There is precedent for Dr. Ian Malcolm to be dead in this universe, however, as he spends most of Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park dying slowly and is retconned back in the sequel book by the author after fans loved Jeff Goldblum’s take in the movie.
Clearly, Dr. Ian Malcolm getting killed would have changed the Jurassic Park franchise as a whole, as Dr. Ian Malcolm became a fan-favorite character and the lead in the follow-up The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
Still, even before Jeff Goldblum knew the character was going to be iconic, it’s difficult to see how he’d go for lawyer Gennaro’s lot, which in the movie ended up being dying while sitting on a toilet.