The Mummy Easter Egg That References Brendan Fraser Franchise

* Minor SPOILERS ahead*

Many critics of 2017's The Mummy see a greater parallel between the 1999 series than the 1932 original horror installment. Complete with over-the-top chase sequences, cartoonish action and convoluted plot, Universal have not ventured too far from Brendan Fraser's franchise other than some cosmetic changes.

This connection is all the more relevant given that an Easter Egg emerges that directly references the previous feature. It would be revealed when Russell Crowe's Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hide introduces Tom Cruise's Nick Morton to his multi-national corporation Prodigium.

Here is the central London hub that will connect the Dark Universe characters of The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man and Frankenstein. In this location, we see something that Rachel Weisz once used.

Book of the Dead Back with a Vengeance

The Mummy Easter Egg

When Morton and Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis) realize that Prodigium is slamming shut their doors to seal the exits, the trap is set. The system goes off in the event that Dr. Jekyll turns into Mr. Hide despite his special serum that he injects to keep the monster from coming out.

As Hide's security leap onto the two unsuspecting adventurers, Halsey grabs a book to use as a weapon against them. This would be the Book of the Dead - the same exact copy that Rachel Weisz had in the 1999 title. Hide's desire to access and hold old relics (with the 1999 picture set in 1923) could open up more Easter Eggs like this in future installments.

Acrobatic Annabelle Up For Physical Challenge

32-year old Wallis had experience in the spotlight before, but coming aboard a major Hollywood production like The Mummy would be a game changer. The English actress understood that Cruise was a stunt specialist and in order to pull off the picture, she had to embrace the challenge.

“I felt very determined to prove myself in that world," she told the Herald Sun. "I was very competitive with him. I thought: if you can do it, I can do it. I was interested in pushing myself physically because I hadn’t had a chance to do that yet. I hadn’t been in a project of this scope or size.”

Yet it would be the zero gravity scene for the epic plane crash set piece that really turned the intensity up a notch.

“Can you imagine how it felt doing that 64 times? Everybody vomited. It’s called the vomit comet in the science world and in the film world because you are expected to be sick. It’s very taxing on the body. The force, when you go out of the gravitational pull and back in, is like four times as intense. When you hit the ground, the impact is so great. But when you look back, you don’t remember all those things. It was fun!”

Fortunately for Wallis, she had a down-to-earth upbringing that allowed her to get down and dirty for moments like this.

“You can either do the physical stuff or you can’t. I found it easy because (when I was a teenager) I wanted to do everything my older brother (Francis) did,” she says. "He got a motocross bike and then I did. We rode horses, we did polo together. He joined a paintball team and then I followed.”

Source: Inverse, Herald Sun

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