Before ‘The Mummy 4,’ This Fantasy Novel Gives the 1999 Classic a Fresh Twist

More than 25 years after its premiere, The Mummy has cemented its status as one of the great movies of its time. Stephen Sommers’ 1999 blockbuster struck a unique consonance of genres few other movies have: action, romance, humor, horror, and dramatic excitement, all mixed into this fan-favorite.

While fans are still hoping to see The Mummy 4 come out, there is something interesting coming from another author. Valerie Norton is releasing her first novel, titled The Darkness Beneath, in the spring. The author acknowledges her inspiration and seeks to elevate itrather than simply rewrite ​​​​​​The Mummy; she twists the central plot, pairing a morally ambiguous adventurer with a gentle soul. The two of them are trying to find the lost city while fighting an old evil entity.

‘The Darkness Beneath’ Starts With a Simple Question About ‘The Mummy’

Image via Mireia Beltrán (IG @artsjadee)

For Norton, the novel grew out of a question she’d been asking herself for years.

“The Mummy (1999) is one of my all-time favorite films because it’s the perfect balance of adventure, comedy, horror, romance, and fun,” she told Collider. “It really set the tone for the types of stories I’d fall in love with, the ones I wanted to relive again and again. I was that kid who wanted to study in Egypt because of Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) and Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz).”

She added, “For years, I knew I wanted to tell a story like The Mummy, one that would have all the things I loved about the film. But I didn’t know what that story was, so I waited, knowing (or at least hoping) inspiration would eventually strike. On my thousandth Mummy rewatch, I had a throwaway thought to myself: What would it have looked like if Rick was the scholar, and Evey was the treasure hunter? From there, the story started taking shape almost faster than I could write it down.”

That single role reversal became the foundation for The Darkness Beneath. Instead of following a rugged adventurer rescuing an academic, the novel introduces Aris, an explorer-turned-thief fueled by grief and revenge, alongside Killian, an optimistic scholar who would rather spend an evening with books than swords.

“I wanted to have a smart, messy woman leading the charge,” Norton said. “When we meet Aris… she’s at her absolute lowest.” Rather than writing a heroine who quietly accepts tragedy, Norton wanted someone “sharp around the edges” who responds by fighting back. “She didn’t cry when she lost everything. She went for revenge.”

Killian, meanwhile, couldn’t be more different. “He’s wealthy, focused on his studies, gentle, and untested in the field,” Norton said, describing him as someone who genuinely believes “a good book can solve everything.” While Aris reluctantly needs Killian to escape the fighting pits, Killian needs her expertise to reach the lost city of Nemethet, forcing the unlikely pair onto the same path.

Norton said watching those opposing personalities collide became one of her favorite parts of writing the novel. “She’s this hellion that’s come to destroy his perfectly ordered life, while he’s this sweet, innocent young man who has been coddled his entire life,” she said. As the journey unfolds, however, the pair begin to realize they have far more in common than either expected, with each helping the other heal from the losses that first set them on the adventure.

Adventure Comes First, but the Characters Stay at the Center

Image via Universal Pictures

Like The Mummy, The Darkness Beneath‘s adventure exists to test its characters, and Norton says building that sense of place started long before she ever wrote the novel.

“I knew The Darkness Beneath needed to feel like a true adventure that would transport readers directly into the journey,” she said. To achieve that, she leaned heavily on her semester studying history and archaeology in Greece, along with years of travel, drawing from those experiences to make the world “feel ancient and alive.”

She also returned to some of the adventure stories that shaped her as both a reader and a filmmaker. Revisiting movies like Indiana Jones, Jumanji, and The Mummy itself, Norton watched them with a different perspective, asking herself, “What did I love about them? What made their adventures feel real? Scary? Unexpected? Exciting?” — all questions that became a roadmap during revisions as she worked to balance escalating danger with quieter character moments.

The cinematic influence doesn’t stop with film. Norton credits games like Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End with helping shape the novel’s pacing and worldbuilding. She called Naughty Dog’s blockbuster “a masterclass in storytelling, adventure, environment, and character development,” praising how every new location reveals something meaningful about its heroes, which is the same feeling she wanted readers to have as Aris and Killian venture deeper into the forgotten city of Nemethet. “I wanted the story to feel exciting and fast while making sure the characters and their world feel alive,” she said.

Even so, readers expecting a fantasy version of Imhotep should prepare for something different. “My monster is definitely not a mummy, for starters!” Norton said. While the novel pays tribute to the supernatural spectacle that made The Mummy memorable, its central threat pushes further into fantasy. “There are a lot of elemental disasters caused by this monster, some of which play homage to The Mummy while taking it a step further,” she explained, adding that the ancient evil is deeply connected to Aris’ own journey in ways she’ll leave readers to discover.

Why ‘The Mummy’ Still Inspires New Stories More Than Two Decades Later

Image via Universal Pictures

Part of what has allowed The Mummy to endure is that it blended action, romance, horror, and comedy into an adventure that was as involved with its characters as it was in its wonder. Rick and Evelyn became fan favorites because they were just as entertaining trading barbs as they were outrunning ancient curses, which is the feeling Norton hopes readers find in The Darkness Beneath. While the novel borrows the adventurous spirit of The Mummy, she’s quick to point out that it’s telling its own story, one centered on two people trying to find themselves after a devastating loss.

“It certainly has all of those things,” Norton said of the book’s treasure hunting and ancient mysteries, “but at its heart, this book is about finding who you are even after you’ve lost so much, even if something core has fractured.” Rather than simply sending her characters on a quest for a lost city, she wanted the journey itself to become part of their emotional healing. “The literal journey they take becomes essential to them figuring out who they are and who they want to be.”

That emotional core is what Norton hopes readers remember long after the adventure ends.

“I hope readers will read this story and feel like they’ve been transported to a new world with characters they love, and possibly some characters they love to hate,” she said. “If a reader comes away from this book feeling like they’ve just been on one hell of an adventure and are dying to spend more time with these characters… then I’ll have accomplished my goal.”

The Darkness Beneath will be published in March 2027.

Below is an exclusive excerpt from The Darkness Beneath:

Aris strode toward the fighting pits’ center, kicking up sand and ignoring the boos and

cheers firing in equal measure. Better to pretend none of them existed, that no one would revel in

her death if it meant filling their pockets.

Steadying her breath, she smoothed her grimy hair behind her shoulders. Her knuckles

brushed against Papa’s ring hidden there, and her heart bloomed for only a second, only a

moment’s respite in this hell. Sweat already beaded at her brow, her neck, the small of her back.

Her weakened body moved slower, her muscles diminished from each previous fight and

nights spent rotting away below ground. Yet a new fire was building in her chest—if she could

survive, she would be free of this place forever.

Hell would have no fury like hers, should she win.

Revolving on her heels, Aris gazed around the perimeter for a weapon. In her first fight,

she went with a longsword to maintain a steady distance from the creature they unleashed upon

her, some unholy mixture of a panther and scorpion they must have dragged from the deepest

corners of Delene. In her second match, the longsword had been mysteriously absent, and she

later overheard the guards gossiping it was intentional—a way to ensure matches stayed

interesting for spectators with coin to burn.

Since then, each time she used a weapon, it was missing from her next fight, so she held

off on using the weapons she knew best for as long as she could hold out.

Daggers.

A gong crashed at the highest peak of the coliseum, and Aris’s nerves erupted. It was

time.

Five seconds. Just five seconds to grab her weapons before they opened the gate to

unleash whatever fresh horror they had in store for her final fight.

Five.

The crowd thundered as Aris darted for the daggers.

Four.

She pumped her weakened legs harder, her heartbeat hammering in her ears.

Three.

Sand flew at her feet, salty granules kicking up into her mouth.

Two.

Goddess Kenetra, please don’t abandon me now, she prayed.

One.

Release Date

April 16, 1999

Runtime

124 minutes