The Ending Of Independence Day: Resurgence Explained

Twenty years after Independence Day showed mankind banding together to whoop alien butt, Independence Day: Resurgence brings our would-be invaders back for Round Two. This time around, they tried to drill through the earth and their Queen attempted to personally destroy Area 51, but mankind fought back with the help of an alien friend. After the dust settled, Resurgence left plenty of loose ends about the characters and where their story might go from here. Let's dive into what movie's final moments might mean for Earth, but be warned: there are SPOILERS AHEAD.

One of the biggest surprises of Resurgence is the introduction of the alien sphere, the last member of a species that came to warn Earth about the return of the invading aliens. The Earth Space Defense didn't give it a warm welcome, blasting its ship down when it came to introduce itself on the moon, and we're glad it didn't hold a grudge. In fact, the alien sphere was so impressed with how mankind fought back that it wanted Earth to lead a resistance force for its home planet.

After Earth's forces destroyed the Queen, Dr. Okun revealed the sphere was planning to take mankind into the furthest reaches of space to fight alongside other refugee aliens to finally take out the invaders' home world. Expect to see the likes of Liam Hemsworth and Maika Monroe using Halo-like gear and weaponry to take out the aliens on their home planet if an Independence Day 3 ever arrives.

Just in case any of you forgot, the alien mothership was boring a hole into the center of the earth, hoping to crack our core and siphon out the heat for fuel. Luckily, the aliens were defeated just before they could reach the core. We're no experts, but leaving a hole in the ocean that leads down to the Earth's core would have some dire ramifications, especially if the hole fills up with ocean water. Sure, a lot of that water would evaporate in the heat, but ocean water draining into the crust of the Earth could result in a tsunami or two.

Say what you will about Julius Levinson, David's dad and the author of How I Saved the World, but he's got a knack for making his way out of scrapes. Julius should have been claimed by the sea when the mothership's landing caused a tsunami, sending his boat hurtling towards the shore. Not only did he survive, but he was found by a gang of roving orphans in a station wagon. Julius took the kids under his wing and went on to rescue an even bigger group of children in a school bus—and through the magic of convenient scriptwriting, they all made it to Area 51 just in time to take part in the final battle against the Queen. Once the battle was won, Julius told the kids that they could stay with him, becoming a foster dad to a small army of children. Maybe he'll we'll see him write a follow-up book called How I Saved a Bus Full of Kids in the sequel.

William Fichtner's General Joshua Adams served in the Earth Space Defense and helped protect the planet from extraterrestrial threats. Thanks to the events of Resurgence and the second attack on Earth, he also became the next President of the United States. It'll now be up to him to rebuild the country and the ESD, which are tasks that might feature some overlap. How will the United States change now that it's being led by a man who also protects the planet? Could we see America's military presence grow, with the focus now on sending troops out to fight the intergalactic battle and even invading the alien homeworld to finish them once and for all? If a sequel is indeed coming down the chute, then we're willing to bet that we haven't seen the last of President Adams and his role in the fight.

Not to gloss over our victory, but Earth got smacked around and suffered another near-apocalypse. Most of the technological advances made in the 20 years since the first alien attack were wiped out, including a series of cannons circling the planet's orbit as a line of defense. Countless cities, and their highly recognizable monuments and landmarks, were reduced to rubble. The destruction left thousands of people displaced, with only ruins to call home. After 20 years of building up awesome technology, the planet is once again left starting from scratch. Here's hoping that the combination of the alien sphere's technology and Dr. Okun's zeal will get Earth fighting fit again in no time.

The Earth Space Defense program had space stations set up as far as Saturn, acting as first-defense systems to warn us if aliens were coming back to mess with our planet. Because the alien mothership destroyed those stations, the ESD will need to build them up again. With the help of the alien sphere's technology, they'll probably erect even better defenses—and maybe open the possibility that ID3 could focus on a set of characters stationed on one of the other planets.