Part 1, Part 2
Having laid out most of the groundwork in the previous two articles, let's just get down to brass tacks and come up with some prospective ideas for the individual films of this speculative Dark Universe. Just a reminder; these are period films very much in the gothic horror adventure mold. Van Helsing and Mina Harker are veteran monster hunters and Dracula is building up a cult of followers and fellow monsters to achieve some dark end. This list is roughly in the order I would release the movies in.
With that being said, let's start in the same place as the actual Dark Universe...
The Mummy
You know, it's really a shame that the Tom Cruise Mummy flopped, because it is the perfect thing to kick off a monster-based cinematic universe. It's well-known enough that people know what it is, but vague enough that you can play around with it. That movie's failure is our gain though, so let's take advantage of what that film didn't. Obviously, we're going to need a Mummy. The classic is the Ancient Egyptian sorcerer, entombed against his will as punishment for some heinous crime, and doomed to rise from the dead should he be removed from his tomb. Of course, that would be where the movie starts. Plus, there's always been an element of orientalism and appropriation inherent to Mummy stories that's rarely addressed. Let's lean into that angle. Some dumb white archaeologists dig up the mummy, take him home (Paris in this case), and then he wakes up. Our mummy, disgusted at the sight of his culture and particularly the body of his girlfriend the princess on display in a museum, vows to use his sorcery to get revenge on the modern world. After he regains his strength by sucking out people's souls.
On the other side, we have our hero who instead of being the usual square-jawed white guy is actually Egyptian himself. He'll get involved in the plot because he's an amoral smuggler and guide who leads rich white people to undiscovered tombs. Like the one our sorcerer mummy was found in. Don't worry, he's got a heart of gold though. The love interest will chew him out for selling out his own culture, which will start him on an arc to embrace his heritage just in time to defeat the mummy. See, now we have thematic conflict between our protagonist who is out of touch with his culture and and our antagonist who's so steeped in it that he's going to take revenge on the world for it. That's what you build a movie off of!
Also, when the supernatural stuff starts happening a mysterious British woman in red will appear to help our heroes. She introduces herself as Ms. Murray and seems very knowledgable about monster stuff. When the heroes remark on this, she'll tug her collar and say, "Is that so?" Then in a post-credits scene, we'll see Ms. Murray taking the mummy's remains with her back to London where a dock worker will ask, "Is that your only luggage Ms..." to which she'll finish, "Harker. Mina Harker." And lo, a Dark Universe is begun!
Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein
Frankenstein presents an issue because for both the doctor and the creature, there's two ways you can go. For Dr. Frankenstein, you can go with the more novel-accurate version where he was a man with good intentions who was horrified by what he'd done but still refused to accept responsibility or you can go with the Hammer Peter Cushing version where he's a cruel and evil bastard who spits in the eye of god and society like it's going out of style. And for the creature, you can go with the more novel-accurate well-read and articulate abandoned son or the more well-known Boris Karloff version who's simpler and like the Hulk. Good news is though, we can have our cake and eat it too by doing both versions of both of these characters!
The creature is easy. He can start off more like the Karloff version and grow into the novel version over the course of the first movie. As for the doctor, it's even easier thanks to Dr. Praetorius. If you haven't seen the original Bride of Frankenstein, Praetorius is another mad scientist but one who lacks Dr. Frankenstein's sense of right and wrong. He's the one who actually blackmails Dr. Frankenstein into making the Bride. So Praetorius can be our Peter Cushing Frankenstein, acting as a kind of twisted mentor and devil on the shoulder to the more good intentioned Victor Frankenstein.
I see these as two complimentary movies. The first follows the well-known story of Dr. Frankenstein and Igor pursuing their experiment with extra prodding by Praetorius. They succeed, but like the novel, Dr. Frankenstein is appalled by what he's done and the creature escapes, scared and childlike. Praetorius sends Igor out to find the monster, who grows more intelligent and thoughtful over the course of the film. The monster returns to seek a reconciliation with the doctor. Frankenstein considers it but is pushed by Praetorius to destroy the monster instead. Torches, a mob, and a burning windmill ensue. Basically a fusion of the novel and the original Karloff film.
Then in Bride, Praetorius convinces Frankenstein to try again. They'll get it right this time. Maybe a woman will work better. So they begin creating the Bride together when the Creature reappears. He and Frankenstein agree to a truce. When the Bride is complete, the creature will take her and go, never bothering Frankenstein again. But over the course of the movie, they actually achieve the reconciliation the creature was seeking and Frankenstein actually owns up to the responsibility he kept abdicating in the novel. Just in time for Praetorius to kill him, steal all his research and run off with the Bride to go join Dracula. Or the Bride could kill him and join Dracula on her own, depending on how intelligent she becomes by the end of the movie and how popular a villain Praetorius becomes.
The Wolf Man
I was actually stumped by what to do with the Wolf Man at first. There have been so many werewolf movies since that there's just not a lot of new ground you can cover with this monster. Don't get me wrong, he's still a classic character and his theme of man struggling against his bestial nature is timeless, I just don't think there's many new directions you can take it narratively. That being said, you can make an old story feel fresh by changing the setting. So inspired by Benicio Del Toro's casting in the Wolf Man remake back in 2010, why not a Latin American setting? Specifically, Mexico. Change up the details, like have the main character be cursed by a Coffin Joe style brujo instead of an old gypsy woman, dig into Mayan & Aztec folklore about people changing into animals, get some veteran and up and coming Latinx talent to fill out the cast, and you've made an old story feel new. Personally, I think Diego Luna from Rogue One would be great in the title role. And hey, given the period setting this is right around the Mexican Revolution. There's got to be some fun possibilities there.
Creature From the Black Lagoon
This was another one I struggled with because Guillermo Del Toro just made what is probably the best Creature movie with The Shape of Water. But thinking on it a little, I realized that the Creature falls into the same mold as King Kong. Back in the 30s and 50s the monster was dangerous in and of itself, so no one cared about casting it as the villain. But nowadays we're more inclined to be on the side of Kong or the Creature, recognizing it as an animal who's just trying to respond to the invasion of its home. Let's stick with that angle then and follow along with the Kong remakes. We'll follow an expedition to the Black Lagoon, probably one looking for gold or treasure, and they'll encounter the creature. Half of the explorers will be on the Creature's side, thinking it's a marvel of science that should be left alone in peace, and the other half want to capture and bring it back to civilization. And of course, the pretty girl will be on the pro-creature side, even after it kind of kidnaps her. They'll have a kinship, though probably not to the the extent of Shape of Water. With a really good updated design for the creature, that would be a solid monster movie.
Phantom of the Opera
The biggest problem facing any new take on Phantom of the Opera is escaping the shadow of the musical. I think this is the reason why no one's tried to do another movie since Joel Schumacher's adaptation. Quickest solution to that? Play up the Phantom as more monstrous and a clear villain. Go back to the classic Lon Chaney version and make his deformity gruesome. Make it clear this isn't a guy who'll be crooning "Music of the Night." Then you can just play out the classic story of the Phantom trying to kidnap/seduce and possess Christine with Raoul and whoever getting in his way. Use the angle of the Phantom being a mechanical genius and fill his lair with Saw-style death traps. Give him really elaborate kills. Hell, go back to the original novel and bring back stuff nobody uses like the Persian trying to hunt the Phantom down. Make him an associate of Mina and Van Helsing's. Or just use Mina, she knows a thing or two about dramatic dudes in opera capes trying to seduce and possess you. The Phantom can even still have his realization at the end and let Christine go, just in time for Dracula to swoop in and take advantage of his grief to recruit the Phantom's mechanical genius to his cause. Probably with a, "We're not so different, you and I..." from Dracula. Then if you must, you can give the Phantom a face turn in the big Monster Mash crossover where seeing how horrible Dracula is, and understanding that they aren't that different, inspires him to betray Dracula and defect.
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Alright, if we turned Phantom into a Gothic Horror comic book equivalent of a Saw movie, then we're going to make Jekyll & Hyde our Romantic drama. It actually works really well if you think about. Henry Jekyll, young upstanding doctor with a dark side he keeps hidden falls in love with some beautiful Scottish ingenue (Jekyll & Hyde actually takes place in Edinburgh). But he doesn't feel he deserves her because of all the bad impulses and feelings he's keeping bottled up inside. To cut a long story short, he drinks his juice and starts turning into Edward Hyde. Then we can do a reverse Superman love triangle, where the girl loves Jekyll and wishes he'd show some backbone but she loathes Hyde because he's a violent, pervy weirdo who won't stop harassing her (because Hyde's acting out Jekyll's repressed sexual urges, don't you know). We could even draw from that episode of Star Trek where the transporter made two Kirks, a meek one and an aggressive one, and have Jekyll grow even more milquetoast over the course of the film while Hyde gets stronger. Eventually, there will even be a risk of Hyde subsuming Jekyll entirely, leaving the monster completely unrestrained, and Jekyll will need to integrate Hyde back into himself to save his own life and his lady love's. It would be a good adaptation of the novel's themes and play into the larger question of this speculative Dark Universe, that being "What makes a monster?"
The Invisible Man
This is one I'd wait on making until we did Frankenstein or Jekyll & Hyde. See we'd introduce Dr. Griffin in one of those movies as a minor character, a lab assistant to one of the other mad doctors, who's be inspired to go and follow his own research from their example (and possibly Dracula's). So in this movie, we'd follow Griffin as he went back home, perfected his invisibility formula, and set out on his quest to conquer the world. The Invisible Man would kind of be the start of our Phase 2, where the events of the previous films (and the yet unseen events of Dracula) are beginning to influence other people. In that effect, our Griffin is representative of the worst kind of transhumanist. Someone who has moved beyond humanity physically but not mentally, using his new powers to dominate and terrorize what he sees as his inferiors. Though he'll be defeated in the end, or not, this will be the first sign that people are quite willing to make themselves into monsters.
Dracula
In terms of Marvel movies, Dracula would be our Captain America: The First Avenger. It's the last or next-to-last movie before the big crossover and it's mostly a flashback to establish the roots of the big conflict that's going to unfold in the crossover. Mostly this would play out like the novel, but with an added sense of gravitas to everything Dracula is doing. He's not just entering back into the world like in the novel, he's mobilizing his forces and establishing a beachhead. Whatever the big ultimate plot of his and his followers should be put into motion here. Dracula's threat isn't just that he's one powerful monster, his threat is that he's very powerful monster who is about to usher in a new age of monsters. Just like Captain America ushered in the age of Marvel heroes. Other than that, this movie is where we clear up some mysteries about our universe's so far supporting cast now that they're center stage. Taking a cue from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, what's Mina hiding under that red scarf she always wears? How did Van Helsing get his limp (or lose his hand. Van Helsing's got to have some kind of badass debilitating injury)? What was Renfield like before Dracula brainwashed him and turned him crazy? This is where we would get those answers. Oh, and because Mina's friend Lucy has too many suitors in the book, we're going to cut Arthur Holmwood and keep Quincey Morris. Because when the choice is between upper-class British guy and Texas cowboy, I know which is more entertaining to see fight a vampire.
And here just a few possible monsters and franchises that aren't essentials, but that I think would be fun additions to the Dark Universe...
The Island of Doctor Moreau
Richard Stanley, original director of the ill-fated 1996 Marlon Brando version, has said he wants another crack at this, but if he doesn't get the opportunity it could be folded into the Dark Universe easily enough. Perhaps we could introduce the good doctor in another film, like the above-mentioned Griffin, but we learn here that's he retreated to his island to study human-animal hybrids. Perhaps he's been inspired by tales he's heard of the Wolf Man or the Creature of the Black Lagoon. Plus, it lets you turn things on its head. Like maybe at first the audience and the protagonist would be more on Moreau's side and be frightened by his hybrid creations, but over the course of the story we see they are more human then their appearance belies and the real monster of this story is Moreau, who lords over his creations to fulfill a god complex. You could even add in some social commentary by making our shipwrecked protagonist a black man and casting Moreau as the whitest old white guy you can find, make some colonialist parallels. H.G. Wells, who wrote the original book, would certainly approve of that.
The Creeper
This one requires some explanation. The Creeper was a character created for one of Universal's popular Sherlock Holmes movies which were made at the same time as their classic horror films. It was meant as one-off thing, just a thug for the movie's main villain, but actor Rondo Hatton made such an impression as the character, combined with his large and striking appearance due to acromegaly, that Universal spun the Creeper off into two movies of his own. There were plans for more but Hatton sadly passed away from complications of his condition. But through the power of prosthetic make-up, we can revive the Creeper! I think there's a lot of potential here. The interesting thing about the Creeper is that aside from immense strength and size, he's totally human. He's also much smarter and more perceptive than his ugly mug leads people to believe. I see him as a Boba Fett type, a morally grey anti-hero who can appear in any of the films. Maybe he's working for the heroes this time, maybe he's working for the villains. Depends on the situation. If the character proves popular enough, he could even have his own spin-off. Like maybe some rich jerk hires the Creeper to do some dirty work so the rich guy can maintain a good image, but the Creeper ends up exposing the rich guy because what he was hired to do crosses the Creeper's code. You know, something that plays into our running theme of "What exactly makes a monster?"
This Island Earth (the Metaluna Mutant)
Okay, this is a far-out idea but hear me out. I remember back in the day when they were still making march for the Universal Monsters that they included the Metaluna Mutant from the 1955 sci-fi movie This Island Earth, so he counts as far as I'm concerned. But despite the amazing monster design (seriously, that is one of the all-time great movie aliens) the Mutant only shows up at the end of the movie and doesn't do much. Clearly, this injustice must be avenged. Now I'm under no delusions that this isn't a tough sell. A movie based around the Mutant in the Dark Universe would be even more out there than Guardians of the Galaxy was for Marvel. With the right fudging though, I think it could work. Keep it in the Victorian period, draw on some era-appropriate material like War of the Worlds, The Coming Race, even a little John Carter of Mars, maybe even port over the story from the original movie but play up the "Dying race" and "Mutant uprising" parts of it more. Heck, you can even have the characters in the movie comment on how weird and out of place the whole thing is. One of our seasoned monster hunters could show up, prepared to battle another beast from folklore, only to be caught completely off guard by that thing. I'm telling you, there's potential here.
Those are just a few ideas I came up while brainstorming for this project. They all feel like good starting places for individual films and the Dark Universe as a whole. But even if Universal doesn't do anything resembling my thoughts, I hope they don't sit on the Dark Universe. It's still a project with a lot of potential to renew their Monsters brand and make some interesting and different horror blockbusters. Thank you for reading.
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