Oscar Isaac may have racked up a lot of fans playing Marvel’s Moon Knight and/or Star Wars’ elite pilot Poe Dameron – but now he’s taking on an iconic horror movie role as Dr. Victor Frankenstein, in Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming remake, which will premiere on Netflix in November. A first-look image of Isaac as Frankenstein has now been released as part of Netflix’s 2025 slate preview, and you can check that out above.
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Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein co-stars Jacob Elordi (Euphoria, Saltburn) as Frankenstein’s monster, with Mia Goth (Maxxxine, Pearl), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), Lars Mikkelsen (House of Cards), Ralph Ineson (Fantastic Four: First Steps), David Bradley (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones), Christian Convery (Netflix’s Sweet Tooth), and Charles Dance (Game of Thrones) all set to appear in the film as well.
In the past, del Toro has described his wish to make a Frankenstein movie that was a “Miltonian tragedy,” and the aesthetics in the photo above certainly seem to suggest that’s still the goal. The filmmaker was once approached to help Universal develop its Dark Universe franchise, which could’ve rivaled the Marvel Cinematic Universe or DC Extended Universe in the 2010s. He ultimately passed on that opportunity, having been busy with a second Hellboy film (The Golden Army) at the time, while also preparing to step into the Tolkien Cinematic Universe as the director of The Hobbit. As it ultimately turned out, del Toro had to pass the Hobbit director’s chair back to his friend Peter Jackson (while still working on the scrips), and largely fell out of blockbuster franchise filmmaking thereafter, leaning more into personal horror-drama works Crimson Peak and The Shape of Water, with the latter earning four Oscars (including Best Picture) in 2018. Meanwhile, Universal saw its hopes for the Dark Universe franchise crash and burn with titles like Dracula Untold (2014), and Tom Cruise’s The Mummy (2017) failing at the box office.
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Fans have theorized that Guillermo del Toro is now building his own movie monster universe, to rival Universal’s rebooted franchise. 2025 would be the time to strike: Universal (and Blumhouse) just saw a major stumble with the Wolf Man remake, which got mauled at the box office in January. On the other hand, Frankenstein is a major passion project for del Toro — something he is letting people know, unabashedly.
“This film has been on my mind since I was a child — for fifty years. I’ve been trying to make it for 20 to 25 years. In fact, some people may even think I am a little bit obsessed with Frankenstein,” del Toro told an amused crowd at the “Next on Netflix” media preview event this week. “And they probably would be right. You see, over the decades, the character has fused with my soul in a way that it has become an autobiography. It doesn’t get more personal than this. I hope you enjoy this small look at ‘Frankenstein.’”
J. Miles Dale, Guillermo del Toro’s longtime producing partner, has raised the point that both men have lost their fathers in the last decade, and that Frankenstein will be the capper on a trilogy of films del Toro has made about the father-son relationship.
“In the last couple of films, certainly with Nightmare Alley and then with Pinocchio, we’ve dealt with the whole father-son relationship. And Guillermo and I both lost our fathers in the last few years. When you have a strong father figure, it’s a big part of our lives,” Dale previously told The Academy. “This version of Frankenstein very much goes down that thematic road. So, I feel like this is the third film in Guillermo’s father trilogy. That’s exciting, and when you read the script, it’s very emotional and, of course, very iconic.”
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is set to release on Netflix sometime in November.
