While Tom Cruise plays a central role in The Mummy reboot, his role in the future of the Dark Universe remains something of a mystery.
Of the five actors featured in the official Dark Universe cast photo (including, Russell Crowe and Sofia Boutella), Cruise was the only one not initially presented as playing an iconic “monster” himself – signaling that his character in The Mummy, one sergeant Nick Morton, would be more than just a one-and-done Dark Universe movie protagonist, even before the film came out.
As for what role Cruise’s Nick Morton will playing in the overarching narrative of the Dark Universe following the events of The Mummy, well, that doesn’t become fully clear until the final minutes of director Alex Kurtzman’s film.
After signing on though, Cruise played a key role in developing and promoting The Mummy, ahead of its release in theaters.