Alex Ross Paints Universal Monsters

Universal is making its various monster and horror properties a priority going forward, and as part of that new focus the studio has enlisted the talents of fan favorite artist Alex Ross.

You probably know Alex Ross from his work on Marvels and Kingdom Come, as well as his numerous covers for both companies. Now he’s setting his sights on Universal’s stable of monsters, including icons like Dracula, The Mummy, and Frankenstein. The artist revealed a sneak peek at his upcoming Classic Universal Monsters set of art pieces, which will fully be unveiled at next year’s San Diego Comic-Con (via Bloody Disgusting).

He will have one giant piece that includes all the monsters together, titled fittingly “Monster Mash”, but he also painted each one in individual pieces, which will come in both black and white and color versions. You can view which monsters are featured in the set below.

Frankenstein – (Boris Karloff, 1931)

Dracula – (Bela Lugosi, 1931)

Bride of Frankenstein – (Elsa Lanchester, 1935)

Creature From The Black Lagoon – (1954)

The Mummy – (Boris Karloff, 1932)

The Wolf Man – (Lon Chaney Jr., 1941)

The Invisible Man – (Claude Rains, 1933)

Monster Mash

You can view several of the newly revealed art pieces in the gallery.

The timing of the set makes sense, as Universal is revving up its monster franchise or another big go starting next year with The Mummy. The updated take on the horror classic is being directed by Alex Kurtzman, and so far stars Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Russell Crowe, Annabelle Wallis, and Courtney B. Vance. The plan is to follow the Marvel Studios line of thinking and plant subtle seeds within each film that manages to convey these iconic monsters are in the same universe.

Eventually, you might see creatures like The Wolf Man, and Frankenstein joining up with The Invisible Man against a common foe, or even battling each other for supremacy. It could even grow to include the famous monster hunter Van Helsing, as writer Eric Heisserer (Arrival) recently teased.

“It is right now. This is early in the process, and it’s evolutionary. I don’t know if that’s going to stay that way. But right now there is an absolute… there’s some cartilage that links it to other pieces, like The Mummy.”

The Mummy kicks things off for the horror universe on March 24, 2017.