A Dark Universe reboot in the year 2025? It might just work…

On May 22, 2017, Universal Pictures pointed to the heavens and said, “Witness the beginning of a Dark Universe.” By that fall, the Dark Universe had imploded. Though Tom Cruise’s The Mummy made a modest splash at the box office a few days later, the costly reboot fell short of the franchise-starting expectations Universal had set for it. Pre-production on a Bride of Frankenstein movie starring Javier Bardem was quickly halted, while development on a Johnny Depp-led Invisible Man movie was also nixed. As years went by, it was clear the further adventures of the series’ supergroup, called [checks notes] the Prodigium and led by Cruise’s beloved [checks notes again] “soldier of fortune Nick Morton,” would be left to the imagination. Fans (?) never saw the custom Dark Universe logo — complete with original fanfare by Danny Elfman! — again. Gathering the cast of a would-be Avengers-like team for a photo op to kick off a series, based on properties that originated as far back as 1913, was an undeniable swing. Universal entrusted Star Trek writer Alex Kurtzman and Fast and Furious mastermind Chris Morgan to renew the 100-year-old Universal Monsters IP for a superhero age. But by the end of the truncated process, all the studio proved was that Marvel’s MCU magic was specific, meticulous, and demanding. One could argue that the Big Bang of the Dark Universe paved the way for Universal’s more successful horror future, but as an “everything is connected” action-adventure ploy, the concept was DOA. And yet, true to the spirit of at least three of the five members of the Prodigium, the dead rise again. The Dark Universe is back in 2025. Just totally different. And not all from the same studio. But if it looks like a Dark Universe and it smells like a Dark Universe, well, it’s a Dark Universe. A few years after the Mummy debacle, Universal’s relationship with Jason Blum’s Blumhouse production company opened the door for a new take on the Universal Monsters. The Invisible Man, written and directed by Leigh Whannell (Upgrade, Saw), scaled back the property to its human-level roots, with a mix of classic scares and domestic strife. Despite opening in theaters just as COVID-19 forced the shutdown of most public spaces in the United States, The Invisible Man made a dent at the box office, paving the way for a new slate of monster movies that relies less on epic scale and a connected universe. [Media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29v1phATBSo] Those follow-ups finally hit theaters in 2025. First up is Wolf Man, a reimagining of Universal’s lycanthropic drama from 1941, also from Whannell. Originally envisioned as a vehicle for Ryan Gosling (who pivoted to producing the movie), Wolf Man stars indie darling Christopher Abbott (Poor Things) as the titular man morphing into a wolf man, and Julia Garner (Ozark) as a woman who wishes her husband was not morphing into a wolf man. Much like the ’41 film, Whannell’s take appears to go hard on the tragedy of the situation, with Abbott begging his family to run for cover. The Shining but with a snarling, only slightly hairier antagonist? It could work! Not every project that emerged in the wake of The Invisible Man’s success will see the light of day — Universal pulled the plug on a new take on Dracula from Jennifer’s Body director Karyn Kusama just before filming — but more are still taking shape, including a Creature from the Black Lagoon reboot from James Wan. But as 2025 is set to prove, the new Dark Universe is even bigger than Universal Pictures itself. In September, Warner Bros. Pictures will premiere The Bride!, an update on Bride of Frankenstein from actor turned filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter). While inspired by Universal’s own Bride of Frankenstein film from 1935, the new adaptation is said to draw more influence from Mary Shelley’s original Frankenstein novel… which does not include a Bride of Frankenstein, but hey, that’s for the lawyers to figure out. Jessie Buckley (Men) stars as the Bride, Christian Bale is Frankenstein’s monster, and the vibe is grungy. It could work! [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/bride_jessie_buckley.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all] [Image: (Top) Jessie Buckley as the Bride; (bottom) Christian Bale as Frankenstein’s monster from The Bride! https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/bride_frankenstein_Niko-Tavernise.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] And, somehow, that’s not our only take on the material this year. Originally The Bride! was set up at Netflix, until the streamer decided to pursue and produce a different adaptation: Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. That film has Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi as his creation, with Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz rounding out the cast. The first stills from the film make it look like a long-lost sequel to Myst — but who wouldn’t want to see Guillermo del Toro’s Myst? It’s unclear if The Bride! will beat Frankenstein to screens, or which film will click with the masses, but one thing is clear: Anyone investing in neck bolts is about to have an amazing 2025. An explosion of monster movies might not be enough to say the Dark Universe is truly alive again, but it’s Universal Studios, not Pictures, that will make it definitive with the launch of its new park, Epic Universe, with a land dedicated to creature features. When the new park opens in Orlando, Florida, on May 22, visitors will have the chance to step into a world actually, seriously for reals, called “Dark Universe.” [Media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgoJT_mrn1E&t=3s] Based on how huge Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights have become at Universal Studios proper, it’s a no-brainer that the company would carve out part of a new park just for horror freaks. But instead of being a stage for Five Nights at Freddy’s or M3GAN, the pitch for the Dark Universe land is all spooky nostalgia. The main attraction is “Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment,” a dark ride filled with hyper-detailed animatronics and set-pieces starring Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, Gill-Man, Wolf Man, and more. It really could work! And maybe provide the movie studio the momentum it needs to bring other characters back to the big screen. The swing of the Dark Universe park feels as humongous as, if not bigger than, the ill-fated shared movie universe — development of the new Epic Universe attractions and hotels has reportedly cost parent company Comcast $6-7 billion. But the brains behind it were right to lift the name from the dead franchise: There’s something to a Dark Universe, whether it’s movies, parks, or something else entirely. If these enduring monsters could work again, 2025 will test the theory, minus Nick Morton.