Credit: Universal Studios
The upcoming Jurassic World sequel just killed off a main character.
For the first time in Jurassic history, a lead protagonist has been killed off in one of four upcoming Jurassic sequels.
While we’ve seen plenty of good guys meet grisly fates throughout the film series (Robert Muldoon in Jurassic Park, Eddie Carr in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Udesky in Jurassic Park III, and Simon Masrani in Jurassic World), we’ve never seen one of those characters live to die another day. In other words, no returning character has been killed off — until now.
In the Jurassic universe, being a legacy character usually means you’re protected with plot armor. How many times have Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) come face to face with several prehistoric predators, only to inexplicably survive?
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The same can be said about Jurassic‘s younger characters. Throughout the series, children have proven invincible against dinosaurs: Lex Murphy (Arianna Richards), Tim Murphy (Joe Mazzello), Kelly Malcolm (Vanessa Lee Chester), Eric Kirby (Trevor Morgan), Zach Mitchell (Nick Robinson), Gray Mitchell (Ty Simpkins), and Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon).
But what’s particularly shocking about this new Jurassic World death is that the character in question fits into both of these categories — they’re a legacy character and a kid. As revealed in the recent trailer for the upcoming 3D-animated Netflix series Jurassic World: Chaos Theory (2024), teen vlogger Brooklynn (Jenna Ortega) from the previous series, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous (2020 — 2022), has officially been killed off.
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While Brooklynn’s death is seemingly confirmed in the trailer (this is a kids’ show, after all, and one that revolves around those invincible Jurassic kids), Deadlinepreviously confirmed that superstar Jenna Ortega (Scream, Wednesday) had indeed exited the Jurassic franchise, throwing fuel to the fire that her character really is dead in the upcoming series.
Now, in an exclusive interview with IGN, showrunners Scott Kreamer and Aaron Hammersley have confirmed the worst; that Brooklynn really is dead. The reason? Just as we all suspected, Ortega’s hectic schedule made it “impossible” for her to reprise her role.
Here’s what Scott Kreamer said:
“Once the show concept started forming and given where we left off at the end of Camp Cretaceous, it was apparent that Brooklynn would be the member of the ‘Nublar Six’ who’d be poking around and asking questions that some shadowy figures wouldn’t want answered. We had originally hoped Jenna [Ortega] would be able to return to the role since we do see Brooklynn on video and in flashback during the season, but her busy schedule becoming a global mega-star made it impossible.”
“Brooklynn’s dead!” Hammersley joked while responding to criticism around Camp Cretaceous “not putting its protagonists in true mortal danger.”
With all that said, it still makes very little sense to kill Brooklynn off instead of just recasting her. With this being an animated series, it would have been very easy to find a new actress to take over from Ortega. But perhaps the star’s exit gave the creators the perfect segue into making things a bit darker for “The Nublar Six” this time around. Sorry, make that five.
But maybe the showrunners are simply pulling the wool over our eyes. In another upcoming Jurassic sequel, a character presumed dead in the original 1993 film has been brought back to life.
Check out the latest trailer below, per Jurassic World YouTube:
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Here’s the official synopsis for Chaos Theory:
Set six years after the events at Camp Cretaceous, members of “The Nublar Six” are struggling to find their footing off the islands, navigating a world now filled with dinosaurs and people who want to hurt them.
Reunited in the wake of a tragedy, the group comes together only to find themselves on the run and catapulted into a global adventure to unravel a conspiracy that threatens dinosaur and humankind alike and finally learn the truth about what happened to one of their own.
Jurassic World: Chaos Theorystars Paul-Mikél Williams (Darius Bowman), Sean Giambrone (Ben Pincus), Kausar Mohammed (Yasmina “Yaz” Fadoula), Darren Barnet (Kenji Kon), and Raini Rodriguez (Sammy Gutierrez).
It streams on Netflix on May 24. Camp Cretaceous seasons 1 — 5 and the interactive experience Hidden Adventureare now streaming onNetflix.
There are currently four Jurassic Park/Jurassic World sequels in development, including Chaos Theory and Jurassic World 4 (2025).
Will you be watching Jurassic World: Chaos Theory? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!
