The Invisible Man 2020 is ostensibly a reboot of Universal’s classic 1933 movie, but in many ways it’s more similar to 2000’s Hollow Man. Coming not long after the critical and commercial flops of the 2019 Black Christmas remake and the 2020 reboot of Fantasy Island, it’s safe to say Blumhouse Productions was in need of a hit. Thankfully for them, they got one in The Invisible Man, which scored both terrific reviews from critics and raves from moviegoers. The film has so far grossed $55 million worldwide on a $7 million budget.
At this point, there’s a lot of talk about Blumhouse and Universal’s further planned reboots of the classic monsters, and whether or not those films will finally go on to unite into the studio’s long-promised Dark Universe. That still remains to be seen, but there’s no question that The Invisible Man, directed by Leigh Whannell and starring Elisabeth Moss, is a smash success. However, its success is somewhat reminiscent of a prior attempt to reboot the same material for the screen, Hollow Man, starring Kevin Bacon.
Hollow Man didn’t fare well with critics at all, but it did well at the box office, and sports a cult following to this day. There’s little debate over which is the better film, but surprisingly, when examining The Invisible Man 2020, a lot of Hollow Man’s influence can be seen.
Invisible Man 2020 Is More Like Hollow Man Than The Original Movie
The most apparent area in which The Invisible Man 2020 resembles Hollow Man is in its villain. Adrian Griffin in the 2020 film was clearly a complete monster long before he invented his invisibility suit, and is only too happy to use the device to torment Cecilia after she leaves him. Jack Griffin in the 1933 Invisible Man actually begins the film as a decent person, and only experiments on himself in the hopes of making a breakthrough and providing a better life for his beloved Flora. However, Sebastian Caine in Hollow Man, while he doesn’t start out totally evil, is shown to be an arrogant jerk willing to lie to his colleagues for his own gain, take unnecessary risks with his experiments, and most telling, molests one of his co-workers almost immediately after turning invisible.
The violent insanity that overtakes Sebastian after he can’t be returned to normal is basically just his unrestrained id, leading to multiple murders, a rape, and a possessive desire to punish his ex for moving on without him. Sebastian is clearly much closer to Adrian as a character than Jack is. The sexual assault element is also a disturbing commonality, and not something at all present in the older movie. Cecilia reveals that Adrian has raped her before, and some fans have even speculated that he does it again while she’s asleep, while wearing his invisibility suit, and that’s how Cecilia got pregnant with his child. Rape is one of the first heinous acts Sebastian commits after he starts to lose it, and the aforementioned bit of groping early on serves as foreshadowing of his tendencies.
The scorned possessive boyfriend angle is also something shared by both The Invisible Man 2020 and Hollow Man. Adrian’s entire character motivation is first punishing Cecilia for leaving him, then reclaiming her as essentially his property. It’s Sebastian witnessing his ex Linda having sex with another colleague that causes him to completely, irrevocably snap mentally, sending him over the edge with anger and resentment. In 2006, a direct to video Hollow Man 2 was released, but fans may just be wiser to look at The Invisible Man 2020 as an unofficial sequel.
More: The Invisible Man 2020 Makes BIG Changes To The Original Movie
