Jurassic World Rebirth bringing back franchise veteran we haven't seen in decades

The Jurassic Park franchise is one of the greatest in Hollywood. With three decades of movies to its name, it has found a way to evolve, staged multiple comebacks and - with a new movie on the horizon - it just refuses to become extinct. Life has surely found a way to keep this billion-dollar phenomenon going.

That new chapter, Jurassic World Rebirth, looks to reinvent the saga again for a new audience. That might be easier said than done considering it just ended its most recent chapter less than three years ago but it will attempt to do so by taking the franchise back to its more gripping, thrilling, and perhaps even frightening roots. One of the ways it will attempt to do that is by including a deleted scene from the original Jurassic Park movie.

But an unused concept from Jurassic Park isn't the only thing coming back for the seventh installment in the franchise, for Rebirth is bringing back an entity we haven't seen in the film series in over two decades.

The Spinosaurus returns in Jurassic World Rebirth

You read that correctly: Yes, the Spinosaurus is back. Three of them, in fact, as new stills from Jurassic World Rebirth unveiled by Vanity Fair have showcased that there will be multiple of the sailed meanies making their presence felt on the unsuspecting characters of the movie. Much as we've come to know about them, they will be attacking from the water.

This all set the stage for them to make a prominent appearance in the film's first trailer, surfacing from the water to attack Scarlett Johansson's Zora Bennett, Jonathan Bailey's Dr. Henry Loomis, and more.

The Spinosaurus was, of course, the main villain of Jurassic Park III, running amok on Isla Sorna and attempting to eat the film's survivors. It was largely responsible for that movie's more thriller-esque feel, as it was portrayed as much more sinister and evil than the T-Rex - even defeating one of those in convincing fashion.

Although it was a bit of a controversial character at the time, reception has softened towards the Spinosaurus in recent years, with fans pointing out that it could have been used again at some point through the subsequent Jurassic World movies. It seems that now is finally that time.

The actual Spinosaurus looked quite different to its Jurassic Park adaptation, and it looks like the versions that appear in Jurassic World Rebirth will have a more accurate look. Although the stills and the trailer cameos don't give too much away, it's clear that their sails are smaller and their snouts sharper. They also appear to have a more tropical, golden color to their scales - as opposed to Jurassic Park III's more faded orange design.

If you would like to catch up with Jurassic Park III's version of the Spinosaurus, however, you can catch her on animated Netflix series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.

Jurassic World Rebirth arrives in movie theaters on July 2, 2025.