WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Renfield!Renfield’s villain Teddy Lobo and his family tease a potential Wolf Man connection, which could begin a new shared universe for Universal’s classic monsters. Renfield is technically a sequel to Universal’s 1931 Tod Browning Dracula movie, which actually kickstarted the original monster-centric cinematic universe. While Universal has yet to confirm whether the Dark Universe reboot is happening, Renfield leaves breadcrumbs for a larger cinematic universe with teasers for other monsters, connections to past Dracula and Dark Universe movies, and an open-ended future for Nicholas Hoult’s Renfield and Nicolas Cage’s Dracula.
One new Renfield character who could be setting up a bigger monster cinematic universe is Teddy Lobo (Ben Schwartz), the horror-comedy movie’s mobster villain who operates under the leadership of his mother Bella Lobo. By the end of Renfield, the powerful and wealthy Teddy teams up with Dracula and becomes his new familiar, which includes arming Teddy with supernatural abilities. While Renfield kills Teddy in a manner that expels more than blood from his body, the villain character’s larger story isn’t over. Renfield’s backstory to the Lobo crime family sets up the potential for a greater future and monster universe connection, which may link Teddy’s unseen father to Universal’s 1941 Wolf Man.
Renfield Teases That Teddy Lobo’s Father (Or Another Relative) Could Be The Wolf Man
Renfield’s Lobo gang plays up the real Spanish meaning of their surname: “Wolf.” The Lobos are seen wearing wolf masks when they attack innocent people, indicating that the wolf symbolism could go deeper than just their last name. In fact, the surname Lobo could simply be a last name created by the family’s leaders when coming to New Orleans in order to maintain their wolf identity and symbolism. While Ben Schwartz confirmed to Total Film that Teddy Lobo’s father died, as his body is displayed in a see-through coffin in the family’s headquarters, one of his Lobo ancestors could be the eponymous monster from Universal’s 1941 The Wolf Man film.
In The Wolf Man, Larry Talbot turns into a werewolf after being bitten by the Romani fortune-teller Bela (portrayed by Dracula’s Bela Lugosi) in wolf form. Perhaps coincidentally, Teddy’s mother’s name is Bella, so it’s possible that she could be a descendant of the male wolf from the 1941 movie. While Larry Talbot and Bela died in The Wolf Man’s ending, that doesn’t mean that they can’t still have a connection to Renfield’s characters. In fact, Renfield and Dracula both died in Dracula’s 1931 ending, yet both characters are alive when Renfield’s story begins. Regardless, the wolf symbolism of the Lobos can’t solely be a coincidence, as the Renfield Universal monster Easter egg makes a Wolf Man set-up seem inevitable.
Renfield’s Lobo Gang Sets Up A Wolf Man Future
If Renfield was able to retcon Dracula’s ending to keep the supernatural characters alive, then it’s possible to also retcon the fates of The Wolf Man’s Larry Talbot and Bela. It’s unlikely that either of those characters would still be alive in Renfield’s timeline, but they could have descendants who similarly became werewolves and secretly took on the Wolf Man moniker. Additionally, Bela’s surname was never confirmed in Universal’s 1941 Wolf Man movie, so he could be the werewolf ancestor of Renfield’s Lobo family.
While it’s still possible that the Lobos are connected back to Larry Talbot or Bela in The Wolf Man, Renfield’s production designer Alec Hammond revealed to Screen Rant that the Lobos have been terrorizing New Orleans for centuries. However, this could be explained by the Lobos’ ancestors being split between The Wolf Man’s Wales and Renfield’s New Orleans. Considering Renfield also fails to explain why Dracula chose to settle in New Orleans, there doesn’t need to be a good reason for why the Wolf Man also moved to this area.
Although Renfield doesn’t hint that Bella or Teddy Lobo have werewolf powers in the movie, another member of the family could still acquire them. Following Teddy’s gory death in Renfield, a possible sequel could see one of Teddy’s relatives seek revenge on Renfield and Rebecca. If so, this potential Lobo villain could fulfill the family’s Wolf Man tease by being their secret werewolf leader, perhaps the one that helped raise their criminal empire.
Will Renfield Restart The Dark Universe?
Renfield technically isn’t meant to restart the Dark Universe for Universal, but it could very well launch spinoffs and sequels featuring other classic monsters. Although Renfield debuted to mixed reviews, the box office performance will be the greatest indicator of whether the Nicolas Cage Dracula movie receives a sequel. While the movie is going up against The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Evil Dead Rise, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in upcoming weeks, Renfield could still earn enough at the box office to win back money for Universal. If Renfield hits $200 million worldwide, then the chances for a sequel or Dark Universe spinoff rise.
Although Universal has already taken chances on remaking The Mummy and The Invisible Man in recent years, a new Dark Universe based around Renfield would likely see completely different takes on these classic stories. Rather than a proper horror thriller like 2020’s The Invisible Man, a new Dark Universe movie about this character would likely repeat Renfield’s bonkers, gory, horror-comedy angle. They may not be huge hits with critics, but more Universal monster movies like The Wolf Man in the same vein as Renfield would certainly be a unique way to successfully revive this cinematic universe.
Source: Total Film