Steven Spielberg Approved Of Jurassic World 2’s Big Twist

Some of those who have seen of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom may have had an issue with its big twist concerning the character of Maisie, but the individual that first put the franchise on the map, Steven Spielberg, completely approves. The climax of Jurassic World 2 saw the big reveal that Maisie was not, in fact, the granddaughter of Benjamin Lockwood, but a clone of Lockwood's daughter.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is directed by J.A. Bayona and written by Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow, and it serves as a sequel to the 2015's Jurassic World. The sequel follows Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire and Chris Pratt’s Owen as they return to Isla Nublar to help save the dinosaurs from extinction due to an active volcanic eruption. During their journey, they uncover a huge conspiracy plot that threatens the entire human race. Maisie was a supporting character played by Isabella Sermon who lived in the Lockwood mansion, the site of the film’s big conspiracy plot and climactic chaos. She is first presented as just a typical young girl obsessed with dinosaurs, but Jurassic World 2's twist is consistently foreshadowed and later revealed that she's actually a clone.

In an interview with Empire about Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Trevorrow says that Steven Spielberg, who directed the first two Jurassic Park movies, has expressed enthusiastic support for the Maisie plot twist. “[Spielberg] really dug the Maisie element of it. He dug the way that we were evolving it, and he was really excited about the questions that it leaves at the end as far as where the future could go," he explained. Apparently, Spielberg is a fan of the Maisie subplot because he feels that the film’s commentary on the dangers of human innovation through a sci-fi twist is loyal to Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park novel, which provided the source material for his own 1993 film and was all about cautioning readers against genetic engineering.

Trevorrow continued to defend the Maisie twist, claiming that there was a larger thematic significance in her being a clone. The director referenced Jeff Goldblum’s cameo where his character Dr. Ian Malcolm testifies in a U.S. Senate hearing about the role of humans in the world as well as the “irrevocable change” triggered by humankind’s modern innovations. Trevorrow said that Maisie’s clone reveal is this very change that Malcolm warns against, and it served as a concrete example separate from the dinosaurs that emphasizes the important themes of the film.

Even with the support of Steven Spielberg, the creators of Jurassic World: Fallen Kindgom may be hard-pressed to change the minds of their film’s critics. Despite the fact that the film was a confident box office success, the Jurassic World sequel saw a marked decline at the box office in only its second weekend in theaters. This could be a result of the film’s vocal critics, many of whom argue that Fallen Kingdom's clunky ending (especially the Maisie reveal) was confusing, and the sequel's storyline was off-brand for the franchise. But it looks like that controversial twist will become a significant factor in the next installment.