The Phantom and the Hunchback will also inhabit Universal’s Dark Universe

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

When you hear that Universal is rebooting their classic monster properties for an endeavor they're calling Dark Universe, a series of movies that will be connected in some way and feature iconic monsters and madmen crossing paths, there are certain characters you know have to be involved. Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, the Wolf Man, the Mummy – you know, the big ones. Then maybe the Invisible Man could join in, and there's hope that the Creature from the Black Lagoon would be in there, since the Creature missed out on the monster crossovers of yesteryear. 

Those are all obvious choices, in varying degrees, and we have had confirmation that Universal is working on new movies for most of them. Dark Universe begins with this weekend's release of THE MUMMY, starring Tom Cruise as the hero and Sofia Boutella as the title creature, and will continue with 2019's reboot of BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, starring Javier Bardem as Frankenstein's Monster. (Angelina Jolie is rumored to be in the running for the Bride herself.) Johnny Depp is signed on to play the Invisible Man, whenever he might show up, a remake of THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON is in development, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been brought up as a potential Wolf Man.

THE MUMMY does feature a surprise addition in the form of Russell Crowe as Dr. Henry Jekyll, head of a monster-tracking organization called Prodigium that will tie a lot of these movies together. Of course, Jekyll has a dangerous alter ego called Eddie Hyde. The presence of Jekyll / Hyde is somewhat unexpected, since the only Jekyll and Hyde movie Universal made in the classic monsters era was ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. (Then Hyde showed up much later in 2004's VAN HELSING, which Universal is also developing a reboot of.)

There could be more surprise additions as well. Did anyone give serious consideration to the idea that the Phantom of the Opera and/or the Hunchback of Notre Dame could be part of the Dark Universe? According to producer Alex Kurtzman, who also directed THE MUMMY and is overseeing the crafting of the Dark Universe with Chris Morgan, those characters are in the mix, too.

Speaking to Fandom, Kurtzman listed the characters they're working on right now, and hinted that there might even be monsters in the Universe that will be even more surprising than Hyde, the Phantom, and the Hunchback: 

We know we're going to do Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Phantom of the Opera, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Invisible Man.

There are characters within those films that can grow and expand and maybe even spin off. I think that digging into deep mythologies about monsters around the world is fair game for us, as well and connecting the monsters that we know to some surprising monsters could also be really interesting."

That quote is also the first time we've gotten solid confirmation that Dracula will be in these movies since the idea of tying DRACULA UNTOLD in with them was abandoned.

Some A-list actors are already part of the Dark Universe, and there are more rumored to be in consideration. When asked who he would like to see in Dark Universe movies, Kurtzman provided a list of more big names: 

I'd love to bring Michael Fassbender in, I'd love to bring Jennifer Lawrence in, I'd love to see Charlize Theron in there, Angelina Jolie…"

I would be glad to see any of them in these monster movies, but regardless of who the stars end up being, I'm totally on board to watch everything the Dark Universe has to offer.

It all begins with the release of THE MUMMY this Friday, June 9th.