A new television spot for Universal Pictures’ The Mummy has begun airing this Sunday afternoon during the NBA Playoffs. It carries a massive clue as to the cinematic universe they’ve been building.
A commercial shared back in April offered the first clue, while the newest (not online yet) gives more weight to the speculation. You see, not only could Tom Cruise be the central character in the monsters universe, but it could also include Russell Crowe, who plays Dr. Henry Jekyll. In many of the trailers, we see Jekyll’s laboratory, which looks interestingly similar to that of Victor Frankenstein’s workshop. Footage eludes to this being the heart of the future films, especially what we saw in this latest spot.
Below are two photos I took from the trailer, one that displays a vampire’s skull (could it be Dracula’s?), with the other showing Cruise’s character in front of an entire room of specimens being preserved in jars. It’s hard to see in the photo, but in the background, you can even see what looks to be the Creature’s fin from The Creature From the Black Lagoon. From the looks of the trailer, it’s hard to not see Jekyll being the Octopus to the planned films which will include The Wolf Man, The Invisible Man, and even The Bride of Frankenstein.
HUGE Spoiler Warning: Furthermore, we’re hearing that we will, in fact, see Crowe go “full Hyde” in The Mummy, while another source confirms that Cruise is being set up as the franchise’s “Van Helsing”. Allegedly, the film’s final button is tied to a shot we noticed in the trailers in which Cruise’s eyes transform much like the Mummy’s do. From what we’re told, Cruise will have both the power of good and evil inside of him throughout the Universal Monsters cinematic universe. The Mummy explains this.
In theaters June 9th, Cruise is joined in the Universal reboot by a cast including Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Star Trek Beyond), Annabelle Wallis (Annabelle, King Arthur, Peaky Blinders), Jake Johnson (Jurassic World), Russell Crowe and Courtney B. Vance (TV’s “American Crime Story: The People V. O.J. Simpson”).
Thought safely entombed in a crypt deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient queen whose destiny was unjustly taken from her is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.
From the sweeping sands of the Middle East through hidden labyrinths under modern-day London, The Mummy brings a surprising intensity and balance of wonder and thrills in an imaginative new take that ushers in a new world of gods and monsters.
