Sofia Boutella Discusses Her Role as the Villain in Tom Cruise’s Reboot of The Mummy

Sofia Boutella

Fans of the original The Mummy trilogy will have to check everything they know at the door to the cinema before going to see the upcoming Tom Cruise reboot of the franchise, which will be arriving this summer. Gone are the days of Brendan Fraser’s whimsical Rick O’Connell, going places he shouldn’t and escaping using copious amounts of bullets and one-liners. Also gone is the shallow backstory of the original series’ villain, Imhotep. Now, thanks to Sofia Boutella, who plays Ahmanet in the upcoming reboot, fans have a better understanding of what’s to come.

Despite the straightforwardness of being punished for sleeping with the Pharaoh’s wife (and trying to resurrect her afterwards), Universal Studios is moving in a different direction with the reboot’s new villain. According to Boutella, whose recent roles include Kingsman: The Secret Service and Star Trek: Beyond, the Egyptian princess she plays in the reboot has a more significant, understandable backstory. The princess’s story begins after her father, the Pharaoh, has a son, and goes back on his promise to make her the next Pharaoh of Egypt in favor of his newborn child.

Sofia Boutella

“Having nothing to lose, she summons the wrong god, in order to get what she wanted, that power that will give her what she was promised,” the actor told EW. “She’s put aside for a very long time because she became dangerous. In modern times, she comes back, to go after what she was promised to receive, to begin with.” According to Boutella, the character’s backstory was extremely important, especially where this is the first time we are seeing a female Mummy, excluding Imhotep’s girlfriend at the end of the first movie in the original trilogy.

It was important to me that this character had a backstory, you know? It’s the first time that you see a female Mummy. She can’t be just a monster walking around scaring people. There needs to be something significant her[e] shining through. To explore that psychology in her, what happened to her as a woman: Being deceived, because there’s a boy who comes into the picture all of a sudden.”

We will get a chance to see Sofia Boutella’s character come back from the dead and try to take back what is rightfully hers when The Mummy arrives in theaters on June 9, 2017.

So, what are your thoughts on the upcoming The Mummy reboot? Are you excited to see Sofia Boutella in action as the new Mummy? Let us know in the comments section below, and as always, stay tuned to DFTG for all the latest gaming and entertainment news! Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for our 24/7 feed that contains everything one desires!

Ryan "Cinna" Carrier3026 Posts

Ryan is the Lead Editor for Don't Feed the Gamers. When he isn't writing, Ryan is likely considering yet another playthrough of Final Fantasy IX. He's also the DFTG cinnamon bun.

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