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Bride of Frankenstein: Scarlett Johansson's Role Explained
Black Widow actor Scarlett Johansson is set to produce and star in a new riff on the Frankenstein story, titled Bride, for AppleTV+ and A24. While the Bride of Frankenstein is an iconic movie monster, she tends to play second fiddle to the men in most adaptations and, indeed, Mary Shelley’s original novel - something that Johansson and director Sebastián Lelio aim to rectify with their new interpretation of the classic tale.
First published in 1818, Shelley’s Frankenstein is commonly referred to as the first science fiction story (though it certainly includes more than a few elements of gothic horror) and remains one of the most widely adapted books of all time. While Shelley’s novel can certainly be considered a feminist work, it has surprisingly few female characters - though the Bride is crucial to its plot and themes. When tasked with creating a mate for his monster (or else face death), Dr. Frankenstein is overcome with fear; he's concerned that the Bride’s autonomy may be greater than other women in Victorian society. He worries that she might reject his previous creation or, worse, procreate with the monster - threatening humanity’s place on Earth. As a result of these fears, he destroys the Bride, causing his original creation to turn on him and vow revenge. While Frankenstein created life via science, women create life via their own bodies - something that threatens the doctor, and plays into the novel’s understated, yet present, feminist themes.
Film adaptations have utilized Shelley’s Bride of Frankenstein to varying degrees of success over the years. These range from traditional adaptations to more radical reimaginings; though precious few follow the Bride for any considerable length of time. Scarlett Johansson’s new project hopes to break that pattern; placing the Bride at the center of its twisted coming-of-age narrative.
Scarlett Johansson Is Starring As Bride Of Frankenstein
Johansson clearly has a passion for feminist science fiction, with the actor’s upcoming Bride of Frankenstein project seemingly a continuation of themes explored in both Her and Under the Skin - two of Johansson’s most acclaimed works. As per THR, Bride will follow Johansson as the creation of a wealthy entrepreneur; forced to be his wife until she rejects him and goes on the run. Faced with a world that views her as a monster, the Bride is said to discover and develop her own sense of identity throughout the film - gaining autonomy and ownership, divorced from her original creator.
Thus far, comparisons to The Invisible Man (2020) have been rife, though - with little more than a logline announced for Bride - it would be unfair to indebt it too much to the recent Blumhouse hit without seeing any footage, though the two films do appear to pursue similar goals. Namely, taking classic Universal monsters (conveniently derived from public domain novels) and using them to explore feminist themes. Obviously, this approach to genre storytelling isn’t anything new, with metaphor at the heart of almost any good horror movie, but we’re only now beginning to see the proliferation of minority-driven horror projects - offering audiences the chance to see something legitimately new.
With that in mind, before considering how Scarlett Johansson’s Bride might differ from previous versions, it’s important to understand the character’s history onscreen; already awash with various interpretations over the years.
Bride Of Frankenstein’s Movie History
James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein from 1935 is arguably the best of Universal’s classic monster movies, and their only film to feature the Bride despite further sequels being made. While her name is in the title, the Bride doesn’t really appear until the climax of the movie - though actor Elsa Lanchester makes a considerable impression despite her limited screentime. As per Frankenstein’s fears in the novel, the Bride rejects her male counterpart - who the audience has come to love - causing him to destroy Frankenstein’s castle, and everyone in it, with a conveniently-placed self-destruct lever. Curiously, Lanchester also plays Mary Shelley in the films’ prologue. Director Whale makes a subtle connection between the Bride and her original author, thus pointing out that the story begins and ends with the same woman.
Following the rise and slow decline of Universal’s monster empire, Hammer Studios decided to make their own monster movies; updating the original stories to account for changing tastes and the addition of color to cinema. 1967’s Frankenstein Created Woman, the fourth film in Hammer’s Frankenstein series, offers its own take on the Bride. After her lover is executed for a crime he didn’t commit, Christina (Susan Denberg) commits suicide, only to be revived by Dr. Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) and his assistant to get revenge on the real criminals. Though, like the Monster in Whale’s film, Christina can’t live with herself by the end of the movie and commits suicide a second time. In effect, Christina is the lead monster in this film - a step up from the Bride’s previous outings - though she still plays second fiddle to Cushing’s Frankenstein.
The next notable film to feature Shelley’s creation was 1985’s The Bride - featuring Sting as Dr. Frankenstein and Jennifer Beals as the Bride - but it was a flop on release and earned Beals a Razzie nomination for Worst Actress. After this, the Bride was treated more irreverently for a time - with Frankenhooker and Weird Science as the best and worst, respectively, of these more comedic takes. While Weird Science might appeal to teenage boys, it feels like a backward step - presenting a pretty offensive story about two teens creating their own dream woman, who then helps them improve their chances with real girls amid being objectified to the extreme. Frankenhooker, despite its crass title, is actually oddly progressive (and really funny); riffing on the sexploitation genre while actually saying something meaningful about female autonomy - its satiric themes clicking into place during the films’ wild climax.
In recent years, the Bride has continued to grow - appearing in the TV show Penny Dreadful (where she threatens to populate the world with monsters, just as Frankenstein fears in Shelley’s novel), and reimagined with an AI twist in the film Ex Machina. This latter interpretation is likely the most relevant when considering Scarlett Johansson’s new version - taking elements and themes from Shelley’s story and re-staging them in the near future, with Ava (Alicia Vikander) in place of the Bride. The film revolves around Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), a programmer tasked with engaging Ava in the Turing test to determine whether her AI capabilities are distinguishable from a real human being or not, while her creepy inventor (Oscar Isaac) lurks in the shadows. What follows is a tense psychological thriller, with the audience falling for Ava over the course of the film (just like Caleb), before a last-minute rug-pull puts her whole character into question.
How Scarlett Johansson’s Bride Of Frankenstein Will Be Different
When announcing Bride, Johansson said: “It is long overdue for Bride to step out of the shadow of her male counterpart and stand alone. [The filmmakers] and I are extremely excited to emancipate this classic anti-heroine and reanimate her story to reflect the change we see today”. While the feminist angle is clearly being focused upon, this is hardly a new take - with Shelley’s novel offering a feminist reading in the first place. Granted, filmmakers have rarely leaned into this idea in any meaningful way. It also isn’t the first Frankenstein movie to feature the Bride as its only monster - though, as stated, might be the first to position the character at the center of its narrative.
The Bride rebelling against her creator is common in Frankenstein films, but usually happens towards the climax, while Johansson’s project looks to explore the aftermath of that inciting rebellion and the challenges that the Bride might face along her journey of self-discovery. While Ex Machina is probably the most in-depth exploration of the Bride archetype thus far. She’s still not the protagonist of the piece, however, which is something that remains true throughout most (if not all) of the Bride’s many appearances; it's also the thing that seems to differentiate Scarlett Johansson’s Bride from the rest of the pack.
