes Jason Statham’s Jonas Taylor. Jiuming jumps into the pool and calls Haiqi using a clicking device. One click makes her come to him, two is meant to make her turn away. However, Haiqi disobeys the two-click command – but Jiuming escapes unscathed. Another family death in Meiying’s young life would be simply too much.

Early in the film, Meiying has a moment with Haiqi. Looking at each other through thick glass, Meiying identifies with the young meg, as she says wistfully, “Do you miss your mom, big fish?” A connection between the two of them is established: both of them have lost their mothers. All of this comes into play when we reach the ending as Warner Bros look to tee up a sequel.

Discovery in the deep

During Jiuming and his team’s exploratory mission below the Mariana Trench, they discover a secret mining operation on the ocean floor. While in the ocean, they also encounter Haiqi, no longer in her enclosure. Jiuming wonders why – and gets his answer – but he’s also curious as to why she’s been behaving strangely. They stumble upon a meg breeding ground: it’s mating season!

Meanwhile, it transpires that Sienna Guillory’s Driscoli – with whom Jiuming has forged a partnership – is nefariously running the show. She’s plundering the earth’s valuable natural resources – precious metals – found in this location. One lump of rock, we’re told, is worth billions. “With a ‘b’,” confirms Jonas. Driscoli tries to ensure that they all perish to preserve her exploitative enterprise. 

However, a mercenary in her employ – Montes (Sergio Peris-Mencheta) – has caused an explosion that has ripped a hole in the thermocline, allowing the megs, and more, passage through to the other side. It’s set – Driscoli and her henchpeople will die, deservedly, at the fins (and teeth) of giant sharks. 

Pregnant pause

So now, let’s fast forward to the climax of the movie. A prolonged battle against huge amphibious lizards able to dwell on land as comfortably as in water kicks off. A massive tentacled beast joins the party, terrorising the Fun Islanders, and ensnaring Meiying in its suction-cupped grasp. There’s also a couple of giant megs to contend with. After the bad guys and beasties are all dispatched, Haiqi – who kills the tentacled creature – makes a beeline, apparently in attack mode. But Jiuming uses his clicker, and Haiqi makes an about-turn following a pod of dolphins, seemingly in pursuit, as she swims away. 

Jiuming is delighted that his bond with Haiqi appears to be intact, although Jonas Taylor is not so sure. “She went after the dolphins,” he says before raising his whiskey glass to them as they all celebrate surviving.

They speculate that Haiqi is pregnant but surmise that pregnant Haiqi is ‘another day problem’ – thereby setting up a sequel. Those breeding megs are set to result in multiple births – and an onslaught of ferocious megs attacking. However, could Haiqi and her family become allies? It would follow a similar arc to that of velociraptor Blue in Jurassic World, a trained dinosaur with a special bond with her trainer. Haiqi’s pregnancy also sets up the idea that we could ultimately see Meiying become pregnant in a future instalment as the pair’s stories continue to entwine. 

A sequel would likely introduce further as-yet-unseen creatures emerge from the newly discovered depths of the ocean, too. You can bet it will also feature Pippin – the dog from the first movie who gets put through the wringer again in this, and is rescued during The Meg’s finale by Meiying. Pippin, thankfully, survives to bark another day. 

The Meg 2: The Trench is in cinemas now, and you can read our review here.