Johnny Depp Set For ‘The Invisible Man’ In Universal’s Monsters Shared Universe

Whether or not you’re excited about Universal’s Classic Monsters shared universe, no one can dispute the fact that they’re going big with the stars in an attempt to make the new franchise as successful as possible.

We already know that Tom Cruise will be starring in their next take on The Mummy, which will also star Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service) in the title role, and now comes word that they studio has landed Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp to lead The Invisible Man for them.

No director has been announced for the project yet, nor has a writer, though Universal has set up a group of writers to develop the shared universe led by Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan. Sources have said that of this group of writers it’s Men in Black and Now You See Me writer Ed Solomon working on The Invisible Man, but this has not been confirmed yet.

Kurtzman is also working behind the camera, set to direct The Mummy himself. He’s also got the upcoming Star Trek TV series, so he’s certainly got a lot on his plate at the moment.

Universal’s 1933 version of The Invisible Man was based on the 1897 novel of the same name by H.G. Wells and starred Claude Raines as a chemist who has discovered a way to become completely invisible, which leads to his becoming mad with power as he ruthlessly attempts to achieve world domination.

The more superstars that are cast for this Avengers-style Classic Monsters shared universe, the more interesting wondering just how far Universal is hoping to go with it becomes. It’s hard to imagine they’ll have the likes of Cruise and Depp showing up for three or four or more movies, as the cost would surely be far too much to be worth it. Perhaps the plan is to do single reboots of all of these monster movies and then one massive event flick with all of the stars, which would make the most sense.