Published Feb 10, 2026, 3:20 PM EST
Abigail is an editor for ScreenRant, currently writing and editing movie news. You may also have seen her thoughts on animated television, musical theater, and fantasy literature in Paste Magazine, Fantasy Hive, or The Oxford Blue. She has also written SR lists and op-eds covering movies, TV, and books as well. She is an English major through and through, having graduated with a B.A. from UC Santa Barbara and an MPhil from Oxford University.
One of the original Jurassic Park stars finally gets the chance to comment on the homage to his character in the most recent installment.
Jurassic World Rebirth follows an entirely new group of characters who travel to a remote island near the equator to extract dinosaur DNA samples to be used in revolutionary medicine. The cast is led by mercenary Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson), her associate Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali), and their paleontologist consultant Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey).
Bailey's character ends up being the vehicle for this connection, as he mentions while on the expedition that he did his postdoctoral work under the supervision of Dr. Alan Grant, famously played by Sam Neill in the original Jurassic Park (1993). In an interview with Entertainment Weekly while promoting his Xfinity Super Bowl commercial, Neill said that he enjoyed the Easter egg.
"I was surprised," Neill said. "It's nice when these things refer to each other, and I thought that was respectful and good." Neill reunited with Jurassic Park co-stars Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum for one of the 2026 Super Bowl's best commercials, in which the punchline is that with Xfinity Wi-Fi, the events of the first movie could have been avoided, and they all would have enjoyed a relaxing vacation.
The original Jurassic Park trio also all starred in 2022's Jurassic World Dominion, which brought them together with the cast of the legacy sequel Jurassic World trilogy. Before this, Neill reprised his role in 2001's Jurassic Park III (which features Dern in a cameo capacity), while Goldblum served as the protagonist of 1997's The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
Jurassic World Rebirth takes place five years after Jurassic World Dominion, when, although dinosaurs have been let loose on the planet, they are again dying out because the Earth's current climate is not suited to them. Therefore, the only ones who still thrive live in equatorial regions, while the general public has mostly moved on from being in awe of living dinosaurs.
In this environment, Henry Loomis delivers a different perspective on some of the series' original themes, having more respect for the dinosaurs than some of the other characters, commenting on humanity's own mortality, and arguing with Zora that scientific advancement should serve the common good rather than being for profit.
Like most of the movies in the franchise that came after Jurassic Park, Jurassic World Rebirth was no critical masterpiece, and stands at 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. But it grossed nearly $870 million worldwide, making it one of the biggest films of the year. While the 2025 movie has its shortcomings, many still found it entertaining as it engaged with the franchise's history.
Jurassic World Rebirth is available to stream on Peacock.
Release Date July 2, 2025
Runtime 134 minutes
Director Gareth Edwards
Writers David Koepp
Producers Frank Marshall, Patrick Crowley
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Jonathan Bailey
Dr. Henry Loomis
English (US) ·