Oh, so you thought Ellie Sattler was cool? That Alan Grant was cool? That Owen Grady was cool? In two weeks, they’ll all be bowing to Kayla Watts.
Kayla Watts is one of the new characters introduced in the upcoming Jurassic World Dominion and she’s like Indiana Jones with a pilot licence. Played by DeWanda Wise, who is best known for roles on Netflix’s She’s Gotta Have It and The Harder They Fall, Kayla at first doesn’t want to get swept up in the dino-driven adventure. But, of course, she does and all the rest of the characters are better off for it, because she’s incredibly well-plugged into everything going on and also has a heart of gold. And sure, it’s a bonus that she’s suave as hell and just plain fun to watch.
io9 sat down with Wise to discuss the character and, in the below video, you can watch her talk about just how she was able to craft Kayla to be as formidable and awesome as she is.
When Jurassic World Dominion opens on June 10, there’s little doubt that Wise will break out. And yet, that could have happened years earlier.
Back in 2018, DeWanda Wise was the first choice to play Maria Rambeau, best friend of Carol Danvers in Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel. However, she was forced to leave the role due to scheduling conflicts with her Netflix show She’s Gotta Have It, opening up a door for Lashana Lynch. Lynch, of course, has since appeared not just in Captain Marvel but in other Marvel movies as the mythos of the Rambeau family continues to build towards the Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels. In our talk, Wise set the record straight on what went down and how, for her, not doing Captain Marvel opened the door for Jurassic World Dominion. Watch below.
When Jurassic World Dominion comes out, and the world meets Kayla Watts, it’ll becoming clear that while Wise was disappointed by that particular turn of events, she is now playing maybe an even more exciting character.
Jurassic World Dominion opens June 10 and we’ll have much more, including the final two pieces of our Jurassic Rewatch, in the lead-up.
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