Frankenstein (or The Modern Prometheus): Del Toro’s Version, Starring Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein

Del Toro’s upcoming Netflix film based on the Mary Shelley novel also stars Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, and Christoph Waltz.

Michael Ostuni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Oscar Isaac at the 2024 Gotham Awards

Netflix revealed the official first look at Oscar Isaac’s protagonist in Guillermo del Toro’s forthcoming adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus.

Oscar Isaac plays Victor Frankenstein, the arrogant scientist who successfully creates life out of an assemblage of deceased body parts.

His experiment — known as the Creature in Shelley’s 1818 novel, but often colloquially and incorrectly referred to as Frankenstein across pop culture — will be portrayed by Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein.

Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein in ‘Frankenstein’

The film also stars Mia Goth (Pearl), Felix Kammerer (All Quiet on the Western Front), Lars Mikkelsen (Ahsoka), David Bradley (Harry Potter), Charles Dance (The Crown), and two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds).

My Oscar Book:

Frankenstein will premiere on Netflix in November 2025, a similar window as Del Toro’s last several features, which all enjoyed successful Oscar campaigns.
Del Toro’s Pinocchio, which premiered in November 2022, went on to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, while Nightmare Alley, which hit theaters in December 2021, received 4 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.

Del Toro’s most notable awards season success, The Shape of Water, which released in December 2017, garnered 13 Academy Award nominations, winning Best Picture and Best Director, among others.

My Oscar Book:

Shelley’s novel has been an essential text in horror film, having first been adapted as a silent one-reeler in 1910.

The story was perhaps most famously adapted for the screen in James Whale’s 1931 film, which starred Boris Karloff as the Creature.

The film spawned a number of sequels, including 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein.

Frankenstein has also been adapted many times in film history.

Kenneth Branagh directed himself as Victor (opposite De Niro’s Creature) in 1994’s Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Paul McGuigan (Sherlock) helmed 2015’s Victor Frankenstein, starring James McAvoy as the titular scientist and Daniel Radcliffe as Igor.

Many other projects — including recent films like Poor Things and Lisa Frankenstein — have drawn inspiration from Shelley without directly adapting her work.

There is another 2025 Frankenstein project: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride, which is expected to riff on the 1935 Bride of Frankenstein film and feature Jessie Buckley as the Creature’s titular spouse.

That film, hitting theaters in September by Warner, stars Christian Bale, Peter Sarsgaard, Jake Gyllenhaal, Penélope Cruz, and Annette Bening.

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter