With Jurassic World: Dominion coming to theaters soon, fans are eagerly devouring every piece of information they can get on the finale to the Jurassic World trilogy. The Dominion team is talking of honoring Jurassic Park, and bringing back the original trio of Doctors Grant, Sattler and Malcolm seems like a key way to do so.
But there's speculation that this could end in heartache. After all, Jurassic Park can also refer to the novel of the same name written by Michael Crichton, who had a much dourer outlook than Steven Spielberg's version of the story. In the novel, several characters that survived in the film didn't make it -- and in honoring the original Jurassic Park, Dominion might see fit to bump off a beloved character: Dr. Ian Malcolm.
How Did Ian Malcolm Die in the Jurassic Park Book?
In the novel version of Jurassic Park, Dr. Ian Malcolm was similarly attacked by the escaped Tyrannosaurus rex, although it was because he panicked and fled instead of the film's more altruistic goal of distracting the T. rex from Dr. Grant and the kids. As in the film, Dr. Malcolm survived this initial attack and applied a tourniquet to his broken leg, and was eventually found by the others. Once back in the lodge, he was given morphine to dull the pain -- but eventually he succumbed to his injuries and went out in a mumbling, drug-induced haze.
Dr. Malcolm ended up being a fan-favorite, however, necessitating his death being retconned for the sequel novel, The Lost World: Jurassic Park. It was fairly easy to do, as his death wasn't exactly confirmed at the end of the first novel. But again, the film version was kinder to him, as he ends the second novel much as he did the first: in a morphine-induced, babbling haze.
Will Jurassic World Dominion Kill Ian Malcolm?
While the protagonists do have some plot armor, this is no guarantee that Ian will survive the final Jurassic World movie. The original trio have finished their stories, and killing one of them would be an effective way to get some tears from the audience. Furthermore, killing beloved legacy characters seems to be a trend in sequels to older franchises -- both Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Scream have done this with characters that survived the other films, so Dr. Malcolm isn't exactly safe. Unless, of course, the book death Dominion decides to reference isn't Dr. Malcolm, but Dr. Wu.
Like several other characters, Dr. Henry Wu died in the novels but survived in the films. And while Dr. Malcolm's potential death could be calm, sedate and heart-wrenching -- he went out in a drug-induced haze, after all -- Dr. Wu's death was much more violent. In the books, Dr. Wu is killed by a Velociraptor -- which, considering that protagonist Owen Grady is friends with one of the last remaining raptors, Blue, might spell a fitting end for the character.
Whether Dominion spells the end for a beloved character -- or indeed, any character -- fans are still guaranteed to see lots of action and new dinosaurs. It'll be great to see the original trio on the big screen again, but the audience will definitely have to prepare some tissues, just in case.
To see if Dr. Malcolm survives, see Jurassic World: Dominion in theaters June 10th.
