Universal made a name for themselves in the 1940s and 1950s when they brought together their classic stable of monsters in a series of “monster rally” pictures. After years of stalking European (and occasionally American) towns and villages, the likes of Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, and the Wolf Man begin to interact with and occasionally battle one another on the big screen. The studio is reviving that fine tradition this week with their latest version of The Mummy, in which we’ll see Tom Cruise dealing not only with the diabolical mummy Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella), but also the mysterious Dr. Jekyll (Russell Crowe) and his less-than-savory alter-ego. But what of other monsters beyond those mentioned above? Might we see the Phantom of the Opera or the Hunchback of Notre Dame included in future films? According to producer Alex Kurtzman, we will.
Speaking with Fandom recently about The Mummy and other future films, Kurtzman made it clear that, in addition to the Mummy, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man (Johnny Depp), Frankenstein’s Monster (Javier Bardem), the Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, Abraham Van Helsing, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Phantom and the Hunchback will also be added into the mix. This should come as little surprise, given that the aforementioned Dr. Jekyll was never apart of the original Monsterverse from the ’30s-’50s. Nor were the Mummy and the Creature.
Hunchbacks have been present in these films from almost the get-go and continued to be included in the monster rallies, although they were never actually Quasimodo. As for the Phantom, Universal never sequelized either version of that tale that they made, although one standalone film (The Climax) was originally envisioned as a follow-up to the Claude Rains iteration. Both will be welcome additions to this Dark Universe and could easily be brought to life in a single combo film of their own.
Of course all of this will only come to pass if The Mummy and 2019’s Bride of Frankenstein prove to be hits for the studio. Still, it just goes to show that they have things roughly planned out should this experiment pay off. What actors would you like to see bringing these two characters to life, should the opportunity arise?
