In The Mummy Returns, Rick and Evie O'Connell have a son named Alex, but his existence creates a plot hole in the franchise's timeline. One of Universal Pictures' classic monsters, The Mummy was originally played by genre legend Boris Karloff in 1932, and would go on to appear in five subsequent films. Then, the franchise spent decades sitting in hibernation, not producing another film for over 40 years after the release of the comedic Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy.
That was until 1999, when Universal decided to resurrect The Mummy for a new generation, albeit leaning much more toward the action/adventure side of the movie spectrum than the franchise's horror roots. Brendan Fraser starred as American man of action Rick O'Connell, an Indiana Jones-esque adventurer with a talent for getting himself both into and out of trouble. Rachel Weisz starred opposite Fraser as Evelyn "Evie" Carnahan, an Egyptologist who enlists Rick to find the fabled city of Hamunaptra. Along the way, the two fall in love, and were married by the time 2001 sequel The Mummy Returns came around.
While drawing mixed reviews, both The Mummy and The Mummy Returns were huge hits, and succeeded in both rejuvenating Fraser's career and launching Weisz's. That said, there's several aspects about The Mummy Returns' plot that don't really make sense, one of which revolves around Rick and Evie's young son Alex.
The Mummy Returns: Rick & Evie's Son Created A Plot Hole
Alex O'Connell, as played in The Mummy Returns by Freddy Boath, accompanies his parents on an expedition that lead to the discovery of an ancient artifact called The Bracelet of Anubis. Being a bored kid, Alex makes the monumental mistake of putting on the item, which begins a chain of events that will awaken a powerful warrior known as The Scorpion King. The story gets more convoluted from there, but suffice to say Alex goes through a lot. However, his very existence is a plot hole.
In The Mummy Returns, it's stated that Alex is 8-years-old. The sequel is set in 1933. The problem is that while The Mummy's prologue with Rick in Hamunaptra takes place in 1923, Rick doesn't meet Evie until three years later, in 1926, the year in which the bulk of the film is set. For Alex to be 8 in 1933, he would need to have been born no later than 1925, one year before his parents even met. It's a glaring timeline flaw, and while it might not be too noticeable to the casual viewer, it'll definitely be apparent to diehard fans of the franchise. This error becomes all the more inexplicable when one remembers that the same person - Stephen Sommers - wrote and directed both films.