Frankenstein (2025) & The Bride! (2026): Mad Science Comes Full Circle

What happens when one of sci-fi’s oldest stories is reimagined for a modern audience?

In this episode of Journey Through Sci-Fi, we return to the origin of mad science — Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein — through two new adaptations: Frankenstein (2025), directed by Guillermo del Toro, and The Bride! (2026), directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal.

This isn’t just another adaptation.

It’s a full-circle moment for the genre.

From the obsessive creator who dares to make life… to the creation who refuses to belong to him, these films show how the Frankenstein myth has evolved over 200 years of science fiction.

LISTEN BELOW

In this episode we explore:

• Why Frankenstein is still the blueprint for every mad scientist story• How these new versions reinterpret the act of creating life • What they keep — and what they completely reinvent — from the original myth • How modern fears shift the story from creation → control → autonomy• Why The Bride! flips the perspective from creator to creation • What this tells us about where sci-fi — and mad science — is heading next

From gothic horror roots to modern sci-fi storytelling, this is the evolution of one of the genre’s defining ideas.

And a fitting end point for our Mad Science series.

Because sometimes the most important sci-fi story isn’t about the future…

…it’s the one we’ve been retelling all along.

But don’t worry! We’ve still got two more episodes in the series before we wrap things up, including our Star Trek mad science special and our final awards show, where we’ll be recapping the highs and lows from across this season of Journey Through Sci-Fi.