Turkish actor Numan Acar joins the cast of The Mummy 4 featuring Brendan Fraser

As Universal continues to gather the old team for the new The Mummy film, an important name from Turkey has been added to the cast.

Successful actor Numan Acar, who has appeared in many foreign productions, has joined the fourth film of the Mummy series, which has yet to be officially titled. It remains a secret which character Acar will portray.

Born in the Kelkit district of Gümüşhane, Acar is particularly recognized by international audiences for his roles as Haissam Haqqani in Homeland, Hakim in Aladdin, and Dimitri in Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Ardeth Bay is also returning

Oded Fehr will reprise his role as the Medjai warrior Ardeth Bay, which he played in the 1999 film The Mummy and its 2001 sequel The Mummy Returns. Fehr joins Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, and John Hannah, whose returns were previously announced.

Fraser will once again portray Rick O’Connell, Weisz will return as Evelyn, and Hannah will reprise his role as Jonathan Carnahan.

The fact that the cast is gradually reuniting the central figures from the first two films is no coincidence. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett had previously hinted that the 2008 film The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor would not be considered part of the continuity for the new film.

But the real surprise is the return of Beni

The most intriguing part of the new announcement regarding the continuity of the series is Kevin J. O’Connor.

It has been confirmed that O’Connor will not only return to the film but will also reprise his role as the character Beni Gabor from the first film in 1999.

There is a small problem here... At the end of the first film, Beni was seen trapped in Hamunaptra and attacked by a swarm of scarabs. The scene clearly implied that the character had died.

Therefore, how Beni will confront Rick O’Connell nearly thirty years later remains unanswered for now.

Will there be a flashback, will it be revealed that the character survived death, or will the supernatural aspect of The Mummy universe come into play? The studio has not clarified any of these. Aside from the confirmation of O’Connor’s return as Beni, there is no information regarding the character's place in the story.

The cast of the new film is increasingly resembling the old The Mummy

As Numan Acar becomes one of the new faces of the cast, the backbone of the production is clearly being built around the films from the Stephen Sommers era.

Confirmed names so far include:

Brendan Fraser — Rick O’Connell
Rachel Weisz — Evelyn O’Connell
John Hannah — Jonathan Carnahan
Oded Fehr — Ardeth Bay
Kevin J. O’Connor — Beni Gabor
Numan Acar — Role not disclosed

Michael Johnston is also among the names joining the cast of the new film.

For Rachel Weisz, this film represents a true comeback after a long hiatus. Weisz did not participate in the third film following The Mummy Returns, and the role of Evelyn was taken over by Maria Bello in The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

Ready or Not directors at the helm of The Mummy

The film will be directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who are working under the name Radio Silence.

The duo has gained prominence in recent years with horror films like Ready or Not, Scream, and Scream VI. The screenplay for the new The Mummy film was written by David Coggeshall, the writer of Orphan: First Kill.

Gillett previously described the script as “beautiful, scary, and large-scale,” while Bettinelli-Olpin noted that the script played a significant role in Fraser and Weisz's return to the project.

This choice of creative team suggests that the new film may not only be a nostalgic reunion of actors but also an attempt to re-establish the balance between adventure and horror that the 1999 film achieved.

The Mummy 4 is set for release on October 15, 2027

Universal Pictures will release the film in theaters on October 15, 2027. The studio's official schedule still lists the production under the name “The Mummy Franchise”; therefore, the widely used title The Mummy 4 is not yet the official film title.

Who Numan Acar will portray and how Beni will be brought back from the dead are currently the two biggest hidden storylines of the film.

On one side, there is a Turkish actor joining the series for the first time, and on the other, a character we left in Hamunaptra in 1999. As the cast of Universal's new The Mummy film grows, it is increasingly connecting to the first two films more directly than anticipated.