Get the Lowdown on the New Characters of ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’

Since the Jurassic Park franchise has seen plenty of characters get chomped in the teeth and jaws of various dinosaurs over the last 25 years, there’s always room for fresh meat. And with a dangerous, genetically designed dinosaur roaming around called the Indoraptor, of course Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom will have a fair share of characters ripe for the eating.

During a very exclusive set visit in Hawaii during production of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, we talked to producers Frank Marshall and Pat Crowley about the new characters we’ll be meeting in the sequel. Some are new characters with specific areas of expertise needed to help rescue the dinosaurs from Isla Nublar. Others are characters who have a more concerning agenda when it comes to the creatures John Hammond first brought back from extinction all those years ago.

Justice Smith as Franklin Webb

You’ve heard his high-pitched scream on the island when things start to get a little heavy, and now we get to find out a bit more about him. Justice Smith (Paper Towns, The Get Down) plays Franklin, the resident IT guy for Claire Dearing’s Dinosaur Protection Group. We got a look at the organization earlier this year in a video pushing their mission statement about trying to influence congress in an effort to help save the dinosaurs on Isla Nublar.

Frank Marshall describers Franklin as a “reluctant adventurer” and adds, “He loves being there at his computer and his keyboard. But he doesn’t wanna go out and be Indiana Jones. He’s not interested in that.” Pat Crowley adds, “He doesn’t like to fly. He doesn’t like bugs. He really doesn’t like being outside.” That sounds like a bit of a cliche, but there are people like that who exists, and surely he’ll provide some comedic relief.

Daniella Pineda as Zia Rodriguez

Zia Rodriguez is a paleo veterinarian. Her character bio at The Dinosaur Protection Group website indicates that she hoped to intern at Jurassic World before the infamous park incident. Crowley explained that she went to college and studied dinosaurs, but she’s yet to see them in person yet. When she goes to Isla Nublar with Claire Dearing, that will be her first encounter with real dinosaurs.

Even though Zia hasn’t come in contact with dinosaurs, Frank Marshall says, “She’s pretty fiery in her defense of dinosaurs.” The push to save the dinosaurs is a passionate campaign among certain activists, especially with the danger of the volcano Mt. Sibo coming close to erupting.

Apparently Zia and Franklin are “the secret sauce” of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, as described by Colin Trevorrow. Those sentiments were echoed by Marshall and Crowley. Marshall says they keep things moving while Crowley says the two add some brevity to the proceedings without being too silly. Marshall adds, “They’re believable but they make it fun and exciting and real.”

James Cromwell as Benjamin Lockwood

Benjamin Lockwood is the business partner of Jurassic Park founder John Hammond. He’s been dealing with the blowback of the incident in Jurassic World, especially since he’s one of the parties responsible for making the park possible to begin with. Does he have newfound plans for the dinosaurs he helped create?

Whatever plans he has, Marshall and Crowley don’t see him as a straightforward villain. Marshall says, “Lockwood is not a villain, I would say,” and Crowley follows up by saying, “He’s no more of a villain than John Hammond was a villain.” So it sounds like he’s just misguided in his efforts involving the dinosaurs.

Note: We haven’t seen James Cromwell in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom yet. The image is from American Horror Story.

Isabella Sermon as Maisie Lockwood

The little girl that we’ve seen in the trailers is Maisie Lockwood. She’s the granddaughter of Benjamin Lockwood. The young girl has a love for dinosaurs, just like her grandfather had. What’s she still doing lurking around her grandfather’s mansion and museum when there are dangerous dinosaurs about? And where’s her father? We’re not entirely sure just yet. Maybe her father is one of the suits who lied to Claire and Owen about what they had planned for the dinosaurs, and now they’re trying to profit off them. Speaking of which…

The Villains of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

There aren’t necessarily straightforward villains in the Jurassic Park franchise. They’re just misguided people who want to use the dinosaurs in a much different way than those who merely want to preserve them for people to admire. Pat Crowley talks about the presence of “villains ” in the franchise:

“It’s like in the last one. Simon Masrani [Irrfan Khan] moved things forward in terms of like genetic manipulation because he actually seemed to be relatively pure of heart. He wanted to provide entertainment for people. And he was then a semi-innocent villain. Whereas now you have guys who are looking at what are the financial potentials. How can we profit from it? And then you have guys who are just real tough eggs.”

Two of those characters are played by Toby Jones and Rafe Spall (above). Their specific role in the proceedings hasn’t been explained, but as we’ve seen in the trailers, they’re part of whatever plan there is for the Indoraptor.

Though they don’t mention any of these other characters by name, the tough egg is likely the character played by Ted Levine (even though he doesn’t look too tough in that above image when he’s face-to-face with a dinosaur). It sounds like he’ll likely be the main antagonist of the film, though we’re not sure exactly what his motivation will be. Presumably, he wants to make money off turning the dinosaurs into tools that can be used by the military, but that’s just speculation based on the events of the first film and what we’ve seen in the trailers for Fallen Kingdom.

The Return of Claire and Owen

Jurassic World already featured a fair share of tension between Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), and their somewhat confrontational relationship will continue in Fallen Kingdom. In fact, the continuation of their relationship was something Steven Spielberg had some input on in the first movie. Crowley explained:

“They’re basically still reliving It Happened One Night, which was totally Steven’s idea. We sat down when we did the first one and Steven said, ‘Have you guys all seen It Happened One Night?‘ He said, ‘Let’s bring some of that.'”

Marshall said they wanted Chris Pratt to bring in a little bit of the Clark Gable playfulness to allow for some back and forth jousting between the two characters.

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That’s all for the new characters of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Surely there’s plenty more we’ll learn as the June 22, 2018 release date gets closer. Be sure to check out the rest of our Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom interview with Frank Marshall and Pat Crowley over here.

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