Elisabeth Moss Considering Appearing In 'Invisible Man' Remake From Leigh Whannell

Now that the Dark Universe is dead (*sheds a tear*), Universal is retooling their plans for future Universal Monsters movies. For now, they've teamed with Blumhouse and Upgrade filmmaker Leigh Whannell to concoct an Invisible Man remake. And it looks like that film is attracting some impressive talent. A report indicates Elisabeth Moss, of Mad Men and The Handmaid's Tale fame, is circling the project.

Variety broke the news about Elisabeth Moss possibly joining the Invisible Man remake cast. The publication stresses that negotiations are still in very early stages, but there's hope Moss will come aboard the film from Upgrade filmmaker Leigh Whannell. At one point, back when the Dark Universe was still a thing, Johnny Depp was attached to star in an Invisible Man film. But all reports indicate Depp is no longer involved with this project (and that's fine).

The film will be inspired by the H.G. Wells classic of the same name, which told the story of "Griffin, a scientist who has devoted himself to research into optics and invents a way to change a body's refractive index to that of air so that it absorbs and reflects no light and thus becomes invisible. He successfully carries out this procedure on himself, but fails in his attempt to reverse the procedure."

In 1933, Universal adapted Wells' book into a film from Frankenstein director James Whale, with Claude Rains in the lead role. The film follows the same formula as the book, in which a doctor is turned invisible. The invisibility also turns him insane, and he goes on a murderous rampage. It's a surprisingly dark film that gets away with a lot of things older films couldn't, primarily because it was made before the creation of the Hays Code, which restricted sex, violence, and other questionable themes.

Universal's Invisible Man spawned several sequels, The Invisible Man Returns (1940), The Invisible Woman (1940), Invisible Agent (1942) and The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944). There was also Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man in 1951. The film and original story also inspired several imitators, most notably Paul Verhoeven's Hollow Man, starring Kevin Bacon and his invisible penis.

While Universal is eager to recreate their classic monsters for a new era, they've learned from the mistakes of the quickly abandoned Dark Universe, and the Tom Cruise Mummy movie. Rather than worry about a cinematic universe, Universal now just wants to make good standalone films. "We are excited to take a more individualized approach for their return to screen, shepherded by creators who have stories they are passionate to tell with them," said Peter Cramer, Universal's president of production.

Moss is supremely talented, and her potential involvement in this project is exciting. The actress will be seen later this month in another Blumhouse-related horror project, Jordan Peele's Us. She'll also appear in Her Smell next month.