After their adventures in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Spencer Gilpin, Anthony "Fridge" Johnson, Martha Kaply, and Bethany Walker plan to meet up over Christmas break to hang out after being apart for their first semester of college. Spencer, feeling despondent that his life is not as glamorous as his friends', enters Jumanji, wanting to feel like his avatar again: the strong, courageous Dr. Smolder Bravestone.

On visiting his house when Spencer fails to show up as planned, his friends are shocked to realize he entered the game. They follow him, knowing he cannot get out by himself. Unfortunately, Spencer's grandfather Eddie and Eddie's estranged friend Milo, who are upstairs, are also sucked into the game. As Bethany is left behind, she turns to Alex Vreeke for help.

Martha once again becomes the avatar Ruby Roundhouse, but Fridge becomes Bethany's old avatar, Professor Sheldon Oberon, while Eddie and Milo become Dr. Smolder Bravestone and Franklin "Mouse" Finbar. Expecting the same gameplay, the group is surprised by a new plot: Jumanji is suffering from a drought. To end the game, they must recover a magical necklace called the Falcon Jewel, stolen by warlord Jurgen the Brutal. After escaping a stampede of ostriches, they meet up with Spencer at a bazaar, who also has a new avatar: a skilled female thief called Ming Fleetfoot.

The group struggles adjusting to their avatars and have trouble with Milo not being able to relay information quickly, and Eddie's volatile carelessness costing them several lives. They reunite with Alex as his avatar Jefferson "Seaplane" McDonough, along with Bethany, who has become a black stallion named Cyclone. Eddie learns that Milo is terminally ill and wants to make amends before he dies, which leads them to reconcile.

The group finds a river with magical water that allows them to switch avatars. This lets each of them return to their original avatars while Eddie and Milo are given Ming and Cyclone, respectively. When Eddie and Milo are captured by Jurgen's soldiers, the friends split up to rescue their teammates and get the Falcon Heart. They fight off Jurgen and his men and steal back the gem. Cyclone, who turns into a winged horse, flies up to the sky with Eddie, who shows the necklace to the sky, so the sunlight touches it as instructed, yelling Jumanji's name, and therefore completing the game.

Milo, who appreciates his new, flying form, opts to stay in the game. The rest return to the real world, and Spencer reconciles with his friends.

In a mid-credits, Spencer's mother brings a repairman into the house, who sees the broken video game console and inadvertently triggers the game. Simultaneously, a herd of ostriches appears outside Nora's restaurant, and Spencer and the others are surprised to see creatures from the world of Jumanji loose in the real world.

• Dwayne Johnson as Dr. Xander "Smolder" Bravestone: A player character and Eddie's avatar initially, later becoming Spencer's avatar again. He takes the form of a strong, confident archaeologist and explorer who now has the weakness of evading Switchblade.
• Jack Black as Professor Sheldon "Shelly" Oberon: A player character and Fridge's new avatar. Martha briefly controls the avatar, and he later once again becomes Bethany's. Professor Oberon takes the form of an overweight, male expert in many scientific fields including cartography and geometry who now has the weakness of sun, sand, and heat.
• Kevin Hart as Franklin "Mouse" Finbar: A player character, Milo's avatar initially, who later becomes Fridge's avatar once again. Finbar takes the form of a diminutive zoologist and weapons carrier with some talent in animal linguistics as a new ability.
• Karen Gillan as Ruby Roundhouse: A player character and Martha's avatar, who takes the form of a scantily-clad commando who knows martial arts and gains a mastery over nunchuks as a new ability. She is briefly controlled by Fridge.
• Nick Jonas as Jefferson "Seaplane" McDonough: A player character, and Alex's avatar once again, who takes the form of an aircraft pilot.
• Awkwafina as Ming Fleetfoot: A new Jumanji player character and Spencer's new avatar, who later becomes Eddie's avatar. Fleetfoot takes the form of a thief with skills in burglary, pickpocketing, and lock picking as well as a weakness to pollen.
• Rory McCann as Jurgen the Brutal, a violent Jumanjian warlord who is responsible for the murders of Bravestone's parents
• Danny DeVito as Edward "Eddie" Gilpin: Spencer's grandfather, who resents Milo for selling the diner they co-owned.
• Danny Glover as Milo Walker: Eddie's estranged friend, whose falling out resulted from him selling their diner.
• Alex Wolff as Spencer Gilpin: A new college student struggling to adjust to his new life and Martha's boyfriend.
• Morgan Turner as Martha Kaply: A new college student and Spencer's girlfriend.
• Ser'Darius Blain as Anthony "Fridge" Johnson: A new college student and friend of Spencer, Martha, and Bethany.
• Madison Iseman as Bethany Walker: A new college student, one of the four friends who experienced the previous Jumanji, now a travel influencer.

Read more on Wikipedia

Following the release of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Sony began developing the sequel. Kasdan returned to direct the sequel, with Rosenberg and Pinkner again writing the script and Johnson, Hart, Black, and Gillan reprising their roles. Black confirmed the new film as being a fourth Jumanji film because of Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005), serving as the second film and sharing continuity with the other films of the series, with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle serving as the third film. According to Kasdan the film used the working title J-19. The film's title was revealed as Jumanji: The Next Level.

Awkwafina, Danny DeVito, and Danny Glover joined the film in January 2019. Alex Wolff, Ser'Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner, and Nick Jonas were hired to reprise their roles in February. In March, Dania Ramirez joined the cast of the film. That same month, Rhys Darby was confirmed to reprise his role in the film. Colin Hanks joined the cast in May to reprise his role.

Filming began on January 21, 2019, and took place in the Blackhall Studios near Atlanta, New Mexico, Calgary, Fortress Mountain Resort, Algodones Dunes in California, and Hawaii before wrapping on May 11. Johnson made a reported $23.5 million for his role.