The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a lot to answer for, with countless failed attempts at shared mythologies cropping up in the aftermath of Kevin Feige’s game-changing success. While several have admittedly flourished, none failed as spectacularly as the Dark Universe.
Roping in Tom Cruise to headline The Mummy, with one eye on having Russell Crowe’s Henry Jekyll act as the Nick Fury of the operation, wasn’t the worst idea in theory. Throw in Javier Bardem as Frankenstein, Johnny Depp as the transparent Griffin and rumors of Angelina Jolie, Dwayne Johnson and more, and Universal were clearly dreaming big.
Of course, The Mummy flopped hard and was savaged by critics, ending the experiment at the first hurdle and causing the studio to publicly admit it was a catastrophic failure. In stepped Leigh Whannell with a meager $7 million budget, and in an instant The Invisible Man showed the A-listers how it should be done.
An atmospheric, unnerving blend of domestic thriller and eerie horror, The Invisible Man landed rave reviews and $143 million at the box office, causing Universal to suddenly pivot in the direction of more intimate, filmmaker-driven projects. As per FlixPatrol, the acclaimed genre film is back with a vengeance on Netflix, having crashed straight into the most-watched list.