When talk of Universal hoping to start a shared cinematic universe for its cadre of monsters — all from their horror movies in the early-30s forward — hit the webs, there was justifiable unease. It seemed all too easy for yet another studio to attempt the Marvel model, with their own stable of existing IP, and it certainly seemed after The Wolf-Man and Dracula Untold that people weren’t that interested. But those films weren’t Alex Kurtzman‘s vision for a universe, which begins in The Mummy headed to cinemas next June. After the trailer which dropped Sunday evening, I’m more than a little bit excited.

Kurtzman told a small group of journalists last week–myself among them–that The Mummy would need to exist as a standalone movie in its own right, but if it also could set up a greater universe at the same time, then great. The teaser feels like it’s half doing one thing and half doing the other; the opening bits show a huge action sequence in which Tom Cruise is among the folks transporting an Ancient Egyptian sarcophagus via cargo plane, only to be met with a plague of birds that causes the plane to crash. Seems the Mummy–played by Sofia Boutella–was not one to disturb.

I thought this scene was tense and exciting in a way I wasn’t expecting from a movie called The Mummy, and following it up with Cruise being the only one of the bodies to sit up in the morgue was a great bit of horror.

Then, we’re introduced to Russell Crowe‘s Dr. Jekyll, who seems to be the Nick Fury of this particular cinematic universe, a figure who knows what’s going on and runs some kind of organization meant to fight the monsters. Kurtzman told us that having Jekyll as a character in the film was not just a grab at the larger universe, but someone who they were going to use for the films at some point who could provide a mirror and counterpoint to the kind of untrustworthy hero that Cruise will be.

Oh, and the Mummy? Kurtzman told us that she’s cursed Cruise’s character, making it very likely his loyalty to the new group will be in question. She’s going to have some kind of psychic hold over him and he’ll be forced to do some bidding.

Overall, a completely different tone and style of The Mummy from any yet produced, and for a brand new world of Gods and Monsters, doing something new with an age-old title is going to be integral.

What do you think? Will The Mummy be your cup of horror tea? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: Universal