'Independence Day 2' Cast, Release Date, Spoilers & Rumors: What Happened to Will Smith's Colonel Steven Hiller?

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Disclaimer: For those who don't want to know what happens to Will Smith's character in the upcoming film "Independence Day Resurgence," please stop reading and check out the film's first trailer instead.

IGN reports that according to the official website of "Independence Day Resurgence," a timeline reveals a story from 2007 with a headline that reads "World Mourns Col. Hillier". The copy reads, "While test piloting the ESD's first alien hybrid fighter, an unknown malfunction causes the untimely death of Col. Hiller. Hiller's valor in the War of '96 made him a beloved global icon whose selfless assault against the alien mothership lead directly to the enemy's defeat. He is survived by his wife Jasmine and his son Dylan."

This is how the film has decided to explain Smith's absence from the sequel, in which he is the only major character missing. Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, and Vivica A. Fox are all returning to reprise their roles, together with new characters played by Liam Hemsworth, Jessie Usher, and Maika Monroe, among others. Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin are also coming back to direct and produce, respectively. Emmerich and Dean Devlin, who both wrote the first film, were also the screenwriters for the sequel, along with Carter Blanchard.

In June, Emmerich spoke to Cinemablend to explain Smith's absence from the film, saying, "In the very beginning, I wanted to work with him and he was excited to be in it but then after a while he was tired of sequels, and he did another science fiction film, which was his father-son story, so he opted out."

That science fiction father-son film Emmerich was referring to was M. Night Shyamalan's "After Earth", in which Smith starred with his son, Jaden back in 2013.

Nonetheless, Emmerich promised at the time that the film will address the "disappearance" of Colonel Steven Hiller in a "very respectful way," and that the character "is still part of this universe".

In another interview with Cinemablend, the director spoke of how he came up with the idea of a sequel for "Independence Day." He said that while he thinks sequels are silly, "I think everybody has a defining moment or a defining film who works in this business. It's the one I think I will be remembered for. I kind of think it would be great to do."

"In Independence Day, it was about a king who leads his country into a fight against an outside invader. I didn't want to make that movie during the Bush years," the director explained. "It was not thought that George W. Bush would have made a great king. Now with Obama, it's another story."

So it's official: we have Obama to thank for "Independence Day Resurgence," which opens on June 24, 2016.