In a new featurette released on the Jurassic World Dominion YouTube channel, the legacy of the female characters all across the franchise is celebrated. The timing is perfect, since the latest installment in the dinosaur adventure brings together different generations of women who, as the clip reveals, are extremely proud of defying conventions of what a female lead or supporting character is supposed to be like. Set four years after Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the upcoming blockbuster will chronicle humanity’s attempt at survival after dinosaurs were let loose and now roam free across the planet.
Considering that one of the bigger questions that permeates Jurassic World Dominion is whether humanity will survive the dinos or be crushed by them, the featurette cleverly brings back a scene from the original Jurassic Park, from 1993. In the scene, franchise veterans Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) and Alan Grant (Sam Neill) are sitting in a car and talking about the surreal experience of bringing dinosaurs back to life. Ian says, “God creates dinosaurs, God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man, man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs”, to which Ellie responds “Dinosaurs… eat man. Woman inherits the Earth.”
While this may refer to one of the possible outcomes of the story, the clip is used as a callback to draw attention to the fact that, from the very start, director and producer Steven Spielberg worked with Dern to bring to screens a far more interesting character than the “damsel in distress”. Though this may not sound surprising today, back in 1993 it was extremely unusual to feature women in action-packed adventures, let alone as part of the action itself.
The featurette takes some time to bring Dern front and center, and she celebrates Ellie’s return and the character’s history:
“When we made the first ‘Jurassic Park’ movie, I was aware that we were creating a character that was unusual in an action film. It was important to Steven [Spielberg] and myself that Ellie was a feminist female action character. […] It felt really exciting that that became a takeaway for people who loved the film. She’s badass and physically strong, and complicated, and funny. I would say that for all the female characters in this franchise.”
Dern’s point is supported by Bryce Dallas Howard, DeWanda Wise, and Isabella Sermon, who are all in Jurassic World Dominion and praise how women have been portrayed in the film series, as well as the importance of having these characters as role models. Howard then jokes that Jurassic Park has been pro-female from its very inception, since the first movie’s dinosaurs were all female. So maybe women inherit the Earth one way or another?
Jurassic World Dominion is directed by Colin Trevorrow, who also helmed the franchise comeback Jurassic World. He co-writes the script with Emily Carmichael (Pacific Rim: Uprising) The cast also features Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy), Mamoudou Athie (Archive 81), Dichen Lachman (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Scott Haze (Minari), Campbell Scott (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), BD Wong (Mr. Robot), Justice Smith (Pokémon: Detective Pikachu), Daniella Pineda (Cowboy Bebop), and Omar Sy (Lupin).
Jurassic World Dominion premieres in theaters on June 10. You can watch the featurette below:
Check out the official synopsis of the movie here:
From ‘Jurassic World’ architect and director Colin Trevorrow, Dominion takes place four years after Isla Nublar has been destroyed. Dinosaurs now live—and hunt—alongside humans all over the world. This fragile balance will reshape the future and determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history’s most fearsome creatures.
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