With Jurassic World Rebirth (2025) introducing grotesque mutant dinosaurs and returning to the jungle island setting of the original films, the creative signals are getting harder to ignore: they’ve officially run out of ideas.
At this point, it’s not even a question of if the franchise will go to space—it’s when.
Now, a new exclusive from Empire Magazine offers the first look at two new mutant dinos in the upcoming film, and neither of them resembles anything remotely dinosaur-like. The “Distortus Rex” is described by director Gareth Edwards (2014’s Godzilla) as “kind of like if the T-Rex was designed by H.R. Giger, and then that whole thing had sex with a Rancor.”
A combination of a Xenomorph from Alien and the giant beast from Star Wars? Not exactly the grounded science of Jurassic Park (1993) fans have come to know and love.
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Then there are the “Mutadons”—winged freaks that scribe David Koepp, who penned the scripts for the first two films, describes as “a combination of a pterosaur and a Raptor.”
And it’s happening on another jungle island. Jurassic World Rebirth may star Mahershala Ali (The Green Book) and Scarlett Johansson (Avengers: Endgame), but it’s hard to ignore the fact that we’ve been here before. Survival situation on a remote island? That was the plot for Jurassic Park (1993), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), Jurassic Park III (2001), and Jurassic World (2015). This time, the dinosaurs are just a lot uglier and less realistic.
But with future installments inevitable (Rebirth will most likely devour over $1 billion globally), where can Jurassic go from here?
If the laws of franchise evolution hold true, the only logical step is space. The trope of “the space sequel” has long been the punchline for IPs that overstay their welcome—just ask the Friday the 13th sequel Jason X (2001). Either way, with mutant dinosaurs and recycled settings, space no longer feels like satire for the Jurassic series.
Jurassic World Rebirth hits theaters July 2, 2025.
What are your thoughts on mutant dinosaurs and dinosaurs in space? Let us know in the comments!
