Frankenstein's creature could be played by Javier Bardem in Universal's monsterverse

Universal's monsterverse promises to unite the studio's back catalogue of iconic beasties into a series of movies starting with The Mummy. With shooting on that film nearly complete, today brings word of another major player in the monster roster set to join the mayhem: Frankenstein's monster. According to a report from Variety Javier Bardem is "in talks" to tackle the role made famous by Boris Karloff.

When plans for Universal's shared movie universe were first announced, Alex Kurtzman - one of the two creatives tasked with developing it - said the goal was to focus on each individual film, rather than plotting too far ahead. So it's not certain which movie will introduce Bardem's monster.

Wheels are in motion for a Bride of Frankenstein remake, that may star Angelina Jolie, but it's expected that Bardem will appear in another film prior to that. Once he's established he'll headline a proper Frankenstein movie in the future. The thing is, the slate of creature features in the works for the monsterverse is already stacked.

As well as The Mummy, we've got the Wolf Man, Van Helsing, Creature From The Black Lagoon and The Invisible Man. It's a surprise that there's no official Frankenstein flick among that group, but if Bardem's debut makes a good impression (come on, who wasn't terrified by him in No Country For Old Men?) expect that to change.

Images: Roadside Attractions, Universal

Gem Seddon is GamesRadar+'s west coast Entertainment News Reporter, working to keep all of you updated on all of the latest and greatest movies and shows on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Outside of entertainment journalism, Gem can frequently be found writing about the alternative health and wellness industry, and obsessing over all things Aliens and Terminator on Twitter.