The “Jurassic World Rebirth” Official Trailer Gives Major Skull Island Vibes

Universal has released the first official trailer for the upcoming sci-fi action movie Jurassic World Rebirth, and I don’t know how I feel about what’s apparently going to happen in the upcoming dinosaur-centric film.

With the Jurassic World trilogy concluding in 2022 and featuring the OG cast members from Jurassic Park, fans were looking forward to seeing how Universal would decide to continue the long-running IP. Jurassic World Dominion ended with humans having to accept that living alongside dinosaurs was their new reality. It’s also a major point in the currently running Jurassic World Chaos Theory animated series on Netflix.

However, it seems like all of that doesn’t really matter because Jurassic World Rebirth will serve as a kind of soft reboot. Set five years after the events of JW Dominion, it’s revealed that most of Earth’s environment has become inhospitable for the genetically engineered dinos, and the surviving species are isolated in remote tropical regions. 

I guess when the iconic Ian Malcolm from JP said that life finds a way, he didn’t necessarily mean it was going the way you would expect it to. In a sense, Mother Nature is aware that dinosaurs shouldn’t exist in the current world. And regardless of human intervention and any possible evolution that might have occurred in the dinosaurs, Mother Nature will always have the last say. The dinos just aren’t supposed to be around anymore. So, having them continue to live (even if on borrowed time) in regions that are close to where they used to live millions of years ago instead of integrating with human civilization… yeah, I can accept such an explanation.

Anyway, the narrative is about a special covert operation team being sent to one of the islands to retrieve samples from the three biggest dinosaurs because their DNA holds the key to saving human lives. Of course, the targeted dino trio covers land, water, and the sky.

The team is led by two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali’s character Duncan Kincaid. Scarlett Johansson portrays Zora Bennett, an expert on the team. And openly queer actor Jonathan Bailey plays Dr. Henry Loomis, a paleontologist who is tasked with getting the samples. Bailey getting a lead role in the globally popular JP/JW franchise is a big deal for queer representation. 

In a similar sense, Ali being one of the leads is another major step for the long-running franchise which has focused on white characters across the live-action JP/JW films. It’s kind of weird when you think about how both trilogies didn’t consider adding a PoC character in the main adult cast when making such a change wouldn’t have altered how any of the leads would have been portrayed onscreen.

The cast also includes Rupert Friend as Martin Krebs, a pharmaceutical representative. Some of the fans have already begun to ship Martin and Henry together. I don’t blame them. The trailer has a scene where Martin helps Henry put on his bag and Bailey can create chemistry with a freaking lamp. Now whether these two men are supposed to be queer characters or not, I have no idea.

Another group of characters includes a family stranded on the island after they get attacked by some type of aquatic dinos. Very Jurassic Park 3 vibes. We have Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Reuben Delgado, Luna Blaise as Reuben’s eldest daughter, David Iacono as Reuben’s son, and Audrina Miranda as Reuben’s youngest daughter.

From what I can tell after watching the trailer and reading some of the promo materials, the movie will recreate the T-rex river raft scene from the original Jurassic Park novel by having the Reuben family fight for survival. That particular scene is a much-anticipated one in the fandom. So, let’s see how director Gareth Edwards brings it to life on the big screen.

Now, having the T-rex river raft scene as well as the sequence where the characters (on a boat) are attacked by a group of dinos in the same movie might be overkill, but oh well. Again, let’s see how it all works out.

Talking about more big things, while the island is infested with a variety of dinosaurs, the big bad of Jurassic World Rebirth will be a genetically engineered hybrid monstrosity. Now, genetically modified hybrid dinos aren’t a new thing in the Jurassic World trilogy. However, those dinos still kind of looked like dinosaurs. But the giant monster in JW Rebirth appears more alien than a traditional dinosaur, and I don’t know how I feel about such an addition.

As for why such a creature exists in the first place, well, it’s because the island the team visits is home to yet another abandoned research facility. According to the trailer, the dinosaurs the team will encounter were deemed too dangerous for the original park. The worst of the worst were left on the island.

The trailer has a shot of a two-headed velociraptor in a vertical tank. There’s also a shot of a scientist yelling for help after being locked in with the alien-looking hybrid. I’m kind of glad (even though I’m assuming here) that we will get flashback sequences in the film instead of being told why the facility was abandoned and how the new creature came to be. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more than one of these Franken-dinos running around the island.  

Not only that, but the overall feel of the location is giving Skull Island, complete with a ruined temple the team has to enter to retrieve one of the samples. I was kind of expecting King Kong to appear at the end of the trailer. Frankly, I would have taken a primate-dino hybrid resembling a giant gorilla or something instead of whatever the current alien-looking monster is.

And yes, some in the fandom are talking about how the upcoming movie resembles Alien and Jaws.

As for the dinosaurs that appear in the trailer, we have the Titanosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, Dilophosaurus, some kind of Raptor, Spinosaurus (going back to the creature’s supposed aquatic nature), Mosasaurus, and the Quetzalcoatlus (or something close to it).

Jurassic World Rebirth comes across as more of an action-packed standalone spin-off of the JP/JW franchise instead of a starting point for the new trilogy.

Let’s see how it’s received when it roars into theatres come July 2, 2025.

What are your thoughts about the Jurassic World Rebirth trailer?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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