Oded Fehr is returning as Ardeth Bay for the currently filming The Mummy 4, but he has a rather selective memory of the series’ sequel count. During an appearance alongside fellow returning cast member John Hannah, Fehr reflected warmly on the earlier films, then jokingly treated the franchise as though it stopped after The Mummy Returns.
“The Mummy, The Mummy Returns — there wasn’t a third one,” Fehr said, describing the experience of making the original films as “just fun.”
Hannah, who played Jonathan Carnahan across all three previous films, did not let that revision slide. He smirked, held up three fingers and silently indicated that, yes, a third movie did in fact happen. Fehr doubled down on the gag: “No, there were two. But, it’s a disagreement.”
It is an easy bit of co-star banter, but it also neatly captures a real point of discussion around the new sequel. The Mummy 4 will reunite Brendan Fraser as Rick O’Connell and Rachel Weisz as Evelyn O’Connell, while bringing Fehr’s Ardeth Bay and Hannah’s Jonathan back into the fold. That collection of returning performers has naturally invited questions about how the new movie will relate to The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, the third entry that Fehr did not appear in.
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Why the third-film joke lands
Fehr’s joke is not a literal claim that Tomb of the Dragon Emperor vanished from history. It is a winking expression of preference for the first two movies, and it works particularly well because the series’ returning actors do not all have the same relationship to the third film.
Hannah appeared throughout the original trilogy, giving him the most straightforward reason to defend the complete run. Fehr, by contrast, was absent from the third installment. The difference makes the exchange feel less like a serious on-set declaration and more like the kind of playful disagreement that follows a long-running franchise and a cast reconnecting decades later.
The third movie is also distinct in one especially important respect: Weisz did not return as Evelyn. Maria Bello played the character in that installment instead. With Weisz now confirmed to be reprising Evelyn opposite Fraser’s Rick, the new production is restoring the core pairing most closely associated with the first two films.
That does not, by itself, establish a formal continuity ruling. In franchise language, canon means the events that a story officially regards as part of its active continuity. Fans sometimes use the term more loosely to mean the version of a series they personally prefer. Those are separate things: a fan choosing to overlook a chapter is not the same as filmmakers explicitly declaring it removed from continuity.
For now, the available comments leave room for interpretation rather than supplying a detailed answer. Director duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett were asked whether they considered Tomb of the Dragon Emperor canon. Bettinelli-Olpin replied, “Well, Rachel is in this one,” and Gillett added, “That should answer the question for you.” The response strongly signals the creative importance of Weisz’s return, but it does not spell out the mechanics of the new film’s timeline.
What is confirmed about The Mummy 4
There are still major gaps in the public picture. Even the movie’s final title has not been announced. The firm details are that the film is shooting, Fraser and Weisz are back as Rick and Evelyn O’Connell, Fehr is reprising Ardeth Bay, and Hannah is returning as Jonathan Carnahan. Its release date is set for October 15, 2027.
Set photographs have shown Fraser and Weisz in character in surroundings that appear to suggest post-war Britain in the 1950s. That visual clue is useful, but it should not be treated as a full plot summary. A set location or costume can indicate an era and atmosphere without revealing where the story goes, how much time it covers, or which past events the screenplay chooses to mention.
That distinction matters because legacy sequels often generate more certainty online than their creators have actually offered. A legacy sequel is a later installment that reconnects an older property with its established stars, characters or themes. It can continue every prior chapter exactly, quietly sidestep certain details, or focus on familiar characters without delivering a lengthy continuity lecture. At this stage, the returning cast gives a clearer indication of the movie’s priorities than its exact narrative relationship to the third film.
The O’Connell reunion is the central signal
Fraser and Weisz returning together is the clearest creative statement attached to The Mummy 4. Rick and Evelyn were at the center of the first two films, while Ardeth Bay and Jonathan supplied two very different but memorable connections to the O’Connells: Ardeth as an action-oriented ally, Jonathan as Evelyn’s brother.
Bringing all four roles back gives the production a direct link to the character chemistry audiences associate with the earlier entries. It also helps explain why Fehr’s offhand “two movies” line resonated beyond the moment itself. The cast configuration makes it easy to read the new film as a return to a particular era and dynamic within the property, whether or not the script ultimately issues a strict continuity verdict.
Hannah’s gentle objection is equally fitting. Jonathan is part of all three earlier movies, and Hannah’s response avoids turning Fehr’s preference into a serious dispute. Their exchange instead reflects two valid perspectives on a franchise with a long gap between installments: one actor celebrates the pair of movies he remembers most fondly, while another reminds everyone that the record contains three.
What fans should not assume yet
There is no confirmed plot description here, no announced explanation for continuity, and no final title. It would be premature to claim that the third movie has officially been erased, that it is definitely being ignored, or that the 1950s setting confirms a particular story direction. The directors’ earlier answer may be a pointed wink toward fans who wanted Weisz back, but a wink is not a scene-by-scene continuity document.
What can be said with confidence is simpler: the new movie is assembling a substantial returning ensemble from the franchise’s earlier years, and Fehr’s joke has put the question of the third installment back in the spotlight. The eventual film may clarify how it handles that history. Until then, the most revealing part of the discussion is not whether Hannah can convince Fehr to count to three; it is that the O’Connell family and their closest allies are being brought back together for another adventure.
