Could Lex and Tim Murphy finally be returning to the Jurassic Park franchise?
That's the question currently circulating among fans after the official Jurassic World social media accounts posted a particularly cryptic message featuring the two original characters.
“It could still happen.”
It could still happen. pic.twitter.com/HoBC6rlOej
— Jurassic World (@JurassicWorld) September 16, 2026
Those words accompanied three images from Jurassic Park (1993), each showing Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim (Joe Mazzello) during some of the movie's most memorable sequences.
One shows the siblings hiding behind the fallen tree while the T. rex attacks a Gallimimus, another captures the famous kitchen sequence with the Velociraptors, and the third shows the pair trapped inside the rain-soaked jeep during the T. rex escape.
The post has naturally led to speculation that Richards and Mazzello could have a role to play in Jurassic World 5.
For now, however, there's no confirmation that either actor has been approached or will appear. The two remain the only surviving characters from Spielberg's original movie who have never received a substantial return to the franchise.
Lex and Tim appeared briefly in The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), but neither has returned since. That makes their potential involvement particularly notable given the direction of the movie franchise.
Jurassic World 5 is moving forward, although Universal is currently searching for a new director after director Gareth Edwards, who helmed Jurassic World Rebirth (2025), recently exited the project over creative differences.
Scarlett Johansson (Zora Bennett), Mahershala Ali (Duncan Kincaid), and Jonathan Bailey (Henry Loomis) are expected to reprise their roles, with Rebirth writer David Koepp returning to the screenplay once again. Production is expected to begin in 2027.
The sequel also faces the difficult task of moving forward from Rebirth, which earned $869.1 million worldwide despite a harsh response from audiences and critics.
The film also drastically altered the franchise's status quo by establishing that dinosaur populations had largely died out, following the global spread seen at the end of Jurassic World Dominion (2022).
That could make nostalgia an appealing route for Universal. Jurassic World Dominion already brought back Jeff Goldblum (Ian Malcolm), Laura Dern (Ellie Sattler), and Sam Neill (Alan Grant), and the return of Lex and Tim would offer another direct connection to the original movie.
Richards has largely moved away from acting to focus on her art career, while Mazzello remains active as an actor, including his role in Bohemian Rhapsody (2018). Both have also appeared at recent comic conventions.
Whether “It could still happen” means anything more than a tease remains unknown.
Jurassic World 5 does not currently have a release date.
Would you like to see Lex and Tim return to the Jurassic franchise? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
