Hello everybody, and welcome back to my revisions of Universal Pictures' Dark Universe. Today, we're going to take a look at reimagining 2014's Dracula Untold.

Dracula Untold had a long development. Starting with the title 'Dracula: Year Zero', the origin film for the famed monster was attached to director Alex Proyas and star Sam Worthington. It wasan't pitched as the start of a shared monsters universe, but by the time production kicked into high gear the film (retitled Dracula Untold) underwent reshoots to help serve as the first film in the burgeoning Dark Universe.

Unfortunately, Dracula Untold not only met with middling reviews but failed to draw a sizable crowd at the box office. A pity, as while the movie did suffer some issues I personally found it very fun.

So, piggybacking off my previous post pitching a rebooted adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, here is a revision of the film. A dark, tragic and yes bloody origin story for arguably the most evil of the classic Universal monsters.

*Also, to clarify something brought up in a previous post, I'm scrapping a tentative idea to have Count Dracula's origins start as an original character. He will indeed be based on the historical Vlad III.

A monster is born in...

DRACULA: ORIGINS

Series showrunner-

Bryan Fuller

Music by-

Ramin Djawadi

Starring-

Christian Bale as Vlad III/Dracula

Dominic Cooper as Radu III

Samantha Barks as Justina Szilágyi

Sarah Gadon as Mirena

Art Parkinson as Ingeras

William Houston as Cazan

Noah Huntley as Captain Petru

Luke Evans as Basarab III

Diarmaid Murtagh as Dumitru

Zach McGowan as Shkelgim

Paul Kaye as Brother Lucian

with Thor Kristjansson as Bright Eyes

and Willem Dafoe as Orlok, the Master Vampire

and Noomi Rapace as Baba Yaga

****

The Premise

Scrapping Dracula Untold's status as a movie, instead picture it as a three-part limited series on TV.

The three episodes are-

Part I- Order of the Dragon

Part II- Creatures of the Night

Part III- Son of the Devil

The major plot points are as follows.

A darker Dracula

In 1477 AD, Prince Vlad III "Dracula" has restored his rule as Voivode of Wallachia after several bloody conflicts.

A historical recap elaborates on his history as a hostage raised by the Ottoman Turks, who came to hate the Muslim empire and its new ruler, Sultan Mehmed II. Returning home, he's engaged in terror campaigns to solidify his rule and oppose the Turks' demand for tribute and soldiers.

He is respected by many for his fierce efforts to repel the Ottoman Empire, but feared for his ruthless method of torture and execution, with many mocking him as "Lord Impaler". His closest companions being his advisor Cazan and his fellow knights in the chivalric Order of the Dragon.

Vlad's family life is also unstable, as he is stuck in a loveless arranged marriage with noblewoman Justina Szilágyi of Hungary. His first wife died years ago, leaving him emotionally stunted. Vlad is currently involved in an affair with the housemaid Mirena, who in secret bore him a son named Ingeras.

Justina frequently holds correspondence with Mihnead, Vlad's son from his first marriage who lives far away.

Frequently, Vlad attends church to pray for forgiveness for his many crimes, holding onto some desperate hope that his soul may one day be redeemed.

In general, as per historical record Vlad is a deeply troubled, vengeful man who walks a fine line between national hero and mass murdering psychopath. His fateful decision to become vampire sends him on the path to sacrifice everything he loves for revenge, and a lust for the power he sees as rightfully his.

Radu III, Vlad's brother, is the primary antagonist

Adding an extra layer of tragedy is Vlad's conflict with his brother, Radu. Raised as a hostage alongside Vlad, Radu chooses to pledge his loyalty to the Empire and its sultan, with whom he becomes a close companion. Mehmed is an unseen character, a looming existential threat that takes a backseat to the conflict between the two brothers.

Vlad holds a deep-seated bitterness towards Radu, as while his handsome and well-liked brother enjoys a privileged position in the Ottoman court while still calling himself a devout Christian, Vlad is feared for what he sees as necessary evils committed to defend their ancestral home.

Radu sees himself as agent of a power that will bring stability and prosperity to Wallachia and neighboring regions. He even calls Vlad out for his own hypocrisy, reminding him how it was the Ottomans themselves who first helped Vlad ascend to the Wallachian throne before their alliance broke down.

The film's conflict is sparked when Mehmed demand annual tribute and an offer of 1,000 boys to be trained in the esteemed Janissary corps. After a tense meeting in which Radu attempts to put his foot down with Vlad and bury their feud, Vlad rejects the truce and kills Radu's messengers when his own bastard Ingeras is to be taken as well.

Seeing his brother as a violent madman, Radu pledges to depose him and seat the rival Wallachian claimant Basarab III on the throne.

The Master Vampire and Baba Yaga play a bigger role

Upon seeking out the Master Vampire, a Dark Ages warlord who made a pact with the Dark and its servants, Vlad confers with him several times over the course of the three episodes that make up this reimagined series.

Vlad is not only granted vampiric powers to battle Radu, but also a knowledge of alchemy and sorcery that gives him control over creatures of the night (bats, rats, wolves). The Master Vampire encourages his worst impulses, urging Vlad to fight by any means necessary and spill blood for its own sake.

Also leading Vlad on is the wandering cannibal witch Baba Yaga (who existed in an early draft of Dracula Untold the film), who at one point captures Ingeras to try and provoke Vlad to give in to his thirst for blood. Vlad resists and is able to outwit Baba Yaga, but knows he cannot hold back forever.

Towards the latter part of the series, the Master Vampire gives his name. Orlok.

Vlad's descent into vampirism takes a month

The deal Vlad strikes with the Master Vampire is set to last a month. During this time Vlad may eat and drink as a normal man, and walk in the sun, but he still thirsts for human blood. He is able to distract himself by feeding on the blood of animals, but slowly loses his taste for it.

As his time runs out, Vlad becomes sensitive to sunlight and feels weak in the daytime. He becomes almost nocturnal, and more lustful and aggressive in his time spent with Mirena. She takes note of his change, and upon discovering the truth is terrified. Vlad assures her that he is still in control, but Mirena is doubtful and does her best to keep distance between him and their son.

Vlad's guerilla war sees him become more monstrous

Over the month he spends battling the Turks, Vlad leads the Order of the Dragon to commit the terror tactics for which he became infamous in the past. Starting with Ottoman soldiers, than domestic criminals and possible spies, and finally civilians, he orders the torture and impalement of hundreds.

His close friends in the brotherhood fear for him, with Cazan trying in vain to steer him back to righteousness. But the Romani soldier Shkelgim supports his lord's violent actions, hating the Turks as much as Vlad.

Justina discovers Vlad's curse and exposes him

As Vlad slowly slips into the feared Impaler mantle once more, and moves his house to a remote abbey, his wife Justina finds out the truth of her husband when she sees him chasing down and feeding on a deer. She confides in the priest Brother Lucian, who attempts to kill Vlad before he falls into vampirism completely.

The resulting disaster sees Vlad angrily berate his wife, the priest and his "ungrateful" subjects for the years of scorn they held for him, the "Impaler". He tells them he has given everything, risked his soul to save their lives. He almost stabs Lucian in a fury before Mirena calms him.

Vlad causes Mirena's and Ingeras's deaths

Still simmering with resentment, Vlad takes his mastery of his vampire powers to engage Radu in the field, accompanied by his loyal banner man Dumitru.

But Janissary agents infiltrate Vlad's abbey to take his household hostage, and in a fury he flies back to go on a violent rampage. But in his anger, Vlad causes the abbey to burn and collapse. Justina is able to escape, but Mirena and Ingeras are killed in the abbey's collapse. In the chaos, many of their friends and Vlad's fellow knights are slain.

A grief-stricken Vlad emerges from the wreckage holding his mistress and son. Mirena still lives, and Vlad offers to revive them both and give them new lives as vampires. But as she dies, Mirena tells him she and Ingeras will go to God, begging Vlad to seek salvation and join them.

Vlad willingly damns himself

Bereft of all hope, and consumed by vengeance, Vlad finds a wounded Ottoman soldier and impales him, drinking his blood. He chooses to condemn himself to undeath.

Having nothing left to live for as a man, Vlad dons a suit of dragon-patterned armor he wore on the warpath as a younger man and accepts being what people said he is. A monster. He revives his knights and slain household with his blood, promising them revenge.

Vlad kills Radu.

Hunting down Radu, Vlad and his new brood of vampires slaughter his entourage. But having heard stories of what his brother became, Radu outlines his personal tent with silver coins and "holy fire" to help him weaken and slay Vlad.

Radu sees himself as God's instrument in killing his now-vampire brother. While Vlad has lost his faith in God, with all his prayers having received no answer and his soul lost to the Dark.

After a brutal duel, Vlad unleashes the full might of his power and murders Radu. When Radu tells Vlad he dishonors their family and his title, "Son of the Dragon", Vlad tells him he is no longer Prince Vlad.

He is Dracula. "Son of the Devil". Dracula impales Radu before drinking his blood and burning his corpse to prevent his resurrection.

The prince fakes his death

Dracula considers letting himself die with his fellow vampires, dispelling the storm clouds he summoned in their attack to let them burn in the sun.

Upon nightfall, however, Dracula awakens. Now a full-blooded vampire sired by a being of Orlok's strength, the sun weakens him but cannot kill him. Desparing that God has abandoned him, and will not even let him die, Dracula is greeted by Orlok and his last remaining servant Shkelgim. Orlok stokes Dracula's anger, redirecting it towards God Himself and the entirety of the human race. All the world failed Dracula; his family, his people, and the enemy that drove him to such terrible lengths to keep fighting.

Orlok departs, telling Dracula he is now a vessel of the Dark like him. And he must learn to leave his humanity behind, master his newfound power before starting anew and taking his vengeance on the world that turned its back on him. When the time is right, Orlok promises, he will be there to help Dracula.

Stewing on Orlok's words, a scarred Dracula wanders across the countryside and hears people talking about the cursed prince, the impaler, the tyrant Vlad. Deciding the world is better off without him, and vice versa, Dracula captures one of the Wallachian royal soldiers and uses alchemy to change his appearance. Making him appear as "Vlad".

Swaying him with a hypnotic gaze, Dracula sends the false Vlad to rejoin his army, which is on patrol searching for their prince. The decoy arrives in time for a raid by the Ottoman forces to ambush and kill them. The decoy is killed and beheaded, and all the world thinks Vlad III dead.

Count Dracula

The series, and Dracula's origin story, ends with the now-vampiric noble traveling to the land of Transylvania. He takes a new identity, becomes a merchant of antiquities, and settles in a dwelling in the Carpathian mountains. Holding onto one last memento of his past life, a relic of the Order of the Dragon, he bides his time as the years pass until all who once knew him are long dead. In that time, he continues his studies in the occult and grows in strength and knowledge.

At last, more than a century later, the reclusive vampire claims the title of Count and uses his amassed wealth to build a castle. A castle built in his name, his sole remaining name.

Dracula.

THE END

****

And that concludes the second revision/retelling in this hypothetical series.

Hope you enjoyed it! I'll be back soon with the next reimagining.

Frankenstein.

The biggest flaw they had was trying to much to be the MCU, Dracula Untold was good but its clear that the direction was set to fail cause they wanted to be like MCU instead of trying to set itself apart.

Personally, if we ignore Dracula Untold I would have had to where its a anthology series. With each movie being told to a group by a dying Van Helsing, hoping to impart some wisdom to a future generation in the hopes that they will be better off then his

As for the Monsters? Start off with Dracula, Wolf man and Frankenstein.Those monsters would be a decent enough draw and keep the themes each one has. And don't lean into action so much. And maybe if they did well go to Creature, Invisible Man and The Mummy

Low budgets

Hi, im trying to figure out if this universe was actually cancelled. Ive looked online and i get different answers, on the Dark Universe fandom it says the plan was shelved after the failure of 2017’s The Mummy but then goes to say 2020’s The Invisible Man, 2023’s Renfield, and 2024’s Lisa Frankinstin and Abigail are part of the Universe! Now we have next year’s Wolfman movie. So which is it?