Released in 1993 to critical acclaim, Jurassic Park was the founding movie of what became a smash franchise. The most accurate dinosaur movie of its timeJurassic Park inspired a generation of kids to pursue paleontology and still continues to do so with the newer Jurassic World franchise. But for those only familiar with the original films, Dr. Wu's sudden turn to villainy starting in the first Jurassic World movie felt like it came out of nowhere.

As it turns out, the reason for his villainous flip is right there in Jurassic Park. Prior to Jurassic World, Dr. Wu had only one scene in the original trilogy -- the "hatching baby raptor" sequence in Jurassic Park. Still,  Jurassic Park is a tightly-constructed film. There's no excess, no fat, and every single aspect says something, whether it be about character, plot or overarching theme -- and Dr. Wu's single appearance does all three.

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dr wu performing a researching no-no

When Dr. Wu makes his introduction, the focus is on his clipboard. He is writing in pencil, and he's busy erasing something. Not only did he make a mistake in his recording, but that mistake also suggests that there's something to hide about the park, a human error that eventually will come back to bite the characters literally. The moment also highlights some big issues in his data collection: no matter what, all data needs to be recorded so that others can test the process and see if it can or cannot be replicated. Data needs to be copied down in pen, not pencil, and if a mistake is made, even if it's an accidental typo, the error should be crossed out before the researcher continues documenting the process. Erasing anything is hiding data, and hiding data means something suspect is going on with the experimental process.

Next, Dr. Wu is entirely unconcerned with reporting the raptor's hatching to Hammond, despite Hammond saying that he wanted to be informed. This is disobeying a direct order either through intent or negligence, and subtly points to Nedry's treachery later. In addition, the way Wu hopes the eggs will hatch before he has to leave for the boat indicates more concern for his own timeline rather than nature's.

Lastly, Wu strangely delivers information to the others. For example, Dr. Malcolm points out how cavalierly Dr. Wu reports on the repressed chromosome: they "simply deny them that option." When Dr. Wu summarizes Dr. Malcolm's theorizing, he is yet again erasing something, which subtly states that Dr. Wu is the one in the wrong. When Dr. Grant asks him what species the hatchling is, Dr. Wu has to pause and think about it before telling him. On its own, the scene paints him as competent on a surface level but riddled with errors as he plays with forces beyond his comprehension, highlighting how Jurassic Park and its technology will eventually fail.

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Dr. Wu in Jurassic World

Jurassic World takes all these negative traits and cranks them up to eleven. Now instead of not reporting to his superiors through negligence, it's through malice. Wu's smug attitude is more blatant than it was in Jurassic Park. He hides his experimentations in a secret lab instead of trying to doctor his data in the open. He more blatantly plays above station with creations such as the Indominous Rex and the Indoraptor. He escapes the results of his scientific missteps in Jurassic Park, and he's been spirited away before his mad science comes back to bite him in every Jurassic World film to date.

Dr. Wu went from a one-shot background character to a recurring villain, and it's thanks to the groundwork laid in Jurassic Park that he was able to do so. Jurassic Park is a finely-crafted film that leaves plenty of information about every character, making it easy for films like Jurassic World to plumb its depths for characterization. Dr. Wu's behavior in Jurassic World may be startling, but according to Jurassic Park, it's not out of character.

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