DISCLAIMER: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!! 

Please do not continue reading this article if you intend on seeing this hour-long Halloween special since it does contain major Werewolf By Night spoilers (originally released exclusively on Disney+ on October 7th).

PREVIOUS ARTICLES

Go check out the previous Werewolf By Night article titled “Marvel Studios’ Special Presentation: Werewolf By Night Official Trailer Breakdown and Hidden Details” which breaks down  the minute and a half trailer of the next Marvel Studios’ Special Presentation: Werewolf By Night by Val Kohan. 

https://talonnews.org/985/entertainment/marvel-studios-special-presentation-werewolf-by-night-official-trailer-breakdown-and-hidden-details/

“There’s no escaping the night.” 

Werewolf By Night 

Werewolf By Night is the first Marvel Studios project that is not in the form of a theatrical film or a weekly streaming series. The all new hour Halloween special introduces Gael García Bernal to the MCU as Jack Russell who is Werewolf by Night. Werewolf By Night is quite successful with fans absolutely raving about it. The special paid homage to classic horror like The Twilight Zone and of course the Universal Monster movies most notably The Wolf Man. To truly get that horror style the special released in black and white for the true spirit of the story of Werewolf by Night. Saying it is a “complete love letter” to classic horror. There were ultimately two sets of shots, one in color and the other in black and white. While the vintage cut was shown to President of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, he said, “I think we have to release this in black and white, don’t we?” Werewolf By Night shifts the Marvel formula completely which is a huge risk but a necessary one to take while releasing such a special. This will pave the way for more daker Marvel projects in the future like Blade. Moon Knight was quite a dark and gritty series with a more serious tone delving into darker territory. This is all new territory for Marvel as if Werewolf By Night is a 1930s black and white horror film within the MCU. Some reviews say that it “simply has to be the goriest entry in the MCU so far, albeit in black and white. Of course the horror is a bit Disneyfied but all things considered, I came away impressed with its commitment to its inspirations and subsequent tone/style.” The horror genre has the elements of surprise and paranoia. 

The cast includes Gael García Bernal (Jack Russell/Werewolf by Night), Laura Donnelly (Elsa Bloodstone), Carey Jones (Ted/Man-Thing), Harriet Sansom Harris (Verussa), Kirk R. Thatcher (Jovan), Eugenie Bondurant (Azarel), Leonardo Nam (Liorn), Daniel J. Watts (Barasso), Rick D. Wasserman (Narrator), and Richard Dixon (voice of Ulysses Bloodstone). 

Werewolf By Night Review (covered by Val Kohan)

Werewolf By Night was my most anticipated Marvel project of 2022. Though not much was released about the special before the initial release besides one trailer and a teaser poster, the mystery of course intrigued me more to this project than previous or even upcoming Marvel projects. For Marvel not to rely on the marketing for this project differed from other Marvel Studio productions. That is just one of the many reasons Werewolf By Night is so different from other Marvel projects and will probably stay that way. They primarily utilized practical effects while creating the Werewolf by Night himself, meaning the make-up for Jack Russell’s monstrous counterpart is all practical. This is completely new for Marvel since they heavily rely on CGI and VFX for most projects. As a Marvel fan I never minded CGI until more recently but have always enjoyed practical effects more even though it looked a lot different (some would say worse), the restraints it put on production. But I must say practical effects just bring something more to a project than CGI or VFX will ever do and that truly shows in Werewolf By Night. The entire special paid homage to classic horror like The Twilight Zone and of course the Universal Monster movies most notably The Wolf Man. Werewolf By Night truly brought the horror style the special, especially it being released in black and white for the true spirit of the story of Werewolf by Night. Saying it is a “complete love letter” to classic horror. Round of applause to Michael Giacchino who completely knocked it out of the park. Between the emotion from the characters, the storyline, and especially the cinematography. But I think we must all praise him on of course the score for the film, which ultimately gave me chills and reminded me so much of those classic horror movies, especially those high pitch violins. I would love for Marvel to do this more often and have more composer direct projects with how extraordinary Werewolf By Night turned out to be. I had high expectations from the beginning, the moment they announced this project but Michael Giacchino exceeded all of them. Something that really drew me to this project other than my love for the comics was the star of the special, Gael García Bernal. We have seen Gael García Bernal in enough movies and projects to know he is a brilliant actor. He’s even one of the greatest DIsney characters of all time as he voiced Héctor Rivera in the 2017 film, Coco. It only did make sense for him to be Werewolf by Night. Something this special did so perfectly was that it was all in black and white and the only pop of color was the red bloodstone. The most perfect moment from the entire special and my personal favorite moment was the ending. The ending of Werewolf By Night is absolutely beautiful to say the least. It is emotionally pleasing. Once Jack takes refuge under a tree to wait out his transformation. Elsa wins the competition and claims the bloodstone as her own, which is rightfully so. As Elsa rests from her adventurous night, the black and white visuals slowly turn to color to Judy Garland’s rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. This of course pays homage to The Wizard of Oz. Once Jack wakes up he finds that Ted has been watching over him and taking care of him. The two friends joke as they safely relax and even promise that he’d bring him to sushi. The camera slowly pans into the sky while “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” continues to play as the screen reads “The End”. 

Werewolf By Night Breakdown

When night falls and the moon is full, Werewolf By Night follows a group of monster hunters who are gathered at the Bloodstone Manor. They were brought there due to Ulysses Bloodstone’s death as Verussa, his widow, is raffling off his precious family gem of the bloodstone. The gemstone endowed him with superhuman abilities and powers to continue his legacy in the fight against evil. The task is simple: whatever hunter can take down the monster lurking the grounds of the manor will be awarded the bloodstone as their own. Not only are the hunters going up against a powerful, dangerous, unknown monster but will have to take out their fellow hunters who are seeking the gem. The hunters include Jack Russell, Jovan, Azarel, Liorn, Barasso, and Elsa Bloodstone, who is the rightful inheritor of the bloodstone but fled her family decades before this. The monster they are hunting is the swampy Man-Thing who is kept in a maze-like garden where the hunters are randomly dropped off one by one to try and find their way to the monster. As suspected while Jack is trying to get to Man-Thing he is attacked by Jovan trying to pick off each hunter to make it easy for himself to pave a nice way to the monster. However, it’s not that easy getting through Jack as he is saved by Elsa. While Elsa and Jack go their separate ways Elsa is brought face to face with yet another hunter trying to take her down. She brutally kills Liorn by slicing his throat. It is then revealed once Jack reaches the monster his true intentions. Jack only gathered at the manor to free his good friend, Ted AKA Man-Thing. But it’s not that easy to get Ted out while all the hunters are still going after him and the other hunters. To hide away from the other hunters as Jack works out his plan he sneaks into a family mausoleum where he finds Elsa is also hidden away in. While there they make a pack as Jack reveals he’s not there to get the bloodstone but to free Ted. Together they make a plan to free Ted while Elsa receives the bloodstone. Their plan goes somewhat according to plan except for the fact after they free Ted and Jack goes to pick up the bloodstone for Elsa. We know that the bloodstone can’t be handled by monsters which weakens them. Upon touching the bloodstone, Russell triggered a reaction that the others were able to witness. Of course now they suspect something is up with Jack, something different. An unexpected guest is upon their grounds. A monster. Verussa traps both Jack and Elsa in a large cage, planning on triggering Jack’s transformation to whatever unknown monster bread he is. Like most werewolves, Jack does not want to kill and even takes precautions every full moon to protect himself from others. He tells Elsa everything he can hoping to survive their situation. Jack even takes in her scent hoping he’ll remember her as an ally once he transforms. Forcefully exposed to the bloodstone to purposefully transform him, he turns into a werewolf. Now transformed into the powerful Werewolf by Night, Jack is able to bend the bars of the cga eot escape and even kill all the guards attacking him. With a chance to escape, Jack tries to make his way out but is stopped by Verussa, who is using the bloodstone on him to subdue him. While Elsa makes an attempt to stop Verussa she comes face to face with Werewolf by Night who thankfully remembers her and even strokes her face. Together Elsa and Man-Thing take down Verussa, allowing Jack and Ted to escape. Like I said above, the ending of Werewolf By Night is absolutely beautiful to say the least. It is emotionally pleasing. Once Jack takes refuge under a tree to wait out his transformation. Elsa wins the competition and claims the bloodstone as her own, which is rightfully so. As Elsa rests from her adventurous night, the black and white visuals slowly turn to color to Judy Garland’s rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. This of course pays homage to The Wizard of Oz. Once Jack wakes up he finds that Ted has been watching over him and taking care of him. The two friends joke as they safely relax and even promise that he’d bring him to sushi. The camera slowly pans into the sky while “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” continues to play as the screen reads “The End”. 

Werewolf By Night is now streaming on Disney+!!

Look out for “Marvel Studios’ Werewolf By Night Easter Egg and Hidden Details You May Have Missed” Coming Soon!!