10 Iconic Characters Movies Keep Screwing Up

In the early 20th century, Universal's creature features ruled the theatres. They were so profitable, Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man, and The Mummy regularly crossed over with each other, conjuring the first cinematic universe into being.

Unfortunately, the Universal Monsters lost its appeal during the early 1960s, and has never recovered since. Over the last half a century, a decent adaptation of the studio's classic characters is released about once per decade.

But when the Marvel Cinematic Universe took off, Universal saw a golden opportunity. Since shared universes were all the rage, the studio believed it was the perfect time to forge a shared universe of their iconic monsters once again.

Sadly, this plan backfired immediately. The first instalment, Dracula Untold, was so forgettably generic, you probably forgot about it until now.

Instead of learning the error of their ways, the studio tried again, hoping their reboot of The Mummy would kick off their so-called Dark Universe. However, the film tried so hard to emulate Marvel's formula and humour, people who didn't even see the movie could smell the desperation from a mile away. Although a smorgasbord of follow-ups were planned, everything was scrapped when The Mummy was a dud.

But this former titan is not dead yet. After the Dark Universe dissolved, Universal took initiative and greenlit an Invisible Man adaptation that focused on telling a compelling story rather than setting up sequels and spin-offs. If the studio keeps looking at their properties like this, there is a chance the Universal Monsters films can recover.