The Dark Universe was a planned series of monster films that were being developed and distributed by Universal Pictures. The Dark Universe was meant to serve as rebooted versions of past monster films that take place in a shared universe.
The Dark Universe was set to feature some of Hollywood's biggest stars as Universal's horror icons, including proposed castings like Johnny Depp as the Invisible Man, Javier Bardem as Frankenstein's Monster, Sofia Boutella as the Mummy, and Russell Crowe as Van Helsing.
The Dark Universe is dead and never coming back, especially with the high-profile failure of so many other cinematic universes. However, the notion of uniting assorted Universal Monsters movies (even just specific franchises like the Dracula movies or Wolfman titles) doesn't appear to be dead yet.
Why Universal's Answer To The MCU Was Dead On Arrival
Is DC a Dark Universe?
Dark Universe, also known as Justice League Dark, is a superhero film based on the DC Comics superhero team of the same name. The film is a sequel/crossover to Swamp Thing and Zatanna: Mistress of Magic. It is the thirty-fifth film in the DC Extended Universe and the ninth film of Phase Four.
The Question and Green Arrow are known for their gritty, street-level stories, and Wonder Woman and Aquaman have delved into DC's ambient darkness many times. The reality is that the DC Universe is just as "dark and mature" as the Marvel Universe, if not more so.
Summary. The marketing for 2017's The Mummy was misleading and featured unimportant details, leading viewers to have false expectations. Tom Cruise's involvement in the film was wasted as his character lacked substance and did not showcase his talents.
The Mummy writer/director Alex Kurtzmann later confirmed that Dracula Untold was not part of the “Dark Universe” canon, and The Mummy was actively marketed as the official kickoff of the universe.
Javier Bardem would appear in Frankenstein, Tom Cruise was to star opposite Sofia Boutella's Mummy, and, yes, Johnny Depp was to play the Invisible Man in his own film as well. The Dark Universe stars. And would-be stars.
Due to The Mummy's failure, all other installments planned or rumored for the Dark Universe were scrapped, making the franchise essentially dead on arrival for Universal.
During an interview with Cinemablend's ReelBlend Podcast on February 22,2020 Director Leigh Whannell stated that the movie is not part of the dark universe as stated "It was weird, this film came about in a really random way. It wasn't like I was plugged into some kind of worldbuilding.
Dark Universe is an American film studio founded in 2017 by Akiva Goldsman and Chris Morgan and owned by Universal Pictures. It produces the films of the Dark Universe, which the studio is named after.
Dracula Untold lacks any real bite. Debutant director Gary Shore shows his inexperience with hollow set pieces, a muddled tone and editing so quick and messy during the action sequences only a crack head would be able to see what's going on.
Alex Proyas was set to direct while Sam Worthington (Avatar) would play the lead, but Universal canceled the project over budget issues (via IndieWire). After it was retooled, Gary Shore came on as director, while Evans signed up as Dracula.
Despite its ambitious plot, Dracula Untold lacked gravitas. The characterization of Dracula, Mehmed, and Mirena didn't go a step beyond their stereotypical roles as anti-hero, wicked villain, and damsel in distress, respectively.
Rachel Weisz did not appear in this third installment of "The Mummy" films, and instead, her character, Evy, was played by Maria Bello. There were differing accounts as to why this happened. According to director Rob Cohen, it was because Weisz refused to portray someone with a 21-year-old son.
One explanation (via Digital Spy) for Rachel Weisz's The Mummy 3 exit was given by the sequel's director, Rob Cohen. It wasn't very flattering, as Cohen suggested Weisz balked at the idea of playing a character with an adult son, as Evie and Rick's son in the Mummy franchise was being aged up for the film.
Many issues contributed to the failure of The Mummy's 2017 reboot. However, the primary reason the movie could not even be half as successful as the 1999 one was its cast choices and how it treated its characters.
Firstly, Marvel movies have more characters that have more connections both with each other and in their storylines, while DC has a lack of continuity within their cinematic universe. Flop movies are movies that are highly unsuccessful and poorly favored, and DC has had many flop movies.
Although not the first black superhero to feature in DC Comics stories, Black Lightning was DC's first African-American superhero to headline his own series.
