Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Jurᴀssic World Rebirth.

Dinosaurs are once again roaming all over the big screen, and no one is safe. Mostly. While Jurᴀssic Park has never been outright rebooted, Jurᴀssic World Rebirth represents the launch of a third ensemble of characters within this prehistoric franchise. Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey follow in the footsteps of Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard as well as Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum.

The new trio work closely together in Jurᴀssic World Rebirth to acquire blood samples from three different dinosaurs per the instructions of Rupert Friend’s Martin Krebs of the pharmaceutical company ParkerGenix, as he believes these samples could develop a cure for heart disease. This mission brings them to the dinosaurs’ primary stomping grounds, and several lives are claimed along the way.

ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley spoke with Jurᴀssic World Rebirth director Gareth Edwards for an in-depth spoiler discussion on the film’s third act, where Edwards revealed one key character was initially supposed to die.

Mahershala Ali’s Duncan Kincaid Originally Died In Jurᴀssic World Rebirth

“The studio was like, ‘You want to shoot a version where he lives?'”

The Distortus Rex initially claimed the life of Mahershala Ali’s Duncan Kincaid.

“It was written that he died,” Edwards revealed. “And we went into it with this feeling like, ‘Okay, cool, he’s going to die. That’s great.’ And then the studio was like, ‘Whilst you’re in Thailand, because we’re not going to be going back, you want to shoot a version where he lives?'”

This scene, while always intended to be an alternate option, still warranted a significant amount of severity from Edwards.

“This was a little thing that tapped me on the shoulder as we were making the movie. And it’s like, ‘Okay, alright, so we can’t half a– this because if it plays out that he lives, I’m going to be living with that for the rest of my life,” Edwards continued. “I really want it to be a really good version of that and feel classy and everything. And so I started trying to imagine, ‘Okay, how would that work? How would we play that story out?’ And you start to picture it, and then I started to think, ‘I kind of like that.'”

Edwards Knew They Made The Right Decision From The Premiere’s Reaction

“Listening to it with the crowd, it was the best moment in the film…”

While it was decided in post-production that Duncan would survive, all the set-up to his planned death was kept in the final cut.

“It’s a little bit magical. I think because we thought he was going to die, and we wrote it that way and did it that way and sH๏τ it that way, I think the audience thinks he’s going to die,” Edwards explained. “Because we did the little tropes. The final little thing you say to your best friend before you leave, it just tells the audience he’s not coming back. We kept all those in even though we knew he was coming back, and I felt like it might feel like a sellout.”

Fakeout deaths have been the highlight moment of some of Hollywood’s most successful films, including in fellow Steven Spielberg pictures.

The real litmus test came during Jurᴀssic World Rebirth‘s world premiere in New York City, a crowd that Scarlett Johansson had hyped up to Edwards as being unlike any atmosphere in the world. When Duncan’s survival landed for the Big Apple, Edwards could rest easy.

“The reaction the other night, listening to it with the crowd, it was the best moment in their whole film, their reaction to seeing that flare,” Edwards continued. “And they all instantly knew. It was funny because it was just a little flare and out of focus behind Scarlett, and this applause happens. They just knew it couldn’t have been something else. You know what I mean? I nearly teared up. I was like, ‘Oh my God, studios are right sometimes.’ I’m glad we sH๏τ that.”

Source: ScreenRant Plus