Universal has released the first poster for Lee Cronin's The Mummy, which means we're doing this again. The Monster Universe that wouldn't die, no matter how many times we stake it through the heart.

Let's review: Universal tried to launch a cinematic universe with 2017's The Mummy starring Tom Cruise. It flopped. They tried again with The Invisible Man in 2020, which actually worked as a standalone thriller. Now they're back to mummies, because apparently nobody at Universal can take a hint.

Here's the thing: Universal's classic monsters are genuinely valuable IP. But the studio keeps trying to turn them into Marvel, complete with shared universe mythology and franchise-building setup. That's not what these properties want to be.

Lee Cronin directed Evil Dead Rise, which was a nasty, effective horror film that understood its genre. If Universal lets him make a scary mummy movie without worrying about setting up Frankenstein vs. The Wolfman for 2028, this could work.

But that's a big "if." Studios don't think in terms of standalone films anymore. Everything has to be a franchise launcher, a universe builder, a multi-platform IP expansion opportunity. Sometimes a mummy is just a mummy, and that's okay.

The poster looks appropriately atmospheric. Cronin is a talented horror director. If Universal can resist the urge to shoehorn in references to Dr. Jekyll or tease a Creature from the Black Lagoon spinoff, maybe—maybe—we get a good monster movie.

But I'm not holding my breath. In Hollywood, nobody knows anything—except that shared universes make money until they don't.