Sofia Boutella’s character in The Mummy – real name Ahmanet – is angry. So might you be if you were living in a man’s world and find yourself stripped of your inheritance because your dad happens to have a baby boy. Originally destined to become the Queen of Egypt, Ahmanet’s hunger for power leads to her being mummified alive. Bogus.
When she wakes up some 5,000 years later, she’s still mad as heck. Plus, it turns out she’s made a promise to the Egyptian God Set to provide him with the body of a mortal man that he can inhabit. Which means she then makes it her mission to fulfil that promise, sucking the life out of actual living people to get herself back to full strength and claim her due.
Sofia Boutella spoke to FANDOM to tell us that Ahmanet isn’t all bad, and that her temper is something a little love and self-care could probably tackle.
“She has a reason for why she’s doing this and doesn’t come from a place of pure evil. She comes from a place of having been deceived and heartbroken and she just wants justice,” Boutella explains. “I think there is a space for redemption there. She just needs a hug. She just needs a bit of love.”
So how would Sofia like to see Ahmanet develop in future films in the Dark Universe?
“I’d like to see her in [the] modern day taking on normal life trying to blend in, see what happens,” jokes Boutella. “Try to buy some groceries at the supermarket, interact with people… I don’t know, go to the gym, go to the sun.”
Anything else?
“Maybe she can just compromise. Instead of taking their lives, those poor people, I think maybe she can compromise and go and get some sun instead or try to eat more carrots. A bit of Vitamin A in there will help her, eat a bunch of mushrooms for some Vitamin D. What else? Some green juices. That will do. She just doesn’t know diet very well. That’s why her methods are a bit eccentric.”
Maybe the Dark Universe could surprise us all and go somewhere unexpected after all.
‘The Mummy’ hits screens on July 9.