Jurassic World Rebirth director Gareth Edwards recently revealed how studio intervention changed the original ending of the film. He explained what happened to Mahershala Ali’s character Duncan Kincaid originally, how the alternate version was filmed on location, and what audience reactions at the premiere confirmed about the choice.

Duncan Kincaid was going to die in Jurassic World Rebirth, says Gareth Edwards

In a recent interview with ScreenRant, Jurassic World Rebirth director Gareth Edwards confirmed that Mahershala Ali’s character, Duncan Kincaid, was originally written to die in the film’s third act. “It was written that he died,” Edwards revealed. “And we went into it with this feeling like, ‘Okay, cool, he’s going to die. That’s great.’” The initial script had the new dinosaur, the Distortus Rex, claim Kincaid’s life during the team’s mission.

However, Universal Pictures requested an alternate version be filmed while production was still underway in Thailand. “The studio was like, ‘Whilst you’re in Thailand, because we’re not going to be going back, you want to shoot a version where he lives?’” Edwards explained. Despite the original intent, the director began envisioning a different outcome for the character.

Edwards recounted the difficulty of filming both outcomes with equal narrative weight. “This was a little thing that tapped me on the shoulder as we were making the movie,” he said. “If it plays out that he lives, I’m going to be living with that for the rest of my life. I really want it to be a really good version of that and feel classy.”

Although the final cut reveals Kincaid survives, Edwards chose to keep all the visual and storytelling cues associated with a character death. “We kept all those in even though we knew he was coming back,” Edwards said. “I felt like it might feel like a sellout.”

At the film’s New York City premiere, the decision proved effective. “The reaction the other night… it was the best moment in their whole film,” he said. “They all instantly knew… I nearly teared up.” Edwards further added, “I was like, ‘Oh my God, studios are right sometimes.’ I’m glad we shot that.”

Originally reported by Anubhav Chaudhry on SuperHeroHype.