- "We will save them. What a gift...for our children."
- —Sir Benjamin talking to Claire Dearing(src)
Sir Benjamin Lockwood was a billionaire philanthropist, the head of the Lockwood Family fortune, and the former longtime friend and business partner of John Hammond. Together with Hammond, Lockwood created InGen and thus funded the creation of the technology that allowed for the cloning of dinosaurs and the resulting locations of Jurassic Park and Site B. In his later life he sought redemption in attempting to save the remaining Isla Nublar dinosaurs from the Eruption of Mt. Sibo. However his efforts were usurped by Eli Mills who would later murder him in order to control his estate.
He was the father of Charlotte Lockwood and the grandfather of Maisie Lockwood (an exact copy clone created by his daughter).
Sir Benjamin Lockwood was portrayed by American actor James Cromwell in the 2018 film Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
Background[]
Sir Benjamin Lockwood was the Master of Lockwood Manor. At an unknown point, he married an unknown woman and had a daughter Charlotte Lockwood. Charlotte was raised by Benjamin and his housekeeper Iris at the manor. Like her father, Charlotte had a great love for dinosaurs.[1]
Lockwood was business partners with Scottish businessman and billionaire John Hammond. The two were good friends and they shared a dream of bringing back dinosaurs from extinction. In order to pursue this dream, Lockwood and Hammond used their respective fortunes and built a laboratory in the subbasement of Lockwood's manor. They hired geneticist Dr. Henry Wu to aid them in the genetics work. They succeeded in 1986 and together (at some point) founded InGen, a genetics company whose goal was to continue development of cloning dinosaurs. In 1982, they acquired Isla Sorna where the dinosaurs were bred.[1]
Eventually, the company acquired Isla Nublar, where they formed Jurassic Park (after abandoning Jurassic Park: San Diego), a zoological attraction intended for tourists around the globe to see dinosaurs up close. This was to complete Lockwood and Hammond's dream and also build up the funds for the massive expenses of cloning dinosaurs.[1]
At some point prior to the Isla Nublar Incident, Charlotte visited the park. After the downfall of Jurassic Park, Charlotte continued her work on Sorna along with Wu. After Hurricane Clarissa hit the island, Charlotte returned to Lockwood Manor. She then stated that she wanted to have a child, but is unable due to her being sterile. She used her father's genetic technology in an attempt to create trials of creating a clone child of herself to give birth to.
Eventually, Hammond died in 1998 from old age and gave his blessing to an Indian billionaire named Simon Masrani, who later resurrected Isla Nublar and formed Jurassic World.[2] Masrani's company, the Masrani Global Corporation, would buy InGen and all its assets (including both Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna). In 2008, Charlotte finally succeeded after several trials to clone her daughter. The new Maisie Lockwood was born in 2008, but was at risk of a genetic disease that Charlotte had contracted. Charlotte used her technology to alter Maisie's genome, that allowed her body to eradicate the disease. Charlotte, however could not cure herself and would die in 2009, after Maisie was born. To cover up Charlotte's actions and defend her legacy, Lockwood created a story that Charlotte died in a car accident and that he used her DNA to create Maisie as his replacement daughter; he even entrusted Henry Wu (who was Charlotte's closest friend and colleague at InGen) to keep the truth about Maisie's origins as a secret from the public.[3]
From then on, Maisie was raised by Benjamin and Iris at the Lockwood Manor the same as his original daughter. However, Maisie was raised to believe that she was Benjamin's true granddaughter, unaware of her true origins. At some point either prior or after Maisie's birth, Benjamin hired businessman Eli Mills straight after graduating from college in order to manage his vast fortune and estate. In Mills' own words, this was due to once being "young an idealistic" in contrast to the world weary Lockwood. Mills, being so close to the family, knew the truth of Maisie's origins, but remained unaware of the true circumstances behind it. In 2015, after ten years of operating, Jurassic World fell in action by the Indominus rex. After the disaster in that park, Benjamin began to feel a responsibility towards the dinosaurs on the islands and sought a means to rescue them from the eruption of Mt. Sibo.[1]
At an unknown point in his life, Sir Benjamin was knighted for unknown achievements in his life (presumably either his backing in the creation of InGen or Jurassic Park or other financial means).
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom[]
Benjamin meets with Claire Dearing about bringing the dinosaurs to a safe haven. He is shown to be sick throughout the movie. He's very protective of his granddaughter and won't let her see pictures of her "mother". This is because he secretly cloned his daughter after she died, which resulted in Maisie Lockwood. He is smothered to death by Eli Mills with a pillow, after he finds out about Eli's true agenda.[1]
Fortunately, justice has been served as the auction ends up being sabotaged by Owen Grady and a Stygimoloch named Stiggy and Maisie frees the captive dinosaurs, allowing them to roam around into the mainland, and Eli gets devoured to death by Rexy.[1]
Jurassic World: Dominion[]
Upon being captured and taken to the Biosyn Sanctuary by Lewis Dodgson, Maisie was brought over to Dr. Wu, who confesses the truth to her about Charlotte's actions; he even revealed that he has saved Charlotte's video diaries about her experiments that led to the creation and birth of Maisie. Wu stated that Benjamin only created the cover story of himself using Charlotte's DNA to create Maisie, all just to ensure that nobody would taint or criminalize Charlotte for her actions.[3]
Personality[]
Sir Benjamin Lockwood as a character displays a world weary wisdom imbued with tragedy. In 2018, he was shown to be polite, cordial, and somewhat cheerful in spite of the pain experienced in his life.[1]
Trivia[]
- Sir Benjamin Lockwood is currently the only human to be murdered by another human in the franchise.
- Sir Benjamin Lockwood bears a lot in common with his business partner John Hammond. Both men have United Kingdom heritage (Hammond from Scotland, Lockwood possibly from England), grew white beards in their older age, both were bed ridden at the end of their lives, and both men backed the creation of InGen and the technology to extract dinosaur DNA from amber. Both men also were in possession of a cane which had a mosquito trapped in amber at the top.
- It is possible this cane might be the very same one John Hammond was shown with in the original Jurassic Park and that Lockwood inherited it from Hammond after his passing. However, this is not confirmed leaving it squarely in speculation.
- Another character that Sir Benjamin Lockwood bears similarities to is the novel character Norman Atherton, a geneticist and the mentor of Henry Wu. Atherton originally aided Hammond in genetics work but passed away before the main events of the novel and has made no appearances or mention in the film canon.
- Sir Benjamin's exact nationality is never stated on screen but it is assumed at the least he is of British origins. There are several possibilities as to what exactly is his nationality:
- Sir Benjamin could have been from the United Kingdom like John Hammond and then moved to the United States before the 1980s where he spent the remainder of his life, making him a UK expat / immigrant in the US.
- Sir Benjamin could be British-American with a parent of either nationality or born either in the United States or United Kingdom which could explain his residency at Lockwood Manor in the United States.
- At the very least, he is British (possibly specifically English) based on his accent which sounds like an Americanized English accent. There is also the matter of his title "Sir", a denotation of Knighthood. It is a title bestowed upon by the Monarch of the United Kingdom for those who have achieved great achievements for the realm (and exclusively to citizens of the Kingdom).
Gallery[]
Media[]
James Cromwell shares details about 'Jurassic World' sequel Larry King Now Ora.TV
References[]
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| Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Characters |
|---|
| Owen Grady • Claire Dearing • Eli Mills • Franklin Webb • Zia Rodriguez • Benjamin Lockwood • Gunnar Eversol • Ken Wheatley • Ian Malcolm • Henry Wu • Iris Carroll • Maisie Lockwood • Jack • Sherwood • Sub Pilot • Tech Operator • Helicopter Pilot • Lead Mercenary • Prop Plane Pilot • Anton Orlov • Russian Girlfriend • Russian Bidder • Philippa Thomas • Brutish Mercenary • Committee Chairman • Hero Tracker • Crewman • Another Bidder • Helicopter Mercs • Bearded Merc • Mercenaries in Tunnel • Mills' Men • Surfer 1 • Surfer 2 • Jungle Merc • Clean-Shaven Mercenary • Mustached Mercenary • Screaming Woman • Blue • Rexy • Stiggy |