With the full trailer for ‘The Mummy‘ having just dropped, Alex Kurtzman is full of information for those looking forward to Universal’s cinematic shared monster universe.
In an interview with Collider, Kurtman answered a few questions regarding ‘The Mummy’ as well as the other “monsters” who will inhabit the monster universe. We know that Dr. Jekyll is in the film but that brings up one of the same comparisons to ‘The Walking Dead’ – how do people not know about these monsters which have infested so many forms of our entertainment?
“That’s funny, people ask me the same question on Sleepy Hollow about Ichabod Crane, and no. I would say no. These characters do not exist as characters in novels or in films, let’s say. They are in their own universe, so these are real people in the real world.”
As to why add Dr. Jekyll in the ‘Mummy’ world:
“In looking to figure out how to place The Mummy in a larger context and setting up this organization that has actually been dealing with monsters for longer than any of us have been around, it became clear that we needed somebody to be the voice of that organization. The next thought was like, “Well, it could be Joe Mcgillicuddy, or we could actually go into another character that makes sense organically.” It was a real point of conversation with Tom. If we’re going to bring in Henry Jekyll, how is bringing Henry Jekyll into the mummy story not a detractor from the mummy story? How does Henry Jekyll become part of this story in an organic way? And part of what Tom’s character, Nick, learns about the mummy and about the history of the mummy comes through Jekyll’s very deep understanding of monsters and how monsters have existing quietly in this world for eons.”
We’ve previously heard that Dr. Jekyll could be the version of Nick Fury for this world of iconic horror which will bring so many monsters and monster hunters together and this seems to confirm that once and for all.
So, what monsters might we see down the line and will it just be the classics?
“We’re talking about the classics right now. I would say that if you want to define our mission statement, it’s to bring a very modern approach to the classic Universal Monsters. It really will be limited – at least in our thinking right now – to the monsters that you’re talking about…. [the] Creature from the Black Lagoon. I want that to be in the jungle. Okay, we’re in the Amazon. Where do you want to shoot that, on the backlot or in the Amazon? No, we have to actually go there. Okay, if we go there what’s THAT going to…? Well, now you’re talking about a big movie. You know what I mean? And there’s underwater and there’s all the things that you would look for, for something like Creature…. if you look at something like Creature, the story starts to tell you what it wants to be and how big it wants to be. The beauty of monster movies is that because they’re psychologically complicated, there are certain monsters that are better served by being really intimate and really small, and so I think the goal would be to make room for… they don’t all have to be this size, but it’s certainly good to start that way because I think that’s how we reach as many people as we can. I’d love to think we can do smaller movies too. I would.”
Can I stop right here and just say how excited I am about there being a story about the Creature potentially in the works? This will be a lot of fun if done right and is a monster that they really have a lot of room to explore.
As for the the answer to the big question of if ‘Dracula Untold’ is canon or not and the answer may surprise you!
“No.”
While I didn’t dislike Luke Evans take on the character, it also didn’t leave the largest of impacts on me. Fans of Luke Evans hoping that he would return in the role are going to have their hopes dashed as we’ll be getting another new Dracula movie, though I suspect he’ll be introduced in the proposed ‘Van Helsing’ film that we’ve heard about. That being said, it’s hard to say that rebooting the lord of the vampires again so soon is the best of ideas.
Are you looking forward to ‘The Mummy’ and everything that is coming from Universal’s shared monster universe? Let us know in the comments below!
Directed by Alex Kurtzman, ‘The Mummy’ stars Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance, and Russell Crowe. The film is scheduled for release on June 9, 2017.
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
