The Mummy Producer Teases Universal's Monster Movie Universe

The upcoming reboot of The Mummy has been touted as the launch of a classic horror movie universe for Universal, with Russell Crowe's Dr. Jekyll potentially acting in a Nick Fury-type role and tying the whole world together.

While we know that Javier Bardem will play Frankenstein at some point, and Johnny Depp will play the Invisible Man, we don't have much more information about the studio's plans. Luckily, The Mummy producer Chris Morgan, who is set to pen some of the future films in the expanded universe, gave an update to Collider, revealing that each monster is intended to lead its own franchise that still feels connected to the other movies.

Morgan said that the movies will be "an homage to the originals," complete with complex characters and deeper questions about the human condition. He cited Frankenstein's connection to the industrial revolution as an example, saying that the movie could look into questions of whether or not we should play God.

"There's very human questions and worries and fears and darkness and cravings," he said, noting that this is a big part of what will set the films apart from the superhero movie universes, which he said contain characters that are too perfect to be relatable. "The monster movies are saying that everybody has darkness in them, everyone has secrets and things they are ashamed of and don't want to say, or something that feels monstrous and dangerous about them. We're kind of embracing that and saying, 'That's okay.'"

Although executives are still unsure of the order in which the movies will be released, Morgan said the studio is working on everything from The Bride of Frankenstein and Van Helsing to The Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Wolfman. "It's a real embarrassment of riches in terms of awesome, fun characters," he said, adding that the idea of doing a period film or an R-rated film is not completely off the table.

The first film in the planned universe, The Mummy, is due out June 9. While we wait to see which monster will attack the big screen next, find out what some famous movie beasts look like without their masks.