'The Bride!' reminds us of one of the biggest failures in film history: the Dark Universe

There is an Internet relic that seems to me as fascinating as it is incredible, because somehow it still stands and is the representation of the failure of an entire studio: the Twitter account of the Dark Universe, where on May 22, 2017, a photo filled with stars was uploaded with the text “Witness the beginning of a #DarkUniverse” and it was never heard from again.

They didn’t even use it to promote The Mummy, which ultimately was the only film in this meager cinematic universe. But almost ten years ago it made sense: everyone was building their universe, after all. Why not aim big? The answer, sadly for them, was at the box office.

Make Mine Dark!

To understand the reason for the existence of this Dark Universe, we have to go back to 2008, when Marvel released Iron Man and, half knowing and half unintentionally, started a shared universe of movies and series that continues to this day with crossovers, references, nods, and the feeling of witnessing something truly cohesive.

Of course, everyone said, “Hey, if they can do it, we can too,” and all sorts of proposals emerged, each stranger than the last: the DC Extended Universe, the Robin Hood Universe, the Monsterverse… Seeing the trend, Universal did not hesitate to bring out their old monster movies, give them a facelift, and unite them all in a macro-saga: the Dark Universe was born, under the shadow of Marvel.

In that initial photo (which is debated whether it was made with Photoshop or by gathering all the talent in one room) were Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Sofia Boutella, Javier Bardem, and Johnny Depp. The first three starred in The Mummy, but they were already preparing for the future, with Bardem as the Monster of Frankenstein and Depp as The Invisible Man.

They even announced a good handful of movies, including The Bride of Frankenstein, Van Helsing, The Wolf Man, Dracula, The Phantom of the Opera, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Do you know how many we actually got to see? Exactly: none.

Apparently, there was so much chaos in the writers’ room where the master plots for this universe were decided that someone actually said “Let’s build the plane while we learn to fly it” (one of the worst analogies in history), in response to valid questions like “Should all monsters be villains or can they be heroes?”. They clearly didn’t have a grasp on even the most basic concepts.

The curious thing is that they could have moved forward, because The Mummy was a resounding success, grossing 410 million, but the critics mocked it so much that they decided to leave all the plots about Doctor Jekyll or the future of Tom Cruise’s character hanging, and nothing was ever heard again. A failed universe by all accounts.

In the end, it must be said, some of these movies were indeed released, but not in their original vision. The Invisible Man replaced Johnny Depp with Elisabeth Moss to deliver a powerful film about abuse in 2020, and The Bride of Frankenstein became, of course, The Bride!, which has just been released in theaters with a public reaction that, being generous, is lukewarm. Being very generous.

However, since they had the brand, they decided to take advantage of it for their theme parks: as part of the Epic Universe at Universal parks, one can take a ride through the Dark Universe, a dark world filled with terrifying creatures and monstrous experiments.

And while you’re at it, hop on a couple of attractions that are supposed to be really scary… Although, really, what is scarier than a business failure that leaves you with a half-open Twitter account? Chills.