After four years of waiting, Jurassic World Dominion is finally hitting the box offices this upcoming June. Fans have been on the edge of their seats, as the film has confirmed the return of fan-favorites to fight alongside the new cast. One of the new characters will be Kayla Watts, played by DeWanda Wise (The Harder They Fall), who is a pilot that teams up with Clarie Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen Grady (Chris Pratt). The actress recently spoke with ComicBook.com to talk about the character, and during the interview confirmed that the character is bisexual.
While the announcement is exciting, this is also coming after the franchise faced criticism from the LGBTQ+ community. In 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Dr. Zia Rodriguez (Daniella Pineda) dropped a line that revealed she doesn’t date men. The line was eventually cut before the film’s release.
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The Jurassic World franchise is another in the list of movies that have been struggling with queer representation. While the writers, directors, and actors are usually on board for showcasing the concept of queer people existing in these beloved worlds, it’s usually the higher-ups that call for cuts or rewrites. This is to avoid controversy and boycotts both within the United States as well as in other countries.
Disney has especially been facing heavy criticism for how it handles queer representation in its major films, such as a blink-and-you-miss-it kiss from Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker, or a gay citizen in Avengers: Endgame talking about losing his loved ones. Disney, after facing heavy criticisms in the past few months, has been actively defending the queer representation in their movies, like America Chavez’s two moms in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and the restoration of the sapphic kiss in Lightyear. Director Colin Trevorrow spoke about the future of the Jurassic movies, expressing excitement about what another director could bring to the franchise. Perhaps another new director could bring more queer rep to the franchises we love? Who knows at this point.