After 17 years and a failed 2017 reboot starring Tom Cruise, The Mummy is back from the dead. The Hollywood Reporter officially confirmed that Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz will reunite for a fourth installment in The Mummy franchise. The news marked a long-awaited return for one of Hollywood’s most beloved adventure sagas in recent memory. According to the report, it’s unclear whether other actors from the previous films will return. However, one source described the David Coggeshall-written screenplay as a sequel that will ignore the events of 2008’s maligned The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
With news of the sequel hitting the trades, fans are already debating who else from the original trilogy could (and should) join them. Even if The Mummy 4 opts to ignore its polarizing predecessor, there’s a rich cast of characters who deserve another adventure. From undead Egyptian priests to desert-dwelling warriors, here are seven confirmed and rumored actors who could help resurrect the magic of The Mummy once more.
Every Confirmed The Mummy 4 Cast Member
Brendan Fraser (Rick O’Connell)
You can’t have The Mummy without Rick O’Connell, the swashbuckling hero at the heart of the fantastical franchise. Brendan Fraser’s roguish charm and sarcastic portrayal made Rick a flawed but lovable protagonist reminiscent of Han Solo or Indiana Jones. Introduced in 1999’s The Mummy, Rick evolved from a reckless, womanizing adventurer to family man and world-class monster-slayer, cementing Fraser as a late-‘90s and early 2000s action icon.
After winning an Oscar for The Whale in 2023 and launching a storied Hollywood comeback, the Batgirl actor reviving his most iconic character almost feels poetic. If The Mummy 4 ignores the events of Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, it would make Rick’s defeat of Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) and The Scorpion King (Dwayne Johnson) in 2001’s The Mummy Returns his most recent canonical appearance. Fraser’s confirmed return could be the foundation for a thrilling, practical, and character-driven sequel that honors the franchise's legacy while looking toward the future.
Rachel Weisz (Evelyn O’Connell)
Rachel Weisz’s return to The Mummy films as Evelyn “Evie” O’Connell is the news fans have been hoping for since 2008. The Oscar winner skipped Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, in which actress Maria Bello stepped into Evie’s shoes. Weisz’s absence, the movie’s lackluster writing, and the franchise’s shift from Egypt to China were often cited as reasons for the third film’s less-than-stellar reception. The Black Widow star's return as Evie, the brilliant librarian and Egyptologist turned adventurer, reunites one of the most beloved action-adventure duos of the last three decades.
Weisz’s sharp intelligence and magnetic chemistry with Fraser helped define The Mummy’s romantic, sexy, and adventurous tone. Seeing Weisz’s Evelyn back in action after a 17-year absence will instantly restore the magic that made the original films so rewatchable. Here’s hoping the script gives her as much agency as her boundless talent warrants.
Every Rumored The Mummy 4 Cast Member
Arnold Vosloo (Imhotep)
If The Mummy 4 really wants to stir excitement, it needs the franchise’s sandstorm-conjuring, locust-spitting, body-part-snatching big bad: Arnold Vosloo’s Imhotep, aka the titular mummy. And yes, the last time we saw Imhotep, he’d willingly launched himself into the Egyptian underworld after his love, Anck-Su-Namun, chose to save herself rather than rescue him from eternal damnation. The resurrected high priest-turned-godlike villain was a masterclass in physicality, with Vosloo chewing up the scenery and delivering a performance that managed to be tragic, emotional, and campy.
Vosloo’s potential return hasn’t been confirmed, but this legacy sequel needs its iconic monster, perhaps more dangerous than ever after escaping the underworld. Bringing him back into the fold could give The Mummy 4 a villain with gravitas while reminding longtime fans of the actors who helped make the series’ first two films magical.
Oded Fehr (Ardeth Bay)
The Mummy franchise cannot make the comeback fans have clamored for without its tattooed, long-haired Medjai warrior, Ardeth Bay. As one of the franchise’s most beloved characters, Star Trek: Discovery actor Oded Fehr brought an understated nobility to his portrayal of the Medjai leader, who had sworn his life to prevent Imhotep’s resurrection. Ardeth, equal parts stoic warrior and loyal ally to the O’Connells, boasted an effortless charisma that turned him into a cult favorite, even with limited screen time.
Fans have long hoped for Ardeth’s return, especially given his absence in Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Like Vosloo’s potential return, bringing Fehr back could signal to fans that The Mummy 4’s filmmakers want to deliver nostalgia while giving Ardeth the shine he has long deserved.
Patricia Velasquez (Anck-Su-Namun)
Every great monster needs an equally captivating counterpart. Patricia Velasquez’s Anck-Su-Namun embodied that, making the resurrected imperial concubine part femme fatale, part tragic figure. Together, she and Vosloo embodied the star-crossed lovers trope, giving the first two films their romantic and sensual tone. Smart writing and strong performances made Imhotep’s repeated attempts to resurrect Anck-Su-Nanum all the more tragic, especially given how their love affair ended in The Mummy Returns.
Like Vosloo, Velasquez’s character met an untimely end in that film, eaten alive by scarab beetles shortly after refusing to save Imhotep from being pulled into the underworld. If Universal wants to lean into the franchise’s Egyptian-inspired mysticism again, resurrecting Anck-Su-Namun would be a no-brainer that could have major implications on a resurrected Imhotep’s motivations, making their doomed romance a heartbreaking centerpiece once more.
John Hannah (Jonathan Carnahan)
Every adventure needs comic relief, and John Hannah’s Jonathan Carnahan was the perfect bumbling sidekick throughout the trilogy, especially in the first two films. As Evelyn’s charmingly cowardly brother, the Agents of SHIELD actor's comedic timing was responsible for some of the trilogy’s most memorable line deliveries. Jonathan’s obsession with wealth made for some of the franchise’s funniest moments, with his banter with nearly every other character adding levity to the chaos amid the series’ larger-than-life stakes.
Jonathan was last seen giving up his nightclub and seeking a place where mummies don’t exist at the end of Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Bringing him back, perhaps reluctantly dragged into another cursed expedition, could restore The Mummy’s humor balance. Plus, Hannah’s dynamic with Weisz remains one of the action-adventure genre’s most delightful sibling pairings.
Dwayne Johnson (Mathayus aka The Scorpion King)
What’s a legacy sequel without a surprise cameo? Yes, by resurrecting The Mummy franchise, the possibility of Dwayne Johnson’s return is also on the table. Before becoming one of the world’s biggest movie stars in films like Moana and Jumanji, Johnson made his film debut as Mathayus in The Mummy Returns, a role that spawned the mostly forgettable The Scorpion King spinoff franchise. His appearance (and meme-worthy 2000s CGI likeness) in the 2001 sequel may have ended with Rick killing the half-man, half-scorpion chimera, but we’re also talking about a franchise that dabbles heavily in bringing dead characters back to life.
Given fans’ hope for nostalgic moments and Johnson’s prevalence in the action-adventure genre, it’s not unlikely that he could cameo or reprise the role in a way that makes sense canonically while delighting longtime fans. A new Mummy film uniting Fraser and Johnson would be a blockbuster-level reunion decades in the making. Modern advancements in CGI technology could finally make Johnson’s Scorpion King the terrifying and visually remarkable villain he was meant to be.
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