Jurassic World: Why Dr. Wu Was The Only Jurassic Park Character To Return

Sunday, April 4, 2021

Dr. Henry Wu was the only character from Jurassic Park to return in Jurassic World, and his role is more significant and much darker than before.

Dr. Henry Wu appeared for just one scene in Jurassic Park but was the only character to return in Jurassic World more than twenty years later. Wu is portrayed by actor BD Wong, who has had roles as doctors in TV shows like Awake and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Not only is Wong's return to the franchise a welcome addition of a talented character actor, but is also an interesting twist on the familiar character: Dr. Wu's return in Jurassic World reveals that he has become a very different kind of doctor since Jurassic Park.

As the fourth installment in the Jurassic Park franchise and the first one of its own trilogy, Jurassic World is set more than two decades after the events of Steven Spielberg's iconic movie. A new theme park, Jurassic World, opens at the site of the original park, Isla Nublar, and chaos ensues when a genetically modified hybrid dinosaur, the Indominus Rex, escapes and goes on a rampage. The movie stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Irrfan Khan, Vincent D'Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, and Nick Robinson alongside Wong.

Wu's role in Jurassic World can explain why he was the one to return. In the original, Wu is the chief genetic engineer at InGen, the company responsible for Jurassic World's dinosaurs. Wu's main scene in the movie features him in the laboratory with a pencil and clipboard, examining the newly-cloned dinosaur eggs. As the main characters spend time at the laboratory, they learn more about how the dinosaurs were recreated, as well as some of the movie's key plot information like the cloning of the velociraptors. Wu does not appear for the rest of the film, leaving the audience to wonder if he made it off the island.

Wu does survive, and his role in Jurassic World is more significant than before. He is now the head of the InGen division responsible for cloning the dinosaurs, and the person behind the creation of the Indominus Rex. When Masrani (Khan) confronts Wu after the Indominus escapes, Wu points out that Masrani was the one who wanted a larger and scarier dinosaur attraction. Wu goes on to say that the term "monster" is a relative one, and the deaths caused by the Indominus are an "unfortunate" part of furthering the science of genetic engineering. Wong reprises the role for the sequel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and it is confirmed that he will return for Jurassic World: Dominion, which is in post-production and is expected to release in 2022.

This darker side of Wu makes him the secondary antagonist behind the Indominus Rex in Jurassic World and helps explain why the character returned. If Wu's scene in Jurassic Park served as an opportunity for the audience to learn about how the dinosaurs were recreated, his role in Jurassic World reveals the ugly side of why the InGen team keeps pushing the limits. The pressure to keep creating bigger and better spectacles for visitors, while blatantly dangerous, could lead to glory for Wu. John Hammond once described Wu as a prodigy, and it appears that he will do what it takes to live up to that. He saw the potential of what the science could become, and perhaps the other characters from the first film saw it too — but wisely didn't want to be a part of it.

Source: https://screenrant.com/