Like many '90s kids, The Mummy with Brendan Fraser was a totally big deal. It’s basically my generation’s Indiana Jones. So when it was announced that he and Rachel Weisz are coming back for The Mummy 4 thanks to a reportedly “good script”, I got just as excited as one could get about a sequel and seeing Rick O’Connell back in action. But, then I remembered one thorn in my side about the original… its subpar Arab representation.
How The 1999 Movie Handled Its Arab Characters
Now, here’s the thing. Of all the things we know about The Mummy 4, we don’t know for sure where the story takes place, but per The Hollywood Reporter, it’s set to shoot in Morocco and London, which has me thinking it will take us back to the nostalgia of the original and perhaps be set in Egypt again. Another thing I want to bring up here, is the subject I’m talking about isn’t only a problem The Mummy has. A lot of Hollywood movies about the Middle East get it totally wrong. I’m just the one with an Arab-American dad who pointed it out my whole life, and who's raising my hand now that I have a platform to.
Looking back from a casting standpoint, not a single Arab actor is in 1999’s The Mummy, despite so many of the characters supposedly being native to Egypt. The leader of the Medjai warriors Ardeth Bay is played by Israeli actor Oded Fehr, the hilarious character of Beni Gabor is played by Kevin J. O'Connor (who is an American, apparently of Irish descent), Warden Gad Hassan is played by Persian actor Omid Djalili and so forth. I can go on, but to sum things up there’s not one to be found. Hey, maybe in the background?
But, it's not only that, the Egyptian characters of The Mummy are often used as a punchline or demoted to play stereotypes, too. It’s kind of frustrating given it was one of the few Hollywood movies I had growing up that actually was set in the Middle East, and could have taken the opportunity to cast the breadth of Arab actors who often don't get these kinds of opportunities.
What Needs To Change In The Mummy 4
If The Mummy 4 does end up being set in a Middle East country, I hope that over 25 years later Hollywood can show me (and the Arab-American dads and such of the world) that it’s actually grown when it comes to representing the people of the Middle East and does better by being set in this part of the world. How places are represented in movies really does make a more difference to culture and public perception than Hollywood producers probably think, and it’s harmful when the Middle East is minimized in the media.
And while the representation of minorities has clearly improved in recent years, there's been very little movement for actors hailing from the Middle East and North Africa. In a study done by UCLA last year for 2024 movie releases, there were literally zero Middle Eastern among the top theatrical movies, and I can honestly guess that 2025 and 2026 aren't much different.
So, while I’m very into The Mummy 4 and the movies bringing back more of the original actors like John Hannah, I’m also hoping it can become a platform to have more authentic representation of Arab characters within it as well. Right now the movie is expected to come out on May 19, 2028, so we’ll be getting plenty of updates as the production gets ready.
