Across five films, the Jurassic series has so far featured a whole host of gigantic, fearsome prehistoric beasts. First up, we had the T-Rex in Jurassic Park – and then two of them in The Lost World. Jurassic Park III gave us the Spinosaurus. Then, in Jurassic World we met the genetic hybrid Indominus Rex, as well as the aquatic Mosasaur, with the Indoraptor to follow in Fallen Kingdom. Now, as we approach the long-awaited release of Jurassic World Dominion, get ready to meet a major new dinosaur who’ll be terrorising our heroes this time around – one who lives up to that mandate given by Claire Dearing in the first World: ‘Bigger. Scarier. More teeth.’ It’s called the Giganotosaurus – but for short, it’s known as the ‘Giga’.
This one isn’t a genetic hybrid like the Indominus and the Indoraptor – it’s a scientifically-documented giant of the Late Cretaceous period. But like its scaly brethren, it’s none too pleased to find itself roaming around in the modern day. “I wanted something that felt like the Joker,” teases writer-director Colin Trevorrow of the Giga. “It just wants to watch the world burn.” As you’ll see in the above world-exclusive image from Empire’s upcoming Jurassic World Dominion blowout issue, the Giga is set to cause havoc for the film’s epic human cast – including returning World protagonists Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen Grady (Chris Pratt); original Park trio Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), Alan Grant (Sam Neill), and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern); plus clone-girl Maisie (Isabella Sermon) and newcomer Kayla (DeWanda Wise).
The Giga’s home is the amber-rich BioSyn Valley, a name that’ll be familiar to fans of the original Jurassic Park – BioSyn was the rival company to InGen who paid Dennis Nedry to steal those fateful embryos back in the day. “BioSyn got the contract to house the dinosaurs that have been captured around the world via various governments,” Trevorrow teases of the Dominion plot. “They claim it’s a research facility where they can study the pharmaceutical values of the animals. But there’s some other stuff going on.” And among their fold is series newcomer Mamoudou Athie, playing BioSyn employee Ramsay Cole, “a very ambitious and forward-thinking young man,” the actor teases.
It all adds up to a very different Jurassic movie – the one promised in Fallen Kingdom’s final minutes when Maisie unleashed cloned dinosaurs into the modern world. “It’s an entirely new kind of movie,” Trevorrow promises. “It’s the thing I’ve been waiting to do this whole time.” It’s going to be Giga-ntic.
Read Empire’s full Jurassic World Dominion world-exclusive – going on set and talking to Trevorrow, Pratt, Howard, Dern, Goldblum, Neill, Wise, Athie, and more, with brand new images – in the new issue, on sale Thursday 14 April and available to pre-order online here. Jurassic World Dominion comes to UK cinemas from 10 June.