New ‘Maze Runner: Scorch Trials’ Trailer Is Gruesome, Exciting And WCKD Good 

New ‘Maze Runner: Scorch Trials’ Trailer Is Gruesome, Exciting And WCKD Good

The Gladers are back, and they’re running for their lives in “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.” Judging from the footage the filmmakers showed during their panel at San Diego Comic-Con Saturday (July 11), the stars may have to soon run from fans demanding to know more about their movie, because it looks

The panel kicked off with the world premiere of a new trailer for the movie, which director Wes Ball called “the highlight of my career.”

Gladers new and old unite on stage for #SDCC’s #HallH! #ReadyForScorch pic.twitter.com/v3kmpK4bXy

— The Scorch Trials (@MazeRunnerMovie) July 12, 2015

The next movie picks up where “The Maze Runner” left off: the Gladers have escaped — or so they think. The trailer showed non-stop action and mystery: is WCKED actually good, or have the kids fallen into another trap.

Rosa Salazar, who is new to the franchise as character Brenda, said that it was the first time she’d seen the trailer, and she was blown away. She’s seen staring at Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and the Gladers in fascinated horror: “No one’s come out of the Scorch in a long time.”

Make sure you’re not eating while you watch this first new trailer either: we get a look at the mutilated bodies of those impacted by the flare, as well as bodies hanging upside down from the ceiling by their ankles and failed recruits on life support. The team escaped the maze, but can they make it in the world outside?

“These people are not who they say they are,” the Gladers are starting to realize. And who is this new older woman who’s calling the amnesiac Thomas by name?

“We’ve got a little bit of a horror movie on our hands,” said director Wes Ball, unveiling another world premiere clip.

The Cranks — a kind of zombie-plant-nightmare hybrid — are the main villain of “The Scorch Trials,” and they are terrifying, as the clip showed.

Brenda (Salazar) and Thomas (O’Brien) are walking through dark, graffitied tunnels in the tense clip, hearing the usual spooky drip-drops and creaks that we’ve come to expect from abandoned tunnels. Suddenly, Thomas turns and Brenda’s gone. “I’m over here! Look at this,” she says. “This” turns out to be an overgrown vine curling over the walls and ceiling, everywhere, that looks somehow gooey and veiny while still shriveled and dead. A scuffling turns out to be a terrified and injured rat that crawls out of a wall, but the relief doesn’t last long: a humanoid monster reaches out and snatches the rat, promptly biting its head off in a sinewy chew.

And he (it?) is not alone. Suddenly there are dozens of cranks in varying states of decay. They look wet and some of them are wearing torn clothes and missing limbs. Nothing you’d want to get too close to, though they’re certainly trying to get close to Thomas and Brenda. Before the clip cuts out, they run from the Cranks, ending up — where else — on the crumbling edge of a cliff. Cut scene.

“Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials” hits theaters September 18.

Everything You Need To Know About San Diego Comic-Con 2015