For a franchise built around monsters that raise from the grave, I guess it’s only apt that Universal’s Dark Universe is getting some life back. Well, one part of it at least.

It's been nearly a decade and a half since Mario Bros.'s disastrous first and seemingly last outing on the big screen, but now Nintendo has roped in an animated film giant to adapt their beloved video game characters for a feature film once more.

In the wake of The Mummy's poor reviews and lacklustre box office, there was lots of speculation about a possible retool of Universal's plans for its Dark Universe. However, it appears this new monster-centric cinematic universe may already have died as its top creators abandon ship.

While Universal's The Mummy reboot may have got buried in America, it wrapped up audiences in other locations, most notably China, which has helped it to become reasonably successful.

Channing Tatum may go from Magic Mike to monster hunter, as Universal is reportedly eyeing the actor to headline a Van Helsing reboot in their Dark Universe

The Fast and the Furious' lead female mainstay may be leaving the franchise if they don't create more opportunities for female characters in the franchise.

Universal's new reboot of The Mummy is not a good film, and as it also fails to make an impact at the box office, fingers are being pointed at what went wrong. And a bunch of those fingers are pointing at star Tom Cruise.

Now that The Mummy has let us take our first steps into Universal's Dark Universe, where do they go from here? I have a theory about that.