Are You Afraid of the Dark Universe?

If AYADU had a Comic Con Hall H panel, this is what it would be like. Having completed the six-part opening salvo of movies in their imaginary Dark Universe, Dalton and Dylan revisit their creative process so far and determine whether or not they would do anything differently, if given the chance. Then, the duo announces the complete slate of fake movies planned for Phase Two, which will be premiering throughout 2023!

Dylan and Dalton open up the gates to their Dark Universe for the very first time, as Giovanni Colantonio of Digital Trends and Left Trigger Right Trigger arrives to pitch a new video game based on their canon! It's the biggest and most ambitious Dark Universe video game yet — but not actually the first! Learn about the short-lived line of The Mummy tie-in games from 2017, then let Gio walk you through his creation, The Dark Universe Omnibus!

Our Phase Two begins at last with a sequel to the only Dark Universe film that actually exists. That's right, it's time for Dalton Deschain's THE MUMMY RETURNS! After obsessing over 2017's The Mummy, Dalton is convinced they've figured out how to turn this franchise around. Have they succeeded? Whether or not the studio is on board, Dalton's about to put Nick Morton through hell in an experimental and yet potentially very crowd-pleasing new installment in the Dark Universe canon.

The studio has been closely monitoring Dalton and Dylan's progress with their Dark Universe revamp, and now it's time for them to weigh in! Though the identity of their benefactor at Universal remains a mystery,* they've hired fan relations consultant Frankie Starker (they/them) to weigh in on the probable response of the so far entirely hypothetical fanbase. What will Dark Universe fan fiction look like? Who are people shipping? WHERE ARE ALL THE TWINKS? All these answers and more in this episode. * = We're legally required to clarify that this person does not exist.

It's time for Dylan's first contribution to Phase 2 and our first sequel to one of our own movies: Werewolves of London! What are our characters from The Wolf Man up to after House of Dracula? Can Dylan avoid the structural problems that have plagued his previous pitches? PLUS: Dalton issues their co-host a challenge that could change the course of the Dark Universe!

The success of our revived Dark Universe is bound to spark competition, and that means someone's bound to reboot The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen! As a form of opposition research, the studio has assigned Calvin Kasulke, author of the novel Several People are Typing, to pitch a requel to the 2003 flop based on the Alan Moore/Kevin O'Neill comic. It's our rowdiest episode yet!

Brace yourself as we dive into Dalton’s bold and unexpected new take on another Universal classic, simply titled: The Black Lagoon. What are the essential ingredients to an aquatic creature feature? What’s the difference between art and pop? How does one escape the shadow of The Shape of Water? Those answers and more in the latest chapter in our ongoing Dark Universe.

Wrestling columnist Nick Bond phones into the show (against former co-worker Dylan's objections) to pitch a WWE match incorporating characters from our Dark Universe! Which WWE Superstars will be entering the AYADU canon? Which of our famous movie monsters will be taking a Canadian Destroyer off of a hotel staircase? All this plus the listener mail bag in this electrifying new episode.

It's Dylan's turn to pitch a movie, and he's unmasking a new take on The Phantom of the Opera! One of the most unlikely Universal Monsters is also one of the oldest, dating back to a 1925 silent film starring Lon Cheney, Sr. But can any modern retelling of the Gaston Leroux novel escape the gravity of Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical adaptation? Should it? Oh, have we got some surprises in store for you this week...

We've worked through all of the major classic Universal Monsters, but our Dark Universe is still going strong! So, in the tradition of Marvel Studios, we're inviting some of the Internet's keenest creative minds to pitch us new takes on more obscure Universal horror properties. First up, cartoonist Mattie Lubchansky and writer Jaya Saxena attempt to charm us with a requel based on a 1973 snake-centric creature feature, "Sssssss!" (Emphasis ours; This is important.) That's not a typo in the title above — Mattie and Jaya's version is spelled with eight esses and an exclaimation point, rather than the original's seven and no exclaimation point. Find out why in this exciting episode!

We might need to subtitle Phase 2 as "The Experimental Era," because once again we've taken a well-known, well-loved Universal monster title and turned it completely on its head. It's time for Dalton's take on The Bride of Frankenstein, and it's not what any one could have possibly expected. Will this be the installment that polarizes the fanbase, The Last Jedi-style, or another entirely hypothetical smash hit?

Writer, editor, and podcaster merritt k. visits the studio to pitch her remake of the 1934 Universal classic that's kinda-sorta-not remotely based upon an Edgar Allan Poe story: The Black Cat! It's a film that asks, "What if a house had bad vibes?" as well as a number of other interesting questions that it doesn't have time to answer in its scant 65-minutes runtime Can merritt's new take fulfill the promise of the original?

You've waited patiently for our Dark Universe to get its first Dracula movie. Now, in the aftermath of The Dark Legion: House of Dracula, the infamous Count has been cursed with a mortal, human life, and must survive a gauntlet of vengeful enemies. Can Dracula endure this unprecedented threat? More importantly, has Dylan FINALLY written a horror script? Find out the our penultimate main line chapter of Phase 2!

Hot on the heels of Dylan's Dracula Lives, our guest and fellow film critic Dominic Griffin joins us over Skype to pitch a reimagining of Dracula's Daughter, which was a direct sequel to the 1931 Dracula. What makes this lesser-known Universal monster movie a hidden gem, and how much of it do we want to retain for our Dark Universe remake? Will Dom's pitch become adopted into our canon?

In preparation for the upcoming Dark Legion 2 event, hosts Dalton Deschain and Dylan Roth attempt to summarize the entire series as concisely as possible, fuelled by nothing but caffiene and corn nuts. Can the architects of the new Dark Universe retain their sanity long enough to provide an onramp for new listeners? Will any of this make sense? We sure hope so, because in two weeks, the next crossover epic begins!

At last, we arrive at the finale of Phase Two, the double-sized crossover DARK LEGION: THE MUMMY'S HAND! We're picking up threads left over from our past six main line entries, but have done our best to make this installment as friendly to new listeners as possible. If you want to go in a little less cold, we recommend checking out last season's big crossover, THE DARK LEGION: HOUSE OF DRACULA.

It's the finale of PHASE 2 of the DARK UNIVERSE, and big changes are ahead! With Imhotep seemingly defeated, what's next for the Dark Legion? Will they be able to recover their lost friend Nick from his metaphysical tomb in the Black Lagoon? What's the next stop on Claudia Lawrence's magical murder tour? Find out in the stunning conclusion of DARK LEGION: THE MUMMY'S HAND!

Flashback to this past May! Before they started writing Dark Legion: The Mummy's Hand, Dalton Deschain and Dylan Roth sat down to hash out the story, determine each character's journey, and decide who wouldn't be surviving. Get a peek into the creative process behind the feature-length event, with a few teases about what's coming in Phase 3, plus a bunch of start we had to redact. We'll be back in October with the launch of our next wave of stories! Until then, stay afraid...