The Mummy as the fictional character first made his on-screen appearance in the 1932 Universal film The Mummy, which starred Boris Karloff as Imhotep, a 3,700-year-old cursed mummy accidentally brought back to life. Karloff’s Mummy established the character as a horror icon the likes of Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster.

For decades, The Mummy has been remembered as a slow-stalking, moaning vengeful killer, similar in gait to Frankenstein’s Monster. Universal’s Mummy films from the 1940s ramped up their horror movie line and secured the Mummy’s as an iconic cinematic monster, ready to make appearances with 1950’s comedians Abbott and Costello, in Scooby-Doo cartoons, and on cereal boxes.

In the late 1950s, the British production company Hammer began making their own string of Mummy remakes of Universal’s 1940’s offerings, but for over fifty years, The Mummy laid dormant at Universal, until 1999, when the studio once again resurrected The Mummy. This time, the bandaged figure was alive in all his full-color CGI glory in The Mummy and then again in 2001 with The Mummy Returns.

This weekend sees the release of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, the threequel to the 90’s franchise reboot starring Jet Li as a different kind of mummy.

Here’s a look at Universal’s line of Mummy movies and the undead it’s resurrected.

The Mummy (1932)

Our first on-screen look at The Mummy character was in this 1932 effort from Universal, which starred Boris Karloff as the cursed mummy Imhotep who is accidentally brought back to life by archaeologists. In this film, the revived mummy has a purpose — to search for and reunite with the reincarnation of his true love Anck-es-en-Amon, which he does under the guise of a modern-day Egyptologist named Ardath Bey. In flashbacks to Imhotep’s life in ancient Egypt, we learn what happened between the two lovers and why Imhotep was punished with a fate worse than death. The reanimated Mummy character does not actually have a lot of on-screen time in this film, but Karloff’s frightening portrayal of him as a vengeful killer obsessed with his quest is haunting and definitely the best of all the Mummy movies.

The Mummy’s Hand (1940)
The Mummy’s Tomb (1942)
The Mummy’s Ghost (1944)
The Mummy’s Curse (1944)

Several years after the success of Universal’s first Mummy movie, the studio decided to branch out, turning it into a lucrative horror franchise. While Karloff’s Mummy was chilling and haunting, the four Mummy films of the 1940s showed audiences a mummy who was more monster than man. These films established the Mummy character as the slow-moving, yet terrifying one-track-minded monster who ranked up in the horror icon annuls with Frankenstein’s Monster, The Wolfman, and Dracula. The first film, The Mummy’s Hand, was not a direct sequel to the 1932 film, but it did use some of the same elements — as well as scenes! — from the original. Gone is the Imhotep character, replaced with a new cursed mummy, Kharis (played by Tom Tyler), who goes on a killing spree after he’s awoken by opportunistic archaeologists. The remaining three films see the return of a more intelligent and plotting Kharis — now played by horror legend Lon Chaney Jr — though, he’s still pretty slow. While the 1932 Mummy was an innovation in make-up effects, the remaining four Mummy films were your classic man in a suit.

Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)

With success comes parody and Universal was smart enough to finance the comedic take-off of their Mummy franchise with this Abbott and Costello feature film. Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy was the final in a long line of films the comedy duo did for the studio, which previously had them “meet” other Universal monsters like Dracula, Wolfman, and Frankenstein’s Monster. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello play two Americans in Cairo who overhear an archaeologist talking about discovering an ancient mummy. Hoping to get a ride back to the States, the stranded Americans take on a job to chaperone the mummy — here named Klaris — to America. But before their mission begins, the archaeologist is found dead and the mummy missing. The bumbling duo is then tasked with responsibility of protecting the legend of the Mummy as well as a sacred medallion and buried treasure. The Klaris character is a direct spoof on the 1940’s films’ Kharis and of the man in a monster suit method; the spoof goes so far as to have several of the character’s end up in mummy suits!

The Mummy (1999)

The 1999 film starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz — who are fated to encounter the Mummy — is a remake of the original 1932 film, with the ancient Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) accidentally brought back to life by those pesky opportunistic archaeologists. The opening sequence is a flashback to ancient Egypt where we learn right away why and how Imhotep was mummified and buried alive with a curse placed upon him. When he awakens, he takes the lives of those who rose him from the dead so that he can shed his mummified appearance and attempt to reincarnate his former love, Anck-su-namun. Where Karloff’s film used innovative make-up application to personify its title character, the 1999 film used the advances in CGI technology to slowly turn Imhotep from a 3,000-year-old mummy into a fully fleshed man throughout the course of the movie. It also introduces other types of reanimated mummies like Priest Mummies and Warrior Mummies. Also, in this film, there’s an Ardeth Bay who is a Medjai warrior sworn to protect the mummy’s tomb; he’s not actually Imhotep himself.

The Mummy Returns (2001)

Mummy stars Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are back for this sequel, which sees them married and with a young son who accidentally brings back The Scorpion King — not a mummy, but who’s even more ancient than Imhotep. Meanwhile, an Egyptian cult purposely resurrects Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) so he can fight a giant CGI Scorpion King (in the likeness of The Rock) and take control over Anubis’s army and rule the world. This film is pretty much CGI gone wild (and bad) with the introduction of Anubis Warriors and feisty Pygmy Mummies, and of course, the PlayStation Scorpion King. While the Mummy technically does return in this second installment, he’s really not so badass; he’s basically a tool. It takes him longer to get his powers back and, unlike in the first movie, he spends most of the time in his poorly constructed CGI form, which isn’t as frightening as the previous real performances by Vosloo. Plus, his badassery is decreased by his bullying of small children, constant lovesickness, snogging, and weeping (yes, weeping).

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)

Brendan Fraser reprises his role as adventurer Rick O’Connell, who’s back to kick some ass in this third film of the rebooted franchise, along with his wife Evey (Maria Bello replacing Weisz) and their now adult son Alex (Luke Ford). The O’Connells are up against the biggest CGI battle of their life when they end up in China, where they face the resurrected Dragon Emperor (Jet Li) and his Terracotta Army. Luckily, they have help in the form of an undead army comprised of the Emperor’s old enemies, now revived to fight the Terracotta Army. Oh, and if there wasn’t enough CGI between these armies, there’s also some Yetis thrown in for good measure. Now, I know this movie has Mummy in the title and there’s a few people from the previous two Mummy films in it, but um, where’s the actual mummy? Just because someone comes back from the dead, that doesn’t make them a mummy.

But it looks like the legacy of Universal’s Mummy franchise will live on, as Bello and Ford have both signed on for three more sequels. If the filmmakers get away this Chinese-themed third movie, it seems the adventuring O’Connells might have more non-mummy CGI-fests in the future.