‘The Mummy’ Resurrects The Original Cinematic Universe

There is, however, some very cool news for fans of the original films. We asked Kurtzman if there’s any chance that the original films might be considered canon.

“You know what?” said Kurtzman, initially hesitant about the answer, “I will say, absolutely. Those movies exist in continuity.”

Very cool news indeed! The interview as a whole is great and definitely worth checking out. That said, there are a few nuggets within that stuck out for me. The first was the above revelation that the original 30+ films from the 1920s through the 1950s will be considered a part of it all. Not only does this make a monster maniac such as myself smile, but it puts everything we have read about this coming cinematic universe in a new light.

First off, it makes Kurtzman’s Mummy the seventh film in that particular monster franchise and the first new entry since 1955’s Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy. Sorry Brendan Fraser fans, but those films don’t count here, nor will Dracula Untold. Will previous mummies Imhotep, Kharis, or Klaris be mentioned? Could Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) even revive them as well in a future film? The possibilities in just this corner of the Monsterverse alone are endless.

With all of the old films canon, this also means that Russell Crowe’s sinister Jekyll is quite likely the descendant of Boris Karloff’s Dr. Henry Jekyll from 1953’s Abbott & Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. How wild is that?

Carrying on from this, we also have the following potential elements at play. Mind you this is simply speculation on my part at this point, but with Kurtzman declaring the originals canon, the following could potentially hold true…

• Whoever is cast as Dracula will be playing the exact same version of the character previously essayed by Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., and John Carradine.
• Those cast as Frankenstein’s Monster and the Bride will also likely be picking up where their B&W-era counterparts left off, unless our new Dr. Frankenstein (a descendant?) builds new fiends.
• Johnny Depp’s Invisible Man will no doubt stumble onto Dr. Jack Griffin’s formula from the 1933 original.
• Given the ending of The Creature Walks Among Us, it’s safe to assume that the titular beastie in the new Creature from the Black Lagoon film will simply be another specimen of the same rare species of Gill-man.
• Our new Van Helsing, whoever he or she ends up being, now seems certain to be a descendant of Edward Van Sloan’s character from Dracula and Dracula’s Daughter.

The Wolf Man is the big question mark for me now. Will our new Wolf Man be a new character? A descendant of Larry Talbot? Or will he actually prove to be the undying Larry Talbot himself? Personally, I’m hoping for the latter.

The “world of gods & monsters” that will be unleashed into cinemas next June might not be a “new” one, but it is an exciting one filled with numerous possibilities. It’s too early to tell if Kurtzman’s Tom Cruise-starrer will be worthy of the legacy it is carrying on from, but the fact that they actually seem intent on learning from past mistakes (2004’s Van Helsing) and treating these properties with respect goes a long way to assuaging my fears. After all, this is the original cinematic universe, beating out Marvel, DC, and even Godzilla by decades. It would be nice to see it thrive once more by being reborn within a good film.

Of course, it also helps that the trailer itself looks pretty good. I haven’t even touched upon the look of the film, it’s apparent tone, the fact that Cruise clearly dies and is somehow resurrected, or the secretive nature of Jekyll and his monster-savvy consortium. The most important thing that a trailer can do beyond just visually enticing you is to make you even more curious about the film’s story. This preview certainly accomplished that for me…