Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has a new genetically-engineered dinosaur – the Indoraptor – but is what makes this new horror so terrifying human DNA? The Jurassic Park franchise is predicated on John Hammond’s goal to “spare no expense,” so it makes sense that each sequel would push boundaries and explore new avenues to heighten the already-inconceivable notion of living dinosaurs. Unfortunately, the scientists in this series never seem to learn limits.

Since the very first Jurassic Park, the franchise has showcased the evolution of dinosaur hybrids. In the first Jurassic Park, it involved dinosaur and frog DNA; in The Lost World, we saw more physical proof of “life finding a way” with gender mutation and breeding; in Jurassic Park III, audiences get a look at InGen’s abandoned compound, where illegal cloning was taking place; and in Jurassic World, the first official genetically modified hybrid dinosaur not based on a real creature – the Indominus Rex – was introduced.

So, where does a franchise that has reached its fifth entry go from here? How else can the series further explore the dangers of genetic meddling? In the hands of scientists with unlimited resources, the sky is the limit (though in this case, the limit might be humanity itself).


Before Jurassic World, a direct sequel Jurassic Park 4 was being conceived with screenwriters William Monahan and John Sayles. Both celebrated screenwriters (Monahan had just won an Oscar for The Departed around this time), their concept ultimately turned out to be a major departure from the original trilogy, delving into some daring—if not deranged—territory.

In the first half of the script, there were all the trappings of a traditional Jurassic Park experience: the return of John Hammond, revisiting Isla Nublar, dinosaurs escaping from containment. However, the plot takes a decidedly unexpected turn once a mysterious scientific facility reveals that they’ve successfully spliced together dinosaur and human DNA. The result? Dinosaurs walking on their hind legs, equipped with oversized machine guns. When Amblin Entertainment saw the concept art of these dinosaurs, it reportedly led to them shutting down the project altogether, thus forcing a new creative team to take a crack at the sequel. That said, certain details from the Monahan/Sayles script weren’t completely left on the cutting room floor.

For example, Jurassic World‘s Owen Grady (played by Chris Pratt) may as well be a carbon copy of Jurassic Park 4′s main character, Nick Harris. He’s an ex-soldier tasked with training a group of specialized dinosaurs (only in this case, they’re not velociraptors, but hybrids). Also in that early draft is an active volcano threatening to destroy the island, something that is – albeit with differing motivations – return in Fallen Kingdom. There’s also hints of a secret scientific facility on the island, which again mirrors an underground base from Jurassic Park 4 tasked with creating a new hybrid species of dinosaur. The script may be dead, but its ideas live on.

In Jurassic World, the Indominous Rex was never just a theme park attraction. It was designed to boost sales at the Jurassic World theme park, but its head creator Dr. Henry Wu made an under-the-table deal with InGen’s Security Division commander Vic Hoskins for military purposes. So, from the get-go, it was little more than a weaponized monster. In Fallen Kingdom, these morsels of information will undoubtedly come to light. Wu is last seen leaving the island with some hybrid dinosaur embryos, and before his death, Hoskins acknowledges the benefit of a smaller I-Rex—which naturally leads to the creation of the Indoraptor.

This is nothing new. The finer details are, sure, but the franchise’s overall theme has remained consistent: humans playing God, and failing. No matter the level of meddling, the results are always the same; dinosaurs go out of control and those unlucky to get in the way pay the price for scientific meddling. Despite how innovative and brilliant they all might be, they never learn. By Jurassic World, Wu is little more than Dr. Frankenstein, splicing together the “best” bits and pieces of various dinosaurs and animals to create what ultimately turn out to be abominable killing machines. What’s worse is that, despite recurring repercussions on massively violent scales, he persists, showing no signs of restraint.

With those pieces in place – and it known there are a lot of spoilers hidden by the trailers – there’s definitely the grounding to suggest that the Indoraptor is a little more “familiar”.


Visually-speaking, the Indoraptor is more or less just a larger Velociraptor. Its hide is darker, its teeth are sharper, and its arms are longer. But the human characteristics are present – just not as superficially as they were in the Jurassic Park 4 concept art – and the first glimpses of this actually show up first with the Indominous Rex. This dino monster was, along with various extinct species, made from several spliced modern creatures, including but not exclusive to cuttlefish, tree frogs, and a pit viper snake. Could human have been in there?

In Jurassic World, Owen mentions that the I-Rex isn’t just killing for food, but for sport. That’s still intriguing; killer whales and weasels, for example, are also known to hunt for sport from time to time, but this trait is predominately linked to human behavior. Of course, you can blame this on the fact that the I-Rex was simply too unaware of its surroundings – being raised in captivity would have influenced its aggression – but this behavior was specifically underlined so as to make it a point that filmmakers clearly wanted audiences to keep this unique quality in mind. Another feature to consider is that the I-Rex has opposable thumbs, a feature missing in most dinosaurs, aside from the Iguanodon (and the Indoraptor). Now, opposable thumbs aren’t unique only to humans (they’re present in pandas, possums, some frogs, etc.), but this is still a physical feature that has been specifically emphasized.

If we had potential human – or, at least, primate – elements in the I-Rex, it would presumably be true of the Indoraptor too. Indeed, it too has opposable thumbs. More than that, it has some anthropomorphized behaviors from what’s been shown so far. The Super Bowl trailer opened with a little girl in distress as the new dinosaur stalked her bedroom, during which time it portrayal a calculating, methodical demeanor. Now, there have been times in the previous films where dinosaurs have shown signs of being covert (see: the raptors vs. Muldoon in the first Jurassic Park), but this lacks typical monster signs.

Something is different, and with there clearly a big secret at the heart of Fallen Kingdom (the Jurassic World 2 synopsis talks about a big conspiracy), human DNA would be one killer explainer.

Dinosaurs aren’t scary anymore. In the first Jurassic Park, they were new, and it’s human nature to have reservations about the unknown. By Jurassic World, however, the franchise – and the scientists within the franchise – were well aware that audiences needed something new again, something disturbing. As fun and frolicking as this series may be, it’s a creature feature through and through. That’s how we got the I-Rex, with Wu making clear that he wasn’t tasked with creating something realistic, but something with “more teeth.”

With director J.A. Bayona at the helm, the horror aspects are going to be pushed up, and he’s going to need a method to do that. And there are not too many options; human DNA splicing is one of the most logical next steps. That’s no evidence, but if it is introduced in Fallen Kingdom, audiences can count on Bayona to make the transition into this sort of territory feel seamless and grounded.

The Indoraptor can’t just be a smaller, sleeker version of the I-Rex, it needs to push boundaries. It needs to expand on the scope, elevation, and horror; and if the central theme behind this franchise is how humans never learn their lesson when attempting to play God, then escalation to a level this disturbing seems fitting. Strip away morals and restraint – which has been the franchise’s status quo from the very beginning – and the concept of human/dino hybrids feels like a natural narrative evolution for Jurassic World. Whether or not audiences are willing to suspend their disbelief to this degree is the big question.

KEY RELEASE DATES
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom release date: Jun 22, 2018