Why T-Rex Is The Main Character Of Jurassic World: Dominion’s First Footage Instead Of Chris Pratt

It doesn’t matter if you call her Rexy, Roberta, or any other name you’ve assigned to her, the T-Rex from Jurassic Park is an iconic character loved by the world. Her return in the Jurassic World franchise has only proven that point, even in the midst of blockbuster beefcake Chris Pratt doing his thing with a pack of trained raptors. Which is part of why, according to co-writer/director Colin Trevorrow, the new extended trailer for Jurassic World: Dominion that will screen in IMAX ahead of F9 has Roberta as the star of the show.

In an interview with CinemaBlend’s own Sarah El-Mahmoud, Colin Trevorrow spilled some of the details of what fans should expect to see in their first look at Jurassic World: Dominion. Attached to IMAX screenings of F9 later this month, the long awaited threequel to 2015’s Jurassic World has a lot of prehistoric action to look forward to. But the big throughline that Trevorrow chose to focus on with this extended preview sounds like a journey through the life of everyone’s favorite Tyrannosaurus, as he explains below:

To me, this is showing the origin of one of our biggest characters. Showing how she died long ago, then showing her on the run from the cops now. She's been through a lot when you consider all of the really traumatic things that have happened to T-Rex since the very first movie, since Jurassic Park, but then she was then displaced and now she's out in a world that she doesn't understand. I am as interested in, you know, what's going on with her psychologically as I am any of the other characters.

Now before anyone gets confused, Roberta is the T-Rex that battled the raptors at the end of Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, not the mother Tyrannosaurus that was abducted from Site B and brought to San Diego in The Lost World. So the savior of humanity from Isla Nublar remained on that island, until it was time to be rehomed into the Tyrannosaurus Rex Kingdom attraction in Jurassic World. After the pivotal events in the finale to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom however, this Tyrannosaurus Rex is about to find herself in a brand new world, and she’s probably frightened.

What Colin Trevorrow has described above is a perfect teaser into what Jurassic World: Dominion fans should expect from this latest sequel. There’s surely going to be a lot of human antics, what with the original Jurassic Park trio of Dr. Alan Grant, Dr. Ellie Sattler, and Dr. Ian Malcolm all returning in major roles. But as we’ve seen with the relationship between Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady and Blue the Velociraptor, the emotional connection between humanity and beast is a key focal point in the story of the continuing Jurassic saga.

All in all, it sounds like the world will have another opportunity to get emotional over a dinosaur in peril, much as we’ve seen in the previous Jurassic World installments. While June 10, 2022 seems like a long time to wait for Jurassic World: Dominion’s events to unfold, we’ll all get to see Roberta the T-Rex engage in a police chase when the extended trailer debuts with F9, starting June 25th. Let’s just hope for the old girl’s sake the reality of the movie’s world hasn’t caught up with recent research.

Mike Reyes
Senior Movies Contributor

Mike Reyes is the Senior Movie Contributor at CinemaBlend, though that title’s more of a guideline really. Passionate about entertainment since grade school, the movies have always held a special place in his life, which explains his current occupation. Mike graduated from Drew University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, but swore off of running for public office a long time ago. Mike's expertise ranges from James Bond to everything Alita, making for a brilliantly eclectic resume. He fights for the user.