Explorer, adventurer, treasure-seeker and gunfighter, The Mummy’s Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) certainly ticks a lot of boxes. And, sure, he does everything that’s asked of any action hero: “Rescue the damsel in distress, kill the bad guy and save the world.”

But there’s so much more to O’Connell than just that. Because, if you’re interested in this writer’s opinion (and you clearly are, otherwise why else are you even here?), he’s also one of the healthiest on-screen love interests of all time. 

You wouldn’t think it during his meet-cute with Evie (Rachel Weisz), of course. He’s in prison. He has George Of The Jungle-level unkempt hair. He grabs her face through the bars of his cell, holds it in his dirty hands and kisses her passionately without warning. Then, just like that, he’s marched off to be executed for whatever crime he’s supposed to have committed – and yet Evie still barters for his life… despite not being his biggest fan as a result of all that unsolicited attention.

“I think he’s filthy, rude and a complete scoundrel,” she says at one point. “I don’t like him one bit.”

Ah, the classic enemies-to-lovers trope. God, I love it to little pieces.

Basically, O’Connell kicks things off like any old action hero: all bluff and bravado and ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ vibes. As he grows to learn more about his new librarian companion, though, his respect for Evie deepens. He gifts her a set of archaeological tools, blushing bashfully as he does so. Why? Oh, just because he knows she’s a passionate scholar of Egyptology, who dreams of making a big Tut-style discovery, and he’s all about supporting that dream.

When she gets tipsy, he doesn’t put the moves on her (mercifully – this is the bare minimum we expect); instead, he teaches her how to throw a punch. So nobody ever messes with her. Ever. And, when she tells him all about the process of mummification, he hangs on her every single word. In fact, he’s the kind of guy who listens more than he talks, is always willing to take on advice and suggestions, offers up genuine apologies when he’s done something wrong and asks questions. Lots of them. 

He’s the ultimate himbo, essentially: hot, authentic and always upfront about how he’s feeling. Which means there’s never any pretence or toxic mind games for Evie to wade through.

And that brings me to my next (metaphorical) slide, students, because my very favourite thing about Rick is just how open he is about his adoration of her. Not just in that moment at the end of the first film: you know, when he refers to her as the greatest treasure of all? That one.

Rather, it’s in his treatment of Evie in The Mummy Returns. 

Several years have passed since the events of The Mummy, but theirs is not an on-off toxic romance: instead, they’re happily married with a precocious son, and Rick still worships the ground that Evie walks upon. He’s devoted. He’s loyal. And he listens to her, learns from her, supports her (always) and is willing to go to the ends of the earth for her… not to mention fight pygmies, mummies, and giant Dwayne Johnson-faced scorpions for her, too.

Sure, he still likes to throw a punch (or fire a gun), but Rick is a lover first, a fighter second. Indeed, he always looks at Evie with the softest, gentlest eyes – even when they’re mid-battle with the undead. And the first thing he does when they’ve dispatched the latest army of mummified soldiers is smile at his wife and plant a great big kiss on her, but only after she crooks her finger at him and beckons him closer.

Consent, guys. It’s so fucking sexy.

Oh yes, theirs may start off as the traditional adventure romance dynamic, but it shifts and evolves quickly, eventually getting to the point where, yeah, Rick has no problems taking on the role of the classic damsel in distress, ready to be rescued by his lady love. And where, you guessed it, Evie is more than happy to step into the role of the swashbuckling hero, diving through falling rocks and jumping over crevasses to rescue her man from certain death. How very modern of them, eh?

It’s gorgeous. It’s all just so gorgeous. In a world of TV shows and films that offer up obsessive boyfriends and toxic husbands aplenty, it’s so great to see an onscreen relationship that’s rooted in equality and mutual respect – not to mention excellent banter (sexual tension is all and good, but I especially love when Rick and Evie are squabbling playfully over their differing approaches to dispatching Imhotep). 

And that’s why a) Rick O’Connell has my heart forever, and b) you need to rewatch The Mummy this week. 

Go on. You know it makes sense.

Images: Getty