Brent Spiner & Joey King Join Independence Day 2

Director Roland Emmerich (Stargate) tweeted that Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Brent Spiner and The Dark Knight Rises actress Joey King were joining the cast of the Independence Day sequel.

Spiner’s announcement is a bit shocking as the actor appeared in the first Independence Day, but he was killed off. In the 1996 film, Spiner played Dr. Okun, the wacky Area 51 scientist that shows the President all of the information the United States has been gathering on these alien creatures. He dies during a chaotic autopsy scene and his corpse is used like a ventriloquist’s doll.

So, how could he be back? One, they could do flashbacks to when Dr. Okun first encountered the aliens. Second, Spiner has hinted that his character was in a coma and not dead as most had suspected.

Independence Day 2 will be released in theaters June 24, 2016.