Eric Heisserer talks Van Helsing inspiration, new monster series

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

In a chat with Eric Heisserer, co-writer of the upcoming VAN HELSING movie, HitFix learned an interesting tidbit about the inspiration behind the character:

I can only say that early on, our inspiration for his behavior and his mannerisms was all in MAD MAX.

I highly doubt that VAN HELSING could possibly match the high-octane, non-stop power drive that was FURY ROAD, but the fact that they're even attempting to go there means that – if they get it half right – it will at least be fully awesome. I can totally see Van Helsing as a bedraggled, wandering hero.

On the upcoming Universal monsters shared universe, which will premiere with THE MUMMY, starring Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe, on June 9th, 2017, he said:

It’s early days right now. I can say that the decision that a lot of us made was to go and just write the best movie we could in our own corner and make sure it's good on its own…and didn't necessarily need to link arm-in arm-with anybody else. And to be tonally different from the other films. One may be a little bit more comedic, action-adventure-y, one can be very much a traditional horror piece. That kind of thing. And then we'll see what happens as the projects evolve and we all get a chance to convene and talk, and make sure the movies feel like they're all in the same world.

If this is how it really pans out, this series will be even closer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe than we thought. While those movies share a similar tone, their genres are widely disparate (ANT-MAN is a heist movie, THOR a fish-out-of-water comedy, WINTER SOLDIER a paranoid thriller, and so on). If that's the game they're playing, this might be more interesting than we thought.

VAN HELSING is being co-written by Heisserer and Jon Spaihts. Tom Cruise was briefly attached to the film, but certainly won't be featured in the same capacity now that he's starring in THE MUMMY.