Universal Pictures has unveiled a new behind-the-scenes featurette for The Mummy, and it’s all about Russell Crowe’s Dr. Jekyll…and of course Mr. Hyde. The film will mark the beginning of an interconnected universe of Universal Monsters movies, with Bill Condon recently coming onboard to helm Bride of Frankenstein while other pics like Van Helsing and The Wolfman are in the works. And it appears that the major connective tissue from The Mummy to these other future films will be the Dr. Jekyll character.

Tom Cruise leads The Mummy as Nick Morton, who unleashes Sofia Boutella’s powerful Mummy character and must seek the help of Dr. Jekyll, who specializes in studying monsters. Jekyll heads up Prodigium, a society dedicated to analyzing and fighting monsters, and this featurette gives us some footage of the interactions between Nick and Dr. Jekyll as Cruise, Crowe, and director Alex Kurtzman discuss these character dynamics. And towards the end of the clip, we get a brief glimpse of Crowe’s transformation from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde.

It feels like Prodigium is being set up as the driving force behind the various monsters that might arise in future films, which is smart. Crowe can be sort of the Nick Fury of the Universal Monsters Universe, with Prodigium also grounding the creatures in a science-based reality of sorts. It’ll be curious to see if heroes like Cruise will carry over into other films as well, or if this interconnected universe is more about the creatures themselves. Either way, Cruise is one of our most reliable performers, Crowe is an excellent actor, and the potential here is strong, so I’m incredibly excited to see what The Mummy has in store for audiences.

Check out the new The Mummy featurette below. Scripted by Christopher McQuarrie (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation) and Jon Spaihts (Passengers), the film also stars Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, and Courtney B. Vance. The Mummy opens in theaters on June 9th in 3D, 2D, and IMAX 3D.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Mummy:

Thought safely entombed in a tomb deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient princess (Sofia Boutella of Kingsman: The Secret Service and Star Trek Beyond) whose destiny was unjustly taken from her is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.

 

From the sweeping sands of the Middle East through hidden labyrinths under modern-day London, The Mummy brings a surprising intensity and balance of wonder and thrills in an imaginative new take that ushers in a new world of gods and monsters.

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Image via Universal Pictures

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