Since Cassandra possesses the ability to foresee the future, she proves to be a major threat to Memnon's enemies as she helps him predict and prepare for all imminent attacks. Although Mathayus' initial plan fails and nearly kills him, he does not give up and vows to overpower Memnon. After overcoming many challenges and setbacks throughout the film, he not only manages to save Cassandra but also becomes the titular Scorpion King.
How Mathayus Becomes The Scorpion King In The Mummy Spinoff's Ending
He Dethrones Memnon And Becomes The New King
Midway through The Scorpion King's runtime, Menmon's warrior, Thorak, poisons Mathayus before Mathayus kills him. Realizing that only he can save the world from Memon's reign, Cassandra uses her magic to cure Mathayus. They then end up in the Nubian King Balthazar's camp, where Cassandra has two distinct visions: while Menmon's army brutally attacks Balthazar's rebel camp in one, Mathayus dies during his fight against Menmon in the other.
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The Scorpion King Cast & Character Guide
The Scorpion King is a fantasy action movie that serves as a prequel to The Mummy Returns and features interesting performances by well-known actors.
When she tells Mathayus about her visions, he assures her he makes his own destiny. In The Scorpion King's final arc, Mathayus and Balthazar lead an attack on Menmon and his men. Although everything initially goes as planned, Cassandra's vision comes true after Mathayus gets hit by an arrow from one of Menmon's men. However, determined to "make his own destiny," Mathayus pulls the arrow out of his back and uses it to kill Menmon. With this, he dethrones Menmon and rightfully earns his place as the new Scorpion King.
Where The Scorpion King Is Set In The Mummy Timeline
The Movie Unfolds Thousands Of Years Before The Brendan Fraser Movies
Custom image by Stephen Barker According to The Mummy franchise's lore, The Scorpion King is set exactly 5,001 years before The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. The Mummy movies do not delve too deep into what happened to the Dwayne Johnson character after the events of The Scorpion King. However, The Scorpion King was followed up with four sequels — The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior, The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption, The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power, and The Scorpion King: Book of Souls — that walked through the character's journey after he became the leading figure.
How The Scorpion King Turned Evil In The Mummy Returns
The Movie And Its Sequels Never Explain What Changes Him
Surprisingly, even though The Scorpion King's story has been continued in four sequels, none of the movies have truly disclosed how he went from being a heroic figure to a villainous one. In The Scorpion King, he is portrayed as a morally righteous warrior who takes it upon himself to fight tyranny. The Mummy Returns discloses that after earning a favor from Anubis, he destroyed the city of Thebes, which made him lose his soul. As a result, he was condemned to live in the oasis Anubis had granted him, forcing him to lose his humanity and become more ruthless over time.
Dwayne Johnson was offered a salary of $5.5 million for his role in The Scorpion King , making him the highest-paid first-time leading man at the time.
He remained in his monstrous hibernated state for over 5000 years until the resurrected High Priest Imhotep and Rick O'Connell awakened him in The Mummy Returns. Despite revealing these details about his past, The Mummy Returns never explores what led to the Scorpion King's moral corruption. Even the followup Scorpion King movies walk through his timeline but never highlight how he fell from grace. Owing to this, it would be safe to assume that acquiring immense power ultimately came at a great cost and warped his noble intentions.
The Film Surprisingly Has Some Real Historical Parallels
The Scorpion King's storyline is entirely fictional and, by no means, should be taken as a lesson in Egyptian history. However, interestingly, a Scorpion King did exist in Ancient Egypt. Over 5000 years ago, King Scorpion I was a ruler at the beginning of Dynasty 0. He is credited for playing a crucial role in unifying Upper and Lower Egypt. His tomb is in the desert at Abydos and is believed to be the blueprint based on which subsequent rulers in Ancient Egypt created their own designs.
Scorpion King's tomb also serves as one of the earliest pieces of evidence for the consumption of wine in Ancient Egypt.
Although little seems to be known about the king, a 5,000-year-old graffito, discovered in 1995 in the Theban Desert Road Survey, has Scorpion symbols that depict his win over an unknown protodynastic ruler. Scorpion King's tomb also serves as one of the earliest pieces of evidence for the consumption of wine in Ancient Egypt. However, despite all the proof pointing towards the existence of a real Scorpion King, the Dwayne Johnson action movie seems to have nothing to do with real history.
Does The Scorpion King Deserve A Reboot?
It Is Hard Not To Question Whether Dwayne Johnson Is Making The Right Decision
When The Scorpion King first hit the theaters in 2002, it grossed $180.6 million worldwide against a production budget of $60 million. Owing to this, it was not a blockbuster but proved to be commercially successful after breaking even. The movie also played a crucial role in paving the way for Dwayne Johnson to land more mainstream acting roles and establish himself as a bankable star. Since the film was an important milestone in the former WWE star's acting career, it is not surprising that he is teaming up with Universal Studios to produce its reboot.
Actor | Role |
Dwayne Johnson | Mathayus/The Scorpion King |
Steven Brand | Memnon |
Kelly Hu | Cassandra |
Grant Heslov | Arpid |
Michael Clarke Duncan | Balthazar |
Bernard Hill | Philos |
Peter Facinelli | Takmet |
Roger Rees | King Pheron |
Ralf Moeller | Thorak |
Branscombe Richmond | Jesup |
However, since 2002's The Scorpion King received mixed reviews from viewers and critics and was only a little above its break-even point, it is hard not to question whether rebooting the movie is a good idea. The Mummy movies, which had far better box office numbers, were also rebooted in 2017. However, despite having Tom Cruise as its lead, the reboot was panned by critics and even lost $60–95 million due to its high production and marketing budget.
Dwayne Johnson has credited his successful acting career to The Scorpion King and said (via Deadline ) that he is " honored and excited to reimagine and deliver this cool mythology to a whole new generation. "
The Scorpion King may not necessarily meet the same fate as the 2017 reboot. However, since it serves as a mere subset of the parent Mummy franchise, its potential success will heavily depend on how it will reimagine the original movie's story and make it more appealing to modern audiences. Only time will tell how the movie will eventually perform. However, with Jonathan Herman (Straight Outta Compton) as its screenwriter, The Scorpion King's reboot already seems to be on the right path toward succeeding.
2002's The Scorpion King stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in the titular role. Directed by Chuck Russell, the film follows the rise of the Scorpion King and is a direct prequel and spin-off to the cult-classic film, The Mummy.
Director Chuck Russell
Release Date April 12, 2002
Studio(s) Universal Pictures
Distributor(s) Universal Pictures
Writers Chuck Russell
Runtime 92minutes
Budget $60 million
English (US) ·