It’s official: Rick and Evie are back. Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz had been in talks to reprise their roles from the 1999 classic since the end of last year, but we now have confirmation that a fourth Mummy film is on its way, directed by Ready or Not duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.

As excited as we are to see this last, inevitable step in the Fraserssance, a certain worry sinks in. While there have certainly been some smart legacy sequels—Creed and Trainspotting 2 leap to mind—the returning heroes rarely crackle with energy. And even more than the spooky set pieces or classic monsters, the Mummy franchise needs Rick to crackle with energy, especially in his relationship with Evie.

The Mummy franchise contains not one, but two instances that show the importance of the chemistry between Fraser and Weisz. The first, of course, is the original film, specifically the movie’s reclamation over the past decade.

To be sure, the first film wowed audiences back in 1999, pulling in $422.5 million at the box office. But by 2009, excitement for the franchise had died down significantly. Between the disappointing 2008 entry The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and a glut of Scorpion King sequels and spinoffs—to say nothing of the ascending MCU—The Mummy felt old and stodgy.

Yet, as The Mummy neared its 20th birthday, moviegoers began to sense that they had lost something important. From social media posts to boutique bumper stickers, fans grew nostalgic for Rick and Evie. They didn’t long to see the now-clunky digital effects, nor did they really care about the titular ancient Egyptian villain (see: the tepid response to the terrible Tom Cruise version). No, they wanted to see Rick and Evie fight and flirt with one another again.

That desire was only stoked by the disastrous decision to recast Evie for Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Reportedly, Weisz did not care for the movie’s script or perhaps director Rob Cohen, who took Stephen Sommers’s place for the third movie. Whatever the reason, they chose Maria Bello to be the new Evie. Bello is a great actress and seemed to be a fine choice to replace Weisz. But on the screen, Rick and Evie felt less like an exciting pair of lovers and more like a tired, bored married couple.

Which brings us to the present. On paper, the idea of a Fraser and Weisz reunion in The Mummy 4 sounds great. Both actors have continued to do great work since their last on-screen pairing, and the goodwill they’ve built up will certainly help overcome any bumps in the new film.

However, The Mummy 4 is still a legacy sequel, one that will have to address the fact that decades have passed since Rick and Evie first met. Their son Alex will himself be in his 40s now, and the duo will likely have been out of commission for a while. Previous legacy sequels lean into time passed, and often even have the central couple separated for one reason or another: think of Indy and Marion in the last two Indiana Jones movies, or the Creed movies with Rocky as a widower after Adrian’s death.

The Mummy 4 cannot pull the same move. No, they cannot ignore the passage of time, and yes, we want to acknowledge that Rick and Evie aren’t the same youngsters they once were. But the movie cannot downplay their chemistry. Only that electricity can revive the Mummy franchise from the dead, just like the endless love that called forth its central monster.

The Mummy 4 is set for release on May 19, 2028.

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