Just yesterday we got a look at Sofia Boutella’s Mummy, the first monster in Universal’s new shared movie monster universe, and now we might have another. Well, sans the costume and makeup for now. Variety is reporting that Oscar winner Javier Bardem is currently in talks to play the monster in the studio’s upcoming reboot of Frankenstein.
Universal has been filling out their movies with serious A-list Hollywood talent like Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe in The Mummy (the latter will play Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, setting up a spinoff), and Johnny Depp in The Invisible Man, so the casting of Bardem will certainly fit in with their seriously high-profile plans. It’s previously been rumoured that a Bride of Frankenstein movie starring Angelina Jolie has also been tossed around on the Universal backlot, though we’ve yet to hear anything concrete about it.
As for Frankenstein (which, by the way, is the name of the doctor, not the monster he creates – sorry, pet peeve), there’s no report on the film’s story details, though Variety’s sources indicate that Bardem’s monster will first be showing up in another movie before getting his own gig. Marvel have been taking the exact same approach to introduce new characters lately, and seeing as Universal pretty much got this whole shared movie universe model from them, I can’t see why they can’t follow suit on this aspect as well.
Just which movie Bardem will be showing up in though is uncertain. The Mummy will be wrapping principal photography soon, but it has a fair amount of post-production work to do before it releases in June 2017 – enough time to add in Bardem. However, with The Mummy already seemingly acting as a springboard for Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde – ironically, the role that Bardem was offered first before passing and leaving the gig open for Crowe – it’s far more likely that Frankenstein’s monster will be turning up in some capacity in 2018’s The Invisible Man.
Wherever he does show up, I can’t wait to see Bardem in action. He’s played his fair share of movie monsters already (see: No Country For Old Men, Skyfall) who not be as overtly monstrous as the names in Universal’s classic movie monster repertoire, but which were none the less every bit as horrifying and unnerving with just a bad haircut and some creep dental work. Now imagine how monstrous he can be when he’s actually a walking jugsaw puzzle of reanimated corpses?!
Last Updated: July 12, 2016
