Jurassic World 2 is set to be the first major departure from the
Jurassic Park franchise in terms of story structure. All four films so far have featured the protagonists running away from rampaging dinosaurs on an island, something that
Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow admitted will be changing for the upcoming sequel.
Though Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard will be returning, Trevorrow (who is producing the sequel) explained that the film will explore more complex issues revolving around the dinosaurs, specifically when it comes to animal abuse.
“The dinosaurs will be a parable of the treatment animals receive today: the abuse, medical experimentation, pets, having wild animals in zoos like prisons, the use the military has made of them, animals as weapons,” he explained (via
El Mundo)
“The second part will be a very different movie that will explore new paths. For that reason, it was clear that it needed to be [J.A.] Bayona who would direct it, in order to have it grow and evolve with his very personal vision.”
Bayona himself also discussed the sequel's darker and more frightening nature in an interview with the Spanish publication Noticiasrcn (via
Scified), comparing the film to hallmarks such as
The Empire Strikes Back and
The Wrath of Khan, specifically.
"It will be darker and scarier than the previous film. Obviously when you have Chris Pratt it will also be very funny. But it will be darker. It is a second step in a trilogy, and the second step is always dark as in The Empire Strikes Back or The Wrath of Khan which are the examples you always get. The film takes the story where it has never been before. To me, it surprised me. We are going to places where the saga has never been before, and at the same time we are paying tribute to the franchise. We will take it a step further. There are things that will happen that people are not expecting and they really are shocking."