When it comes to genetically engineered animals, Samuel L. Jackson rarely has any luck. If he’s not being dismembered by cloned velociraptors in 1993’s sci-fi masterpiece Jurassic Park, he’s being eaten alive by super-smart makos in 1999’s shark thriller Deep Blue Sea.
Of course, between the two, it’s his role in Jurassic Park that’s the most memorable. Though it happens off-screen (unlike most of the other kills in the film, including InGen lawyer Donald Gennaro and park warden Robert Muldoon), it’s still one of the most spine-chilling.
When paleobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) arrives at the maintenance shed after the island-wide power outage, she comes face to face with a terrifying velociraptor — the same one that has just eaten Samuel L. Jackson’s chain-smoking chief engineer Ray Arnold.
How do we know this? Well, the clue is in the bloodied, severed arm that falls on Ellie’s shoulder just moments before the six-foot, snarling, hissing carnivore comes bursting through the pipes on the wall behind her. But is this enough evidence of Ray Arnold’s death?
Is it possible that he somehow survived and was left to his own devices on the island after the other characters evacuate by helicopter at the end of the film?
While fun to theorize, it’s unlikely — such theories are best saved for Jackson’s Star Wars character Mace Windu, the Jedi who faces a similar fate when Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) cuts off his arm with a lightsaber before Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid) electrocutes him and flings his lifeless body into the aerial traffic lanes of Coruscant.
Yet many fans are adamant Mace Windu is alive out there (knowing Star Wars, he is).
Related: ‘Jurassic Park’ Sequel May Bring One of These Characters Back From the Dead
But it sounds like the man himself thinks that Ray Arnold may have also survived.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon last year, the Pulp Fiction star talked about the possibility that his Jurassic Park character could still be alive, while recounting how a hurricane changed the plans for Ray Arnold’s death in the film.
“I was supposed to shoot a death scene [in Jurassic Park] but there was a big hurricane that tore up all the sets. So I didn’t get to go to Hawaii. So they just decided to stick my arm on a fall or floor or whatever.”
Jackson then jokingly compared his Jurassic character to Mace Windu, saying, “So now I figured, like Mace Windu, he [Ray Arnold] got out there in the park and made friends with the velociraptors. He got a couple of them that he could ride.”
While it was all said in jest, it’s possible Ray Arnold did survive the raptor attack, only to die sometime later. In fact, the character could make some sort of appearance in the upcoming first-person action-adventure video game, “Jurassic Park: Survival” (TBA), which takes place only 24 hours after the events of the 1993 film.
After all, the game has already confirmed the return of another character who was seemingly killed off in the film: the raptor that Lex Murphy (Ariana Richards) locked in the kitchen freezer. Check it out for yourself in the trailer below, per Jurassic World YouTube:
We’ll just have to wait and see if Ray Arnold makes an appearance in “Jurassic Park: Survival. Either way, there’s a better chance of seeing him in the game than in the upcoming sequel Jurassic World Rebirth (2025), which takes place several decades after the 1993 film.
Here’s the synopsis for the game, per the official website:
Return to Isla Nublar the day after the events of the beloved 1993 Jurassic Park film in an original adventure 65 million years in the making.
Survive thrilling first-person action as InGen scientist Dr. Maya Joshi, who was unable to evacuate Isla Nublar, in this single-player action-adventure game and discover a never-before-told story.
Through thrilling encounters, experience the wonder and danger of dinosaurs, each with their own distinct and adaptive behaviors brought to life by John Hammond’s vision.
“Jurassic Park: Survival” will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Visit the official website for more information.
Jurassic World Rebirth will be released in theaters on July 2, 2025.
Would you like to see Samuel L Jackson’s character return in “Jurassic Park: Survival”? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!
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