Credit: NetflixJenna Ortega has long become a household name. Although she had appeared in several movies and television shows before she donned the iconic black pigtails, it was the Addams Family spinoff series, Wednesday (2022), that launched her into global stardom.
Of course, she wasn’t doing at all badly before the hit Netflix show — she’d already starred in the legacy slasher sequel, Scream (2022), and all five seasons of the animated series, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous (2020 — 2022). She also returned in Scream VI (2023).
However, Ortega exited the yet-to-be-released Scream 7, following her co-star, Melissa Barrera. While Barrera was fired from the project for sharing a divisive social media post about the Israel-Hamas conflict, Ortega reportedly bowed out due to scheduling conflicts.
But it wasn’t the only project the Wednesday icon was forced to exit. Despite having voiced the teen vlogger Brooklynn in Camp Cretaceous seasons one through five, Ortega was unable to reprise her role as the character in the follow-up series, Jurassic World: Chaos Theory.
Following on from the original series, Chaos Theory follows Camp Cretaceous ensemble, Darius Bowman (Paul-Mikél Williams), Ben Pincus (Sean Giambrone), Yasmina Fadoula (Kausar Mohammed), Kenji Kon (Darren Barnet), and Sammy Gutierrez (Raini Rodriguez), as they adjust to a world now inhabited by dinosaurs and shady black market dealers.
The series premiered on Netflix last year, however, fans were left shocked when it was revealed that Ortega was gone. Instead, Kiersten Kelly stepped in as Brooklynn, now a shady and elusive character as opposed to the wide-eyed, hopeful innocent from the prior show.
Camp Cretaceous and Chaos Theory showrunners Scott Kreamer and Aaron Hammersley told IGN last year that Ortega’s “busy schedule” made it “impossible” for her to return.
Now, with the first two seasons in the rear view, fans are gearing up for Chaos Theory Season 3, which recently unveiled its first trailer. Watch it below:
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With Brooklynn remaining a key character, Kiersten Kelly reprises her role, leaving Ortega well and truly in the past.
Though we’ve speculated that Ortega could one day play the character in a live-action capacity, it’s likely that Kelly would now take on that responsibility.
The character won’t be appearing in the upcoming sequel, Jurassic World Rebirth (2025), which stars Scarlett Johansson in the lead role, however, it’s possible a future film will introduce characters from the show.
Chaos Theory Season 3 premieres on Netflix on April 3. There’s no release date for Wednesday Season 2, although it’s expected to stream on Netflix sometime this year.
Would you like to see Jenna Ortega return to the Jurassic franchise? Let us know in the comments down below!