The marketing for Jurᴀssic World Rebirth positioned one dinosaur threat above all others, but the actual movie created a problem that will be on Jurᴀssic World 5 to fix, if it ever comes to pᴀss. After the disappointing conclusion to the Jurᴀssic World trilogy in 2022, Jurᴀssic World Rebirth acted as a somewhat successful soft reboot for the franchise.

The sci-fi action adventure movie has continued to blow past box office milestones as a result of positive enough word of mouth and the never-ending audience desire to see dinosaurs on the big screen, even if they aren’t presented accurately. Unlike its predecessors, Jurᴀssic World Rebirth was set on a mysterious third island supposedly owned by Ingen, where the company’s biggest cloning misfires have thrived for years.

The marketing campaign and trailers for Jurᴀssic World Rebirth showcased all the mᴀssive and terrifying dinosaurs that still lived on the island, but the spotlight was placed on one creature in particular. The scariest threat on the island is supposed to be a mutated monstrosity with the base genome of a T. rex, but when it appeared in the movie itself, the impact didn’t match the aura.

Jurᴀssic World Rebirth’s D-Rex Was Disappointing

The Movie Did Not Follow Through On The Marketing

The six-limbed, hulking abomination labeled the Distortus Rex was positioned as the endgame of Ingen’s disregard for the power of genetic manipulation. With two powerful forelimbs alongside its minuscule T. rex arms, the Distortus Rex was supposed to be an ultra-aggressive, mutated version of one of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅliest predators to ever walk the Earth, truly the “worst of the worst”, as the marketing suggested.

Instead, audiences were disappointed with a monster that not only got very little screen time, but what screen time it did get was rather less intense than the trailers suggested. The D-Rex got an exciting, albeit obscured, introduction in the movie’s opening scene, and then disappeared from the action until the climax.

The D-Rex is responsible for the movie’s villain, Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend), taking his long-overdue journey down a dinosaur gullet, but after that he engages in what amounts to an ambling chase scene with no payoff. The D-Rex’s sheer size is communicated, and its hideous visage and mouth full of jagged teeth are no doubt intimidating.

However, the D-Rex doesn’t actually wind up appearing all that dangerous, especially given that he is easily distracted by Duncan (Mahershala Ali) and a flare. As if that simplistic behavior wasn’t enough to take some of the malevolence away from the mutant hybrid, it doesn’t even manage to kill Duncan after choosing to pursue him instead of the larger group.

If Jurᴀssic World 5 ever happens, the D-Rex seems like the clearest possible candidate for a major role upgrade. If the franchise has proved anything, it’s that there’s always a way to write some people back onto an island infested with dinosaurs, so there is undoubtedly some way to reintroduce the D-Rex.

Whether it comes via a fight against another dinosaur or dinosaurs (D-Rex vs. a pack of mutated spinosauruses sounds fun) or as a true chaos-wreaking villainous dinosaur for the human protagonists, the D-Rex needs a sH๏τ at redemption after its disappointing first appearance in Jurᴀssic World Rebirth.