Brendan Fraser returning as Rick O’Connell in The Mummy 4 would be fantastic, but this character deserves so much more than repeating the same story.
With Brendan Fraser’s career blooming again, his iconic character Rick O’Connell could grace the silver screen again – but his movie future is maybe best explored outside of The Mummy franchise. Brendan Fraser first played adventurer Rick O’Connell in 1999’s The Mummy, a reboot of the original Mummy film from the 1930s. While the film received mixed reviews, it was a hit at the box office and is now considered a cult classic adventure film. Fraser reprises the role of Rick O’Connell in two Mummy sequels which received mixed to negative reviews but were still box office hits.
Since 2017’s The Mummy with Tom Cruise was panned by critics and audiences, there has been a lot of excitement around the idea of Brendan Fraser possibly returning for The Mummy 4. Since this is the age of Legacy spinoffs, this would be an interesting franchise to bring back to mainstream audiences, especially if Brendan Fraser were to play Rick O’Connell again. However, while it would be fun to see Rick O’Connell fight another Mummy, there are more interesting journeys that the character could take.
Brendan Fraser’s Rick O’Connell Doesn’t Need The Mummy
Brendan Fraser’s Rick O’Connell is an interesting enough character that he doesn’t need to keep repeating the same stories about fighting a Mummy. The more fascinating road to take would be for his character to explore other monsters from different historical fantasies. This would also benefit the franchise as this could be the door to a revival of the Dark Universe. Rick O’Connell could be the central figure throughout the films, each one showing him taking on a different classic monster like Frankenstein or Werewolf in London or even reuniting with Dwayne Johnson and facing The Scorpion King.
Why Moving Away From Mummies Is Best For Rick O’Connell
The character of Rick O’Connell falls into the same vein as Indiana Jones or Ben Gates from National Treasure, where their talents lay beyond how they are initially introduced. Indy didn’t need to keep going after the same kind of artifacts and Ben Gates didn’t always chase after the same treasure. The same should happen for Rick O’Connell. Having an adventurer take on different monsters from classic films would be an interesting series to watch, and would give the character more room to grow. Revisiting the star of The Mummy franchise with a new foe could open the door to understanding more about who Rick is.
With all the praise Brendan Fraser has received for The Whale, audiences are craving more, and his return as Rick O’Connell would be a great next step, but it should be for a film worthy of his return. As the previous films with Rick did well at the box office there is clearly an audience interested in seeing his character, and exploring more unexpected story avenues could gain the franchise some much-needed critical praise. Rick O’Connell could most certainly return initially for a fourth installment of The Mummy, but afterwards, the franchise should break new ground rather than resurrect the same foe for the adventurer to face once again.
