From the moment Jurassic Park arrived in 1993, the series has been engaged in a balancing act between spectacle and plausibility. Steven Spielberg’s original film grounded its cloned dinosaurs in tangible science, defined rules, and a sense of restraint.
As the franchise has expanded across six sequels and 32 years, however, that grounding has steadily eroded. Each new chapter has pushed further into outlandishness, and if the rumored Jurassic World Rebirth 2 materializes (based on the latest film's commercial success, it will), it's hard to imagine it going anywhere but further into the absurd.
This summer’s Jurassic World Rebirth took things into the wildest territory yet. Directed by Gareth Edwards and written by original Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) screenwriter David Koepp, the film stars Scarlett Johansson (Zora Bennett), Rupert Friend (Martin Krebs), Jonathan Bailey (Henry Loomis), and Mahershala Ali (Duncan Kincaid).
It grossed over $860 million worldwide, but financial success did little to shield it from mixed to negative reactions from critics, fans, and audiences. Much of the criticism centered on its weak plot, underwritten characters, and its inexplicable decision to undo the dinosaurs living freely across the globe premise established in its two predecessors, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022), which paved the way for, quite literally, an entire world of future storytelling possibilities.
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Rebirth failed to even offer something innovative in its place, choosing only to escalate some of the more weird plot points of recent films.
But maybe the signs have been there all along. The first film might be grounded in a relatable world, but the second film, The Lost World, wasted no time in unleashing a T. rex into San Diego. Then, in Jurassic Park III (2001), we had a dream sequence with a talking raptor. By the time Jurassic World (2015) launched a new era of sequels, we had genetically engineered hybrids, militarized raptors, human cloning, and hordes of giant prehistoric locusts. Then, Rebirth gave us mutant dinosaurs.
The problem facing any potential sequel now is that nearly every conceivable boundary has already been crossed. The science has shifted from cloning to outright fantasy. Within the Jurassic franchise, genetic experimentation now seems limitless, with consequences that are increasingly cartoonish rather than frightening.
Universal Pictures has not announced a sequel, and Jurassic World Rebirth 2 remains a rumor for now. But still, what could possibly be next? More extreme mutations? Human-dinosaur hybrids? Time travel? Dinosaurs in space? Each option would only widen the gap between the franchise’s origins and its current direction.
The sad truth is that, to top what came before from a commercial standpoint, new Jurassic films must become bigger, louder, and stranger, even if that means abandoning internal logic altogether. If Rebirth 2 happens, it will likely be the most outlandish entry yet, not because it has something new to say, but because there's nowhere else left to go.
Jurassic World Rebirth stars Scarlett Johansson (Avengers: Endgame), Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton), Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Lincoln Lawyer), Rupert Friend (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Mahershala Ali (The Green Book), Luna Blaise (Manifest), David Iacono (Dead Boy Detectives), Audrina Miranda (Lopez vs Lopez), Philippine Velge (Station Eleven), Bechir Sylvain (BMF), and Ed Skrein (Deadpool).
How would you feel about seeing human-dino hybrids or Ice Age beasts in the Jurassic franchise? Or maybe even dinosaurs in space? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
I think that the next Jurasic World sequel should be called new world order and it should be about Marine Dinosaurs