As a response to Marvel and DC, Universal is creating its own universe of films. Instead of superheroes, it will be the classic Universal Monsters that make up the team, starting with The Mummy, releasing this week.
Dracula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Mummy, Invisible Man are but a few of the big names out of the Universal Monsters roster. Starting from the 1920s, a string of horror/sci-fi films featuring monsters both original and adapted from literature has since made its mark on pop culture. With Dark Universe, Universal wishes to revive the classic monsters and bring back the glory days.
Planned Dark Universe characters with their solo movies entries include Bride of Frankenstein, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Invisible Man, Van Helsing, and Wolf Man. Confirmed cast recently got together for a photoshoot, with (from left) Russell Crowe as Dr. Henry Jekyll, Javier Bardem as Frankenstein’s Monster, Tom Cruise as Nick Morton, Johnny Depp as the Invisible Man, and Sofia Boutella as the mummy Ahmanet.
While the Brendan Fraser-led The Mummy from 1999 is more or less a remake of the 1932 classic, with some Indiana-Jones adventure flavors, the new one is almost completely different save for the fact that there is a mummy. Cruise plays Nick Morton, who is on an expedition that accidentally unleashes Ahmanet, an ancient princess with destructible powers and a grudge, upon the modern world. Assumed dead during a plane crash, Morton comes back to life, seeming gaining supernatural powers in the process. Joining forces with the mysterious Dr. Jekyll, he has to stop Ahmanet’s rampage that threaten to bring unknown terrors to humanity.
