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Indominus Rex: How ‘Jurassic World’ Created A Monstrous New Dinosaur

By Dustin Wicksell
Published on: 07:36 PST, Jun 10, 2015

When Jurassic World debuts in theaters on Friday, fans of the franchise will finally come face-to-face with Indominus Rex, a genetically modified dinosaur that represents the film’s gravest threat.

While the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Spinosaurus terrified the humans of the Jurassic Park universe in previous installments, Jurassic World will see the cast facing down an entirely new threat. As NBC News points out, the Indominus Rex has the basic body of a Tyrannosaur, but also contains characteristics added from other dinosaurs like Giganotosaurus and Therizinosaurus in addition to animals that exist today.

According to Jack Horner, a paleontologist that served as the inspiration for Jurassic Park‘s Dr. Alan Grant (in addition to acting as a consultant on all three previous films in the franchise), the idea of a genetically modified animal like Indominus Rex is actually one of the most realistic in the film.

“That is the most plausible part of the movie, making transgenic animals,” Horner asserted. “That is more plausible than bringing a dinosaur back from amber.”

In addition to Indominus Rex, Jurassic World was originally set to feature another hybrid dinosaur, a stegoceratops. The animal was cut from the film just before shooting, yet not before it made its way into the Jurassic World toy line.

Indominus Rex includes some traits taken from modern animals, including tree frogs and cuttlefish. Many of the qualities of Indominus Rex were driven by the narrative of the movie, according to director Colin Trevorrow as the production team started with a long list and sorted through their ideas.

“If it was going to pick up a guy and bite his head off, it was going to need thumbs,” he pointed out.

Originally, Indominus Rex was going to be a bulletproof dinosaur until Horner nixed that idea. The paleontologist gave Trevorrow a wide range to work with for the Indominus Rex, however, asserting that he hoped the director would go even further with the dinosaur than he eventually did.

While Indominus Rex is set to be the primary threat to the heroes of Jurassic World, it is not the only predatory dinosaur that will appear in the film. As the Inquisitr previously reported, the very same Tyrannosaurus Rex which first appeared in 1993’s Jurassic Park will feature in the movie as well. Fans first determined that the Jurassic World T. Rex was the original dinosaur from a promotional image that revealed scars inherited from the first film.

Jurassic World is reportedly set to take in $125 million in its opening weekend as Variety notes. When the film opens on Friday, audiences will have their first chance to experience the Indominus Rex and wonder how far we actually are from resurrecting a living dinosaur.

[Photo by Universal Pictures]

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