Greenland 2 ending explained: Director breaks down [SPOILERS] death and pitches a wild sequel

Director Ric Roman Waugh unpacks his movie's final moments — and pitches a wild sequel

Rejoice, Gerard Butler fans (Butlerians?), the latest action movie from everyone’s favorite grizzled action star has arrived. Greenland 2: Migration, a direct sequel to 2020’s apocalyptic odyssey Greenland, is in theaters now, answering a question that fans of the original have been asking for five long years: What happens after that giant meteor smashes into the Earth?

The answer is: The situation is pretty terrible, but better than you might think. Unlike in 2021’s Don’t Look Up, this meteor doesn’t smash through the planet like a hot ball of lava through butter. Instead, it merely leaves a city-sized crater somewhere in the French countryside, while smaller, broken-off pieces of the meteor continue to orbit the Earth, occasionally plummeting down to terrorize what’s left of humanity a decade after impact.

That’s where Greenland 2 begins, as John Garrity (Butler) and his family set out from their bunker on the eponymous arctic island as increasing seismic activity renders it uninhabitable. There’s good news, though. The survivors have a theory that the conditions of the meteor crater could make it the perfect place to relaunch human civilization, so they set out on a cross-continental journey to reach it. Along the way, the Garritys face plenty of life-threatening challenges in a post-apocalyptic Europe that’s been rendered unrecognizable by the meteor strike and the changes to the planet it caused: rising sea levels, unpredictable weather, governmental collapse, you know the drill.

While the fun of Greenland 2 is watching Butler navigate these obstacles, which range from crossing a drained and collapsing English Channel to fending off murderous roadside ravagers, the movie culminates in some pretty big twists that may leave you asking a whole new set of questions. We put a couple of those to director, Ric Roman Waugh, who offered his best possible explanations — and then pitched a Star Wars-style saga of Greenland sequels.

[Ed. note: Spoilers below for Greenland 2: Migration.]

At the end of Greenland 2, our heroes reach the crater and discover their theory was correct. The meteor crater has blossomed in the years since the impact. A wide shot of that crater shows the first lush greenery Garrity has seen in years, along with what looks like active farms and a small town.

It’s an optimistic ending to a relatively dark film, but also one that’s rooted in actual science. Scientists have speculated that after the Chicxulub meteor (the one that wiped out the dinosaurs) crashed to Earth, it also served as a catalyst for new life.

“There is a scientific theory that the first place Mother Nature rebounded was actually in the crater off the Yucatan, which is where the real impact happened,” Waugh says. “The reason is because it created its own microclimate, and a lot of the sediments had obviously been pulverized.”

While it’s true that organic life recovered relatively quickly in the Chicxulub crater, at least according to scientific research, the reason why is still up for debate. Regardless, it’s interesting to hear the scientific inspiration for Greenland 2’s sci-fi premise.

While the Garrity family’s arrival at the fictional crater is a jubilant moment, it’s also tragic. After getting shot in an earlier skirmish, John finally succumbs to his wound and dies while staring out at this new cradle of life.

What does this mean for the future of the franchise? Can the Greenland movies continue without Butler? Perhaps John’s son Nathan (Jojo Rabbit star and The Long Walk ensemble member Roman Griffin Davis) can take over as protagonist. Waugh isn’t ready to discount any ideas for a third movie at this point.

“Nothing is ever done, but nothing's ever concrete,” he says. “I think that the people that are involved with it, including myself, are really precious with it.”

As for plot specifics, Waugh does have a few ideas.

“Whether it took place hundreds of years later, or it's Nathan's story, it would have to be something that didn't feel derivative or just trying to bolt on another picture,” he says. “How do we evolve the story to where you not only can watch two movies, but you could watch three movies all together and get the saga? That’s why we like Star Wars. We like these stories where you can watch people through generations of time and so forth. So never say never, but we don't know what that story would be yet.”

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Greenland 2: Migration is in theaters now.