'Jurassic World 2' release date, news: Dr. Henry Wu is coming back for sequel

A screenshot from "Jurassic World."Universal Pictures

It looks like the chief genetic engineer of InGen may be coming back for "Jurassic World 2." In a recent interview, producer Frank Marshall was asked if Dr. Henry Wu (B.D. Wong) would appear in the sequel. While he stopped short of outright confirming it, he did tease that the geneticist might return with the stolen dinosaur embryos.

"When they take off in helicopters, you know they're probably going to come back," Marshall told CinemaBlend.

Well, director J.A. Bayona did say "Jurassic World 2" is going to have a connection with the original "Jurassic Park" films, so bringing Wu back is a step in the right direction. He was actually a major character in Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park," but he only appeared briefly in the first film. His role in explaining the process of recreating the dinosaurs was given to the cartoon character Mr. DNA.

Wu returned in "Jurassic World," and he was responsible for creating the hybrid dinosaur Indominus rex. His role changed in the film, and he was portrayed as a Machiavellian villain. It was revealed that Wu was working with Vic Hoskins (Vincent D'Onofrio) all along, and he was in on the plan to weaponize the dinosaurs. Wu managed to escape Isla Nublar via helicopter, so he was still at large when the film ended.

Meanwhile, Bryce Dallas Howard, the actress playing high heels-wearing protagonist Claire, spoke with CBR recently and she revealed things have been going well before filming starts next year.

"The script is awesome. I saw Chris [Pratt] this week. I've seen everyone in London recently. Yeah, we're talking about details now. We're, like, down to the details. It's pretty exciting," she said.

"Jurassic World 2" is scheduled to premiere on June 22, 2018. The film will star Pratt, Howard, Toby Jones, and Rafe Spall. Jake Johnson won't be reprising his role as Lowery Cruthers.