Awkwafina to battle Nic Cage's Dracula in Renfield

We’ll be honest: We have no clue who we’d draft to try to fight Nicolas Cage Dracula, which, as of earlier this week, swiftly became the three most terrifying words in all of cinematic history. “The bees” is the meme-y answer, obviously, but we don’t even know if bees and Draculas ever fight. (Why will no one tell us whether bees and Draculas ever fight?!)

Regardless of who we’d pick, though (A garlic-slathered John Travolta? A holy water-flinging Cher? As many stake-equipped Coppolas as we could reasonably bring to bear?), the producers of upcoming Nicholas Hoult vehicle Renfield have made one of their choices: Actor and comedian Awkwafina, who, per Deadline, has just been cast in the film.

Details about the movie are still sketchy, obviously, so we don’t actually know where Awkwafina will fall on the eternal battle between the forces of good, and the forces of Nic Cagula chowing down on necks and scenery with equal gusto. That being said, she’s fresh off of being one of the best parts of Shang-Chi, infusing a mixture of humor, bus-piloting chops, and action into the Marvel formula, so fingers crossed that she’s on humanity’s side.

Renfield will be directed by Chris McKay, who’ll be working from a story outline worked up by well-known zombie/comics guy Robert Kirkman. Hoult was attached to star in the film back in August, but, obviously, our minds went into full-on overdrive yesterday, when it was announced that Cage would be taking on the role of the malevolent Count himself.

The film—written by Ryan Ridley—marks Universal’s latest effort to milk something out of its classic monster movie properties, after Tom Cruise’s The Mummy somehow failed to set the world afire with anticipation for the Dark Universe. (Did they consider casting Nicolas Cage as The Mummy? And as Frankenstein? We’re just saying: Dracula is a good start, but the Nicolas Cage Universal Monsters Universe would be a hell of a thing to live through.)