The idea of a shared universe featuring Universal's classic horror icons is genius. After all, Universal was technically the first one to create a cinematic universe back in the Golden Age of Horror. It resulted in crossover films like Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man.
So when Universal announced the Dark Universe, people were excited. However, after The Mummy reboot from 2017, the Dark Universe seems to be at an indefinite halt. Not only was it critically panned but it was a very low box-office film. So what went wrong so quickly and what can be done to mend the damages?
Fail: Constant Changing Of Plans
Originally, it was intended that Dracula Untold was going to be the first movie of the Dark Universe. When that movie did not perform as well, Universal quickly ousted it from the plans and restarted.
So then it was up to The Mummy to be the Iron Man of the Dark Universe. It performed even worse so Universal stopped. Dracula Untold should have never been erased. Universal kept scrambling which resulted in a rushed universe.
Fix: Plan Ahead
While Kevin Feige had to make some challenges as he went, the Marvel Cinematic Universe still had a plan. It followed that plan, took its time, and it resulted in over ten years of greatness with multiple crossovers.
If Universal just takes the time to plan out the Dark Universe, it can still work. Even if a movie ends up not being a fan-favorite, there's no need to constantly change plans.
Fail: Is Dracula Untold Canon Or Not?
Dracula Untold was an unfortunate box office flop but over the years, it has grown a cult following. It created one of the best film incarnations of Dracula, mixing superhero-esque action with the dark gothic elements that make universal famous. It also set up more to come.
So it comes off as a slap to the face when Universal just abandoned that story. Dracula's abilities would have been perfect for any future crossover that Dark Universe had in mind. Unfortunately, Dracula Untold kept being removed and reinstalled into canon to the point of just confusing people.
Fix: Bring Back Luke Evans
So how should Universal fix this? By returning to Luke Evans' Dracula with a sequel down the line. Bring back Charles Dance's character from Dracula Untold to finish off whatever story they were setting up.
Maybe add some easter eggs and a post-credit stinger to set up a crossover or another monster. However, do not go overboard with the Dark Universe tie-ins. Speaking of...
Fail: Too Much Universe Building At Once
The single biggest problem that The Mummy (2017) had was that it pushed a cinematic universe too hard. In one movie, it tried to introduce two mummies with Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella but it added Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde along with a SHIELD-esque organization.
The Jekyll and Hyde character should have been a mystery character until the ending. The small connection to the Brendan Fraser movies was a nice touch but everything else felt overblown. Dracula Untold was self-contained and focused on being a reboot of Dracula and then had a last-second teaser for a sequel: a proper way of doing things.
Fix: Connect To The Wolfman (2010)
Another cult film by Universal was the reboot of The Wolfman from 2010 starring Benicio Del Toro. No other reboot of Universal's monsters felt as well-rounded as The Wolfman was. It kept many elements that made the original classic work while updating enough to distinguish it.
It was dark, bloody, and matched the gothic atmosphere that should come from Universal. So if Dark Universe could find a way to organically connect to the events of that movie? It would allow for many more possibilities.
Fail: Too Soon For The Mummy
Many can agree, The Mummy should have been saved for down the line. Granted, it was revealed that the 2017 movie and the Brendan Fraser movies exist in the same universe. This was one of the only decent things to come out of that movie.
However, the Brendan Fraser movies are beloved classics (ignoring the third movie) that were still somewhat fresh in people's minds. So this immediately led to stigma against the Tom Cruise movie from the beginning. The Mummy should have been one of the last monsters to get introduced after fans enjoyed other monsters.
Fix: Don't Retcon Anything
If Dark Universe ever decides to pick things back up and continue with more movies: do not retcon anything. Comparing things to Marvel again, not every movie is beloved and some even resulted in backlash including Captain Marvel and Iron Man 3.
Kevin Feige did not choose to erase those movies from the timeline. Instead, Feige just worked with directors to fix the aftermath of those films. Universal needs to do the same: bring back Tom Cruise's character if possible and do things better in a follow-up.
Fail: Not Enough Dark Elements
It is understandable to add more action since Dark Universe was seemingly building up to an Avengers-style crossover with the monsters. However, the Universal monsters are horror-based at the end of the day.
Dracula Untold kept these things well-balanced to create a dark epic. Whereas The Mummy tried too hard to be a light-hearted action film with a bunch of comedy to seemingly copy the style of some Marvel films. This does not work for The Mummy. The darkest element of the movie was the titular villain but she was overshadowed.
Fix: Focus On Other Monsters
Even before Dark Universe, characters like Dracula and Frankenstein were overused. It was a good choice that Dark Universe had planned to skip the Frankenstein story and skip to Bride Of Frankenstein starring Angelina Jolie and Javier Bardem.
Focus on that, bring in the Creature From The Black Lagoon who has never had a reboot, introduce a Dark Universe version of The Invisible Man. Add post-credit teasers for Luke Evans' Dracula and other monsters and things would flow much better.
NEXT: Universal Monsters: 5 Monsters Who Deserve A Modern Reboot (& 5 Who Don't)