Just like any shared universe, there are huge stars attached to the lead role. Universal’s Monsters Universe is really shaping up to be something that could stand beside competing studios and their shared universes. Tom Cruise will be playing a Navy Seal who must battle a rampaging mummy (Sofia Boutella) in the Iraqi desert in the reboot of The Mummy. Russell Crowe will make a cameo appearance as Dr. Jekyll, and Johnny Depp will be The Invisible Man. The Wolfman, which has Aaron Guzikowski (Prisoners) penning the script, is currently eyeing Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to play the titular character.

Now there is word, that another major actor will be joining the classic monsters universe. Reports are that Javier Bardem will play a Frankenstein role in the rebooted universe. More on the story below.

Variety was the first to break the original news that Bardem would be joining the project, which was then supplemented by a supporting post on Twitter by its reporter Justin Kroll:

It’s not clear if the Frankenstein monster will make an appearance in The Mummy, coming to theaters June 2017. However, it is very likely that we could see him in a different monster movie before he appears in his own. Should that happen, his role could amount to that of a cameo in The Mummy, much like Crowe’s Dr. Jekyll; however, that is just speculation. Production on The Mummy will be wrapping up very soon, so there is some time to squeeze in a cameo, but having two of them could make it feel like Universal is forcing a shared universe inorganically, and we all saw the result of that when films tried (and ultimately failed) to launch their owned shared universe. Universal is also developing a Bride Of Frankenstein feature, which now seems to be all but confirmed based on previous reports. This wouldn’t be the first time that Bardem has been approached to be a part of this shared universe. According to the report, an offer was originally made for the actor to play Dr. Jekyll.

We’ve all seen how Bardem can get lost in the characters he plays, so it should be fun to see what he does as the Monster. But with the monster cast, it should be interesting to see who will be cast as the creator, Dr. Victor Frankenstein.

Bardem’s upcoming projects include Darren Aronofsky’s untitled film opposite Jennifer Lawrence, and appearing alongside Johnny Depp in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, which bows next summer. No word yet on when a Frankenstein film will be released, but we will keep you posted when that news arrives.

[Source: Variety]