2 Years Before Twilight, Underworld Perfected the Vampire vs. Werewolf War

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While Twilight is famous for its vampire and werewolf rivalry, another film actually covered the same conflict years before. Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight novels, which began appearing in 2005, became a hugely popular book and movie series. The story centers on Bella Swan, a young woman living in Forks, Washington, who falls in love with vampire Edward Cullen. A major source of drama in the series comes from Bella’s connection to Jacob Black, a werewolf, as his people have been battling vampires for centuries.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where the vampire versus werewolf rivalry began. Stories about powerful, vampire-like beings have existed for thousands of years, but the modern idea of vampires really took shape in the 1800s, thanks to books like John William Polidori’s “The Vampyre” and, most famously, Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Werewolves, on the other hand, come directly from traditional folklore. Over the last hundred years, both creatures – especially as we know them through characters like Count Dracula and the Wolf Man – have become firmly established in popular culture.

Underworld Created a Rich Vampire Mythology Years Before Twilight

Len Wiseman’s Underworld heavily influenced this dramatic story. It centers on Selene, a vampire who hunts werewolves (called lycans in the movie). The film showcases a detailed vampire world with a rich culture, and explores the ongoing, fierce conflict between vampires and their enemies.

Everything shifts when Selene becomes attracted to a human named Michael Corvin, who is being hunted by werewolves. After Michael is bitten and begins to transform into a werewolf himself, their connection intensifies, and the situation becomes much more complex.

Although not a critical darling, the movie Underworld did well enough to launch a five-film franchise. This included several sequels and one prequel, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which uniquely shifted focus away from Kate Beckinsale’s character, Selene – though she still made a quick appearance. Selene was the main attraction, alongside the films’ dark atmosphere and stylish action. With its leather-clad heroes and violent choreography, Underworld blended monster romance with the feel of both horror and The Matrix.

Although critics weren’t fans, the Underworld movies were initially popular with audiences. The first few installments did well, but by 2017, with the release of Underworld: Blood Wars, the series had likely run its course. Still, the franchise had some major hits. Kate Beckinsale’s portrayal of Selene was a big draw in the first two films, which were both very profitable considering their budgets. Bringing Beckinsale back in 2012 with a much larger $70 million budget was a gamble that almost didn’t pay off – the film earned $160 million. Ultimately, the Underworld franchise has been reasonably successful.

The Franchise Explores Conflict Between Vampires and Werewolves

The movie Underworld famously showed a war between werewolves and vampires, and though it’s one of the earliest films to explore this conflict, it wasn’t the first story to do so. It definitely predates Twilight, which also heavily featured a never-ending battle between the two species, but pinpointing the very first instance of this idea in popular culture is surprisingly hard.

Dracula and the Wolf Man certainly clashed at times. But these seemed like individual fights between them, not a full-blown war between their kinds. Still, one event clearly foreshadowed the central conflict in the Underworld series.

Before the movie Underworld came out in 2003, White Wolf Entertainment sued Sony Pictures, Screen Gems, and Lakeshore Entertainment, claiming copyright infringement. The lawsuit centered on similarities to White Wolf’s games, Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse. These games had numerous sequels and related stories, all connected through an ongoing narrative. The series even included novels set within the same universe, such as The Love of Monsters: A Strange Menagerie by Nancy A. Collins, which featured a plot remarkably similar to the one in Underworld.

Originally a highly popular role-playing game in the 1990s, Vampire: The Masquerade is part of the larger World of Darkness universe. It has expanded into various forms of media, including a card game, novels, and comic books, and even inspired a short-lived TV series on Fox called Kindred: The Embraced. Though canceled after just seven of its ten planned episodes, Kindred: The Embraced stood out for its sophisticated take on dark themes and its intriguing world-building. In many ways, the series was ahead of its time, foreshadowing ideas later seen in popular franchises like Underworld and Twilight.

As a critic who’s seen a lot of vampire and werewolf stories, I have to say White Wolf, the RPG company founded in 1991, feels like ground zero for the whole vampire-versus-werewolf thing. It’s tough to claim they invented it – shows like Dark Shadows explored similar territory – but the specific, brooding conflict we see in blockbusters like Twilight and Underworld really feels like it sprang from their games. They actually sued a few studios over similarities, and while that case was settled quickly out of court, it seemed like they had a legitimate argument. Of course, dealing with creatures already in the public domain – vampires and werewolves are old – always makes these kinds of legal battles tricky.

Is There a Future For the Underworld Franchise

It’s unlikely another Underworld movie will happen in the same way as before. While a remake or a fresh start for the franchise is possible, Kate Beckinsale confirmed in 2021 that a sixth film wasn’t being planned. She considered what future stories could look like, but acknowledged that character rights make them improbable.

Kate Beckinsale once hoped to do a crossover between her character from Underworld and a Marvel character. Interestingly, this almost happened when the first Underworld movie came out, as the Marvel franchise was still ongoing at the time.

After disappointing results with both Blade: Trinity and the Blade TV series, the future of Marvel’s Daywalker character was uncertain. New Line Cinema owned the rights for a while and considered combining Blade with their Underworld films, as well as developing new prequels and sequels to the Wesley Snipes movies. However, none of these ideas came to fruition. When Marvel regained the rights in 2012, those plans were canceled. Marvel wanted to include Blade in their own Marvel Cinematic Universe and didn’t want to let another studio use the character in the Underworld series.

If the Underworld franchise returns, it will likely be a complete reimagining. Similar to other successful reboots, there’s a real chance to revitalize Underworld with a fresh approach. One exciting possibility would be to embrace the films’ signature dark, early 2000s style and tell the story as an animated series—perhaps using a visually stunning style like Arcane or even anime. Alternatively, a live-action streaming series could also work well if it maintains the mature themes and gritty tone that set the Underworld stories apart from series like Twilight.

In Hollywood, franchises never really disappear. Studios often try to revive old properties, hoping that fans will recognize them and buy tickets, though this isn’t always successful. Given the ongoing popularity of monster-themed romances – particularly in novels – it’s likely Underworld will return someday, either as a movie or a TV series.

The next installment of the series will probably feature a new creative team and cast, but it will undoubtedly find a fresh way to retell the classic tale of vampires and werewolves for today’s audiences.

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2025-11-10 04:48