Jurassic World: Dominion director Colin Trevorrow said several new dinosaurs will be prominently featured in the upcoming sequel.
"In this movie we really get to show some dinosaurs that I love that we've been holding onto for a long time, knowing we had the chance to go back to the cretaceous period and see the oviraptor and the giganotosaurus," Trevorrow told IGN while discussing the newly-released prologue for Dominion. "Several of these are going to play major roles in the film itself."
"I really like the moros intrepidus, a very recently discovered dinosaur," added Trevorrow. "It looks a little bit like a T-Rex, but it's [much smaller]. It's in the movie too, but we're introducing it [in the prequel]. I like small dinosaurs, maybe because as a kid I imagined having one as a pet. I love that we managed to take something that really was discovered months earlier. We saw an article about it, we looked into it, and we were able to put it into the movie."
The extended preview for Dominion, which begins 65 million years in the past, marks the franchise's first flashback to prehistoric times. The footage was initially intended to be included in the final cut of Dominion, but it instead serves as a teaser setting up the events of the upcoming sequel. "Universal was totally down with experimenting with sharing five minutes of finished move as a 'prologue' six months in advance," said Trevorrow.
Trevorrow also revealed that Dominion will give the Tyrannosaurus rex its own "superhero" origin story, which is why the prologue sees the iconic beast covered in feathers for the first time. "The T-Rex is a superhero for me," he explained. "It really allows us to take this brilliant concept that [Jurassic Park author] Michael Crichton conceived, that is the foundation that all of this has been built on, and show it in its absolutely purest form." Several other dinosaurs in Dominion will also look more scientifically accurate through the inclusion of feathers.
Trevorrow previously said Dominion will celebrate the entire Jurassic Park franchise, largely thanks to the inclusion of several key cast members from previous entries. Jurassic veterans Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum join current franchise stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard in the latest sequel. Trevorrow confirmed that the original trio, appearing together for the first time since 1993's Jurassic Park, will play a major role in the film as opposed to showing up for mere cameos.
Jurassic World: Dominion hits theaters June 10, 2022.
Source: IGN