Wolf Man Producer Confirms How New Reboot Connects to Dark Universe

Producer Ken Kao explains why the new movie will be a standalone experience.

By Patrick Cavanaugh

In some of his earliest cinematic appearances, the character of The Wolf Man collided with a number of other beloved figures in the roster of Universal Monsters, but for the upcoming Wolf Man from director Leigh Whannell, fans should expect a standalone experience akin to Whannell's The Invisible Man. With four years having passed since Invisible Man's release and seven years having passed since Universal Pictures announced its Dark Universe, fans have wondered what to expect from the new take on the material, though producer Ken Kao likened the experience to how Joker was a unique experience that wasn't connected to the rest of what was happening in DC at the time.

"As an outsider, I would say that The Mummy's Dark Universe, in my humble opinion, felt like it was reactive to what was going on with all the superhero stuff -- the MCU and DC universe," Kao shared with Screen Rant of his approach to Wolf Man. "And we know there's been a lot of talk about what happened with all that [in] the last year or so. I guess you could call it maybe more like the Joker approach. In my opinion, especially if you're going to do it for contained pieces, like Blumhouse is really good at doing, [it] makes a lot more sense to me. So that's a good playbook."

While the official answer of who belongs to the Universal Monster roster comes with some debate among fans, it's largely believed that Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, the Mummy, the Wolf Man, the Phantom of the Opera, the Invisible Man, and the Creature From the Black Lagoon are the key fixtures of the lineup. The late '90s and early '00s saw The Mummy revived with a movie series starring Brendan Fraser, while 2010's The Wolfman enlisted Benicio del Toro to star in a new take on the material. In 2014, Dracula Untold was meant to serve as an origin story for that iconic character.

Despite those previously mentioned instances, the Universal Monsters as a whole have been dormant on the big screen for decades, resulting in Universal Pictures announcing its Dark Universe of an interconnected reboot series of the iconic characters. In addition to Cruise starring in The Mummy, the studio had announced Russell Crowe, Johnny Depp, and Javier Bardem as being fixtures of the franchise.

Even though it was a modest financial success and teased the future of the franchise, The Mummy fell flat with critics and no other entries into the Dark Universe earned substantial development. 2020's The Invisible Man was an entirely standalone experience, which is one of many reasons it resonated so strongly with audiences and critics alike, becoming one of the most successful horror movies of that year.

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Wolf Man is set to hit theaters on January 17, 2025.

Are you looking forward to the new movie? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror! 

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