The new trailer for Jurassic World: Dominion has shown many faces both new and old, but it's the new dinosaurs that are the most intriguing. Despite having less than 15 minutes of screentime in the original Jurassic Park, most people are honestly here for the dinosaurs, and seeing new ones is always exciting, even if it does bring up the question of where exactly they come from. It gets even better when the dinosaurs are modern depictions or never-before-seen dinosaurs in the franchise, like the massive beast coming out of the woods to menace the extended cast in the last moments of Dominion's trailer.
Casual dinosaur fans would be forgiven for not knowing what this dinosaur is. Giganotosaurus, meaning "giant southern lizard," wasn't discovered until 1995, and as is the case with most dinosaurs, a completely intact skeleton has yet to be found. Discovered in southern Argentina, Giganotosaurus has the impressive distinction of being even bigger than the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex, with only Spinosaurus outsizing it as far as carnivorous dinosaurs are concerned.
The mystery therapod can be identified as Giganotosaurus even from only a few seconds of screentime thanks to the distinctive shape of its skull -- narrower and more triangular compared to Tyrannosaurus, thanks to being in an entirely different family of therapods. It also has stronger arms than Tyrannosaurus, with three claws instead of two, similar to the related Allosaurus also shown in the trailer. But what really cements it is Dr. Malcolm's question of "why did they have to go bigger?" Giganotosaurus has one major claim to fame -- and that's outsizing Tyrannosaurus.
The presence of Giganotosaurus makes for some interesting questions regarding the franchise, starting with the main question of where it came from. Since it seems to be a surprise to the cast, it could be a new dinosaur made by InGen to add to the chaos of free-range dinosaurs. And while Giganotosaurus didn't have the sheer crushing power Tyrannosaurus possesses, it's still got a bite to be reckoned with. Still, if they were able to create Giganotosaurus, then why did they even bother with the Indominous Rex in the first Jurassic World?
The reason given for the creation of the Indominous Rex was that people wanted bigger dinosaurs with more teeth, but there are already two real dinosaurs that fit that description: Giganotosaurus and Spinosaurus, the only two therapods that outsize Tyrannosaurus. InGen was already shown to have Spinosaurus DNA thanks to the third Jurassic Park film, but in a meta way, it makes sense that the filmmakers passed on returning to it. For one, Spinosaurus has already been shown in the films and would no longer be a surprise. For another, Spinosaurus was going through several redesigns at the time thanks to new information coming to light -- any design done for the film would have almost certainly been immediately outdated.
That leaves Giganotosaurus, whose DNA was used by InGen to help create the Indominous Rex -- the inclusion is evident when considering the narrow skull both have. But this still leaves the question of why InGen would go through all that trouble to make a super-predator that's bigger and toothier when an already existing dinosaur that fits the description is in their databanks.
This, perhaps, coupled with Giganotosaurus' appearance now in Dominion, points conclusively to InGen's villainy and puts them more in line with their portrayal in the books. Without John Hammond to point toward a more benign course in the films, InGen scientists such as Dr. Wu were able to pursue a more mad-scientist line of genetics. Yes, the existence of the Indominous Rex and the Indoraptor could point to an external need for a movie monster, a villain to be bested, but unlike modern animals that are negatively impacted by such portrayals, these dinosaurs are all long-dead in real life. Even at that, the tension created by the first film came from humans coming up against animal behavior they had no experience with and therefore couldn't predict. Dominion seems to be tapping back into the franchise's roots and returning to humanity versus nature... but there's definitely a chance a third Indo-dinosaur might be lurking.
To see Giganotosaurus' big reveal, Jurassic World: Dominion roars into theaters June 10.