The Continued Case for the UMECU
Nov. 30th, 2017 12:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wingedbeastHopefully, at this point we have two good movies to the project. And, we have three... and a half characters to start. By this point, the movies have either failed or they're successful enough that we've earned audience good-will enough to start pushing for the connected universe. With that in mind, we can *now*, not straight from the beginning, start making movies with the specific end of a combined effort.
Towards that end, let's bring in another major bad guy.
1999 brought us The Mummy, which was an alright action/adventure with comedy elements. It amused... but it really didn't take the idea seriously. 2017 took the idea seriously, but attempted to make Tom Cruz into a god... literally... and no.
Fair warning, I only know the original movie based on a Wiki-summary. I can see how that makes for a good movie, but I want to try something else, something based on who was mummified, why, and what's happened since that mummification.
One of the details we know about Pharaohs is that they were believed to be gods. Not being an expert, it's hard to say what, exactly, their powers were believed to be. One thing I do know is that the mummification was meant to preserve the Ka, or soul, for the afterlife.
We can tweek the mythology a bit. Rather than simply leaving them well appointed for the afterlife, the purpose of the pyramid and the wealth and the mummified cats and servants was to leave them well appointed for the event in which they return to this life.
The idea and the belief was that, in times of great need, the current Pharaoh, would, with a sacrifice, call upon the wisdom and alliance of a past Pharaoh. In times of great calamity indeed, with even greater sacrifice, they could even count upon the whole host of warriors to take up arms. This may even have been done, temporarily, upon occasion, but always rare and always hidden by the mist of history.
That brings us to modern times. Reawakening one of the few remaining Pharaohs will take an event, either engineered or unlikely. Either way it takes a death that splashes a significant amount of blood on the mummified pharaoh.
That pharaoh awakens to expect to be glorified both in his presence and in what is asked of him. He expects to be beseeched for his wisdom and power and to save Egypt as a glorious duty.
Instead, he finds that he's not been glorious for some time. He's not been honored for some time. While there is a contemporary Egypt, it is not the same nation. In fact, no great empire needs him or his fellow pharaohs.
...
And, what happens when he learns what became of many of those?
Here we get to a fun fact about British Colonialism. Unwrapping parties were high-society gatherings in which a wealthy host would, for the entertainment of guests, unwrap an Egyptian mummy.
Of course, there has to be revenge. Yes, the people who actually did that particular act are long dead, leaving only their decedents. That is a minor matter. There must be revenge. It's not even personal. People must see that disrespecting a Pharaoh inevitably leads to horrible revenge.
As he begins his revenge, we take a look at the descendants he's going to take on. They're a varied lot, because time does that. They're mostly strangers to each other. Some of them are poor (the first ones to go after because they're the least visible of victims). Some are wealthy (they will be the later victims, the forewarning giving them some reason to be afraid, thus more of a show of power).
One of the wealthier, more powerful descendants eventually takes the deaths, the staging, and some stalking to be the warning that it is. This wealthy target has another wealthy friend who has a connection to an organization that, by necessity, operates in the shadows.
Rather, they don't operate quite fully in the shadows. They do engage efforts to give people information, help them be forewarned and forearmed. It's explained that this not only helps protect people more than their personal efforts could ever accomplish (they are of limited means). It's also going to be useful for the eventual goal of revealing the supernatural presence to the populace at large.
For now, they work where they can, sometimes doing secretive things under various guises because being too open would make them a target of beings with powers that extend in all directions. Magic, wealth, political connections, etc. It's quite a force they're up against and they have to take the long view that they're working towards that end.
During the movie, itself, we see the pharaoh's power. He can endure quite a lot. After all, he's undead. His continued animation does take a cost of blood or life-force.
He can mummify others, making them his servants who must obey but are otherwise mentally independent. But, he doesn't control all dead. He has to go through the process and there are means of protection from its effects. Still, he has power that he can call at the cost of blood. And, he has an unending faith in the rightness of his demonstration of power.
The end of the conflict won't be a complete success for either side. The pharaoh won't have killed all of the descendants of those who wronged his fellow pharaohs. They won't have protected all or managed to destroy the pharaoh.
For one side of the conflict, we get a look into the organization that has featured mildly so far. For the other side, we get a pharaoh, a mummy who is looking to make certain corrections about the world as it is. Nobody knows their place anymore. And, to the pharaoh's thinking, that has lead to the problems that include a world on the brink of nuclear self-immolation.
It obviously needs to be put right... right with himself and those like him in control of everybody else, of course.
Ideas on how to integrate the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Frankenstein's Monster, and/or the Phantom of the Opera are all invited.
Towards that end, let's bring in another major bad guy.
1999 brought us The Mummy, which was an alright action/adventure with comedy elements. It amused... but it really didn't take the idea seriously. 2017 took the idea seriously, but attempted to make Tom Cruz into a god... literally... and no.
Fair warning, I only know the original movie based on a Wiki-summary. I can see how that makes for a good movie, but I want to try something else, something based on who was mummified, why, and what's happened since that mummification.
One of the details we know about Pharaohs is that they were believed to be gods. Not being an expert, it's hard to say what, exactly, their powers were believed to be. One thing I do know is that the mummification was meant to preserve the Ka, or soul, for the afterlife.
We can tweek the mythology a bit. Rather than simply leaving them well appointed for the afterlife, the purpose of the pyramid and the wealth and the mummified cats and servants was to leave them well appointed for the event in which they return to this life.
The idea and the belief was that, in times of great need, the current Pharaoh, would, with a sacrifice, call upon the wisdom and alliance of a past Pharaoh. In times of great calamity indeed, with even greater sacrifice, they could even count upon the whole host of warriors to take up arms. This may even have been done, temporarily, upon occasion, but always rare and always hidden by the mist of history.
That brings us to modern times. Reawakening one of the few remaining Pharaohs will take an event, either engineered or unlikely. Either way it takes a death that splashes a significant amount of blood on the mummified pharaoh.
That pharaoh awakens to expect to be glorified both in his presence and in what is asked of him. He expects to be beseeched for his wisdom and power and to save Egypt as a glorious duty.
Instead, he finds that he's not been glorious for some time. He's not been honored for some time. While there is a contemporary Egypt, it is not the same nation. In fact, no great empire needs him or his fellow pharaohs.
...
And, what happens when he learns what became of many of those?
Here we get to a fun fact about British Colonialism. Unwrapping parties were high-society gatherings in which a wealthy host would, for the entertainment of guests, unwrap an Egyptian mummy.
Of course, there has to be revenge. Yes, the people who actually did that particular act are long dead, leaving only their decedents. That is a minor matter. There must be revenge. It's not even personal. People must see that disrespecting a Pharaoh inevitably leads to horrible revenge.
As he begins his revenge, we take a look at the descendants he's going to take on. They're a varied lot, because time does that. They're mostly strangers to each other. Some of them are poor (the first ones to go after because they're the least visible of victims). Some are wealthy (they will be the later victims, the forewarning giving them some reason to be afraid, thus more of a show of power).
One of the wealthier, more powerful descendants eventually takes the deaths, the staging, and some stalking to be the warning that it is. This wealthy target has another wealthy friend who has a connection to an organization that, by necessity, operates in the shadows.
Rather, they don't operate quite fully in the shadows. They do engage efforts to give people information, help them be forewarned and forearmed. It's explained that this not only helps protect people more than their personal efforts could ever accomplish (they are of limited means). It's also going to be useful for the eventual goal of revealing the supernatural presence to the populace at large.
For now, they work where they can, sometimes doing secretive things under various guises because being too open would make them a target of beings with powers that extend in all directions. Magic, wealth, political connections, etc. It's quite a force they're up against and they have to take the long view that they're working towards that end.
During the movie, itself, we see the pharaoh's power. He can endure quite a lot. After all, he's undead. His continued animation does take a cost of blood or life-force.
He can mummify others, making them his servants who must obey but are otherwise mentally independent. But, he doesn't control all dead. He has to go through the process and there are means of protection from its effects. Still, he has power that he can call at the cost of blood. And, he has an unending faith in the rightness of his demonstration of power.
The end of the conflict won't be a complete success for either side. The pharaoh won't have killed all of the descendants of those who wronged his fellow pharaohs. They won't have protected all or managed to destroy the pharaoh.
For one side of the conflict, we get a look into the organization that has featured mildly so far. For the other side, we get a pharaoh, a mummy who is looking to make certain corrections about the world as it is. Nobody knows their place anymore. And, to the pharaoh's thinking, that has lead to the problems that include a world on the brink of nuclear self-immolation.
It obviously needs to be put right... right with himself and those like him in control of everybody else, of course.
Ideas on how to integrate the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Frankenstein's Monster, and/or the Phantom of the Opera are all invited.
