# How would YOU create a Universal Monsters shared cinematic universe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2014, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-create-a-universal-monsters-shared-cinematic-universe/694392 "2014-07-30T03:14:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-create-a-universal-monsters-shared-cinematic-universe/694392/21 "2014-07-31T04:43:34Z")
[QUOTE=Vercingetorix] Did you come up with this spur of the moment or did you have this kicking around in your head for a while now? [/QUOTE] Purely spur of the moment, except the idea of a Frankenstein movie where the monster is an evil genius, which I’ve been kicking around for a few years. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-create-a-universal-monsters-shared-cinematic-universe/694392/22 "2014-07-31T17:03:42Z")
Hey, Miller! Can you work Dr. Jekyll into this somehow? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-create-a-universal-monsters-shared-cinematic-universe/694392/23 "2014-07-31T17:16:12Z")
If you’re going to work in Scooby-doo, you have to put in the Venture Bros., too, and then Jonny Quest (hey, you already have the mummy). ---
**Author:** ![Vercingetorix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/848f3c/32.png) [@Vercingetorix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vercingetorix)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-create-a-universal-monsters-shared-cinematic-universe/694392/24 "2014-07-31T18:08:17Z")
Miller, get thee to a movie studio! ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-create-a-universal-monsters-shared-cinematic-universe/694392/25 "2014-07-31T20:36:13Z")
Great work, Miller! A few thoughts: Isn’t Victor’s girlfriend named Elisabeth? The “sparky things” were in the movies, not the book. But I don’t see any reason why he can’t be a genius at that, too. It’s no more fantastic than anything else. Can’t we work Renfield (Dracula’s henchman) into this somehow? Could he turn out to be a string puller, or something? How about She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed as a female villain? Although she wasn’t exactly a monster, was she? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-create-a-universal-monsters-shared-cinematic-universe/694392/26 "2014-07-31T20:59:52Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Great work, Miller! Thanks! > [@](#): > > A few thoughts: > > Isn’t Victor’s girlfriend named Elisabeth? I think so, although I’m assuming she’d be in the first _Frankenstein_ movie, and be killed by the monster on her wedding day, per the book. His second girlfriend should probably be named either Christine (who’s the protagonist in the original _Phantom of the Opera_\*) or Carlotta (who was the prima donna that Christine replaced). > [@](#): > > The “sparky things” were in the movies, not the book. Yeah, but this is meant to be a reboot of the Universal movies anyway, so that’s not a problem. > [@](#): > > Can’t we work Renfield (Dracula’s henchman) into this somehow? Could he turn out to be a string puller, or something? Renfield would most likely get killed in the first movie. In the later films, Griffin takes his place as Dracula’s lackey. > [@](#): > > How about She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed as a female villain? Although she wasn’t exactly a monster, was she? I confess, I had to Google the name. But the game here is rebooting the Universal monster movie franchise, not a general Victorian pastiche - heck, _Creature from the Black Lagoon_ was set in the 1950s. Had to bend the shit out of it to get it to fit into the narrative. \*I accidentally typed _Phantom of the Menace_, and now I’m thinking about Star Wars/Universal Horror mash-ups. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-create-a-universal-monsters-shared-cinematic-universe/694392/27 "2014-08-01T08:06:46Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > I also think that Penny Dreadful has done a pretty good job with the mixed universe, but I would happily fund some sort of effort to get Miller’s plan into production. Frankenstein’s really the only Universal Monster in Penny Dreadful, at least so far. Dracula’s almost completely off camera (though we have seen a few other Bram Stoker characters), and a werewolf and mummy have been hinted at, but not shown. Its pretty hard for me to picture the idea of monster cross-overs as anything but camp. Plus movies that take them as main characters tend to make them not very “monstery”, which kinda ruins the point, IMHO. But I guess we’ll see what Universal comes up with. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-create-a-universal-monsters-shared-cinematic-universe/694392.md?page=1)