“There’s no escaping the 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. This all new hour Halloween special introduces Gael García Bernal as Jack Russell who is Werewolf by Night. When night falls and the moon is full, Werewolf By Night follows a group of monster hunters at the Bloodstone Manor while hunting and going up against powerful, dangerous, and the unknown monsters who lurk the grounds of the manor. The monsters are presumably Werewolf by Night himself and the swampy Man-Thing but don’t let that fool you, you don’t always know what lurks in the shadows… Potential other monsters might show up to spook some. 

Michael Giacchino will be making his directorial debut on Marvel Studios’ Special Presentation: Werewolf By Night. He is an academy award winning music composer with work on films such as The Batman, Rogue One, Coco (also starring Gael García Bernal), and has even worked with Marvel Studios previously composing Doctor Strange and all three Spider-Man films including the most recent one, Spider-Man: No Way Home. 

The reviews are already in for Werewolf By Night and fans are absolutely raving about it. The special will be paying homage to classic horror like The Twilight Zone and of course the Universal Monster movies most notably The Wolf Man. Seen in the trailers with the horror style the special will be 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 will shift 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.” It was rumored that the Werewolf himself is barely seen in the special which actually makes more sense for the horror genre to have the elements of surprise and paranoia. 

Comic History: Meet Jack Russell who is Were by Night 

Werewolf by Night emerged from the darkness all the way back in 1971 where Jack Russell made his debut in an issue of Marvel Spotlight. The character himself did not receive its own solo series until the following year in 1972. His family curses made him the monster he is today, sending him on the supernatural adventures he encounters. While protecting some of the darkest corners of Marvel Jack fends off some of the firestest supernatural creatures. Jack’s ancestor, Grigori Russoff, was turned into a werewolf while battling Dracula in the 1700s. This curse was quiescent for generations up until Jack’s grandfather Gregor, copied the book of evil power, the Darkhold. He reactivated the werewolf curse turning himself, his son, Gregory, and any descendants into werewolves with such power and abilities including strength, stamina, speed, agility, and enhanced reflexes. The curse however also resulted in them having the traditional weakness to silver. After Jack’s father’s death his family moved from Transylvania to the United States. On the night of a full moon, the night before Jack’s eighteenth birthday, he inherited the curse and became a werewolf for the first time. The following night Jack especaped and transformed into the wolf yet again. Attempting to kill Jack’s mother, she was fatally injured in a car crash after an agent cut the brakes in her car. With her final breaths Jack’s mother told him about the family curse. Grieving the death of his mother and in a fit of rage, Jack transformed into the werewolf again and avenged his mother’s death by killing the man responsible for the crash. Throughout his fifty years of appearing in Marvel comics Werewolf by Night has had his fair share of allies and enemies, one he runs into often, Moon Knight. 

Werewolf By Night is just Werewolf by Night

Werewolf By Night will not include any major MCU cameos and fans should be okay with that. Though Werewolf by Night in the comics interacts with Moon Knight quite often, director Michael Giacchino announced that we should not expect any surprise cameo from familiar Marvel characters. Like many Marvel projects, I do not believe that they should rely on cameos to keep viewers entertained and engaged. This just further proves that Werewolf By Night is its own thing similar to Moon Knight. 

Hidden Details and Easter Eggs

• As Werewolf By Night has been described as a “complete love letter” to classic horror so there was no doubt the trailer would do anything short of that. The trailer starts off with multicolor lines declaring it is a “Marvel Studios’ Special Presentation”. Meaning 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 special presentation visuals from the get-go prove that the special will be a throwback to more vintage horror. The sounds playing during this are a nod to the CBS Special Presentation theme from the 80s and 90s. Marvel is truly going all out to make Werewolf By Night something never before seen in the MCU and it is perfect to say the least so far. 
• Between the black and white pallette and the dramatic voice over Werewolf By Night is paying homage to classic horror like The Twilight Zone and of course the Universal Monster movies most notably The Wolf Man. “This Halloween… you can’t escape… the shock… the terror of… Werewolf By Night.” The title card of Werewolf By Night is quite similar to the ones used in the Universal Monster movies.

  

• Once again the trailer uses an excessive use of a vintage horror style especially being that the special will be released in black and white for the true spirit of the story of Werewolf by Night comics. The use of practical effects also plays a major role with the nostalgia and paying homage to classic horror movies of the 30s and 40s. 
• Throughout the trailer viewers can see burns in the film with black circles flickering, or freeze frames, and even footage skipping to give it that gothic and vintage feel.
• The trailer starts off showing multiple silhouettes of hooded, cloaked figures gathering. Many suspect this being a secret society or as the trailer suggests “tonight, it is every hunter for themselves.” Of course Marvel comics are full of monster hunters, most notably, Blade, a fan-favorite anti-hero who has dedicated his entire life to vampire hunting. Wesley Snipes is the most known Blade actor but the character has been rebooted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with an upcoming movie starring Mahershala Ali. Originally Mahershala Ali was going to make his debut in Werewolf By Night as Blade but scheduling conflicts got in the way. Though the character Blade was introduced in The Eternals credit scene being teased while Dane Whitman wielded the Ebony Blade. Marvel has been slowly introducing the Midnight Sons in the MCU for quite some time now. Members in the comics that are already in the MCU include Wong (Benedict Wong), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Morbius hasn’t been introduced just yet with Marvel Studios but has recently had a flopped movie starring Jared Leto, Blade (Mahershala Ali), Moon Knight/Mr. Knight (Oscar Isaac). Elsa Bloodstone, Man-Thing, and Werewolf by Night are also former members and will all be introduced in the Werewolf By Night. Ghost Rider is one of the most popular members but is yet to be in the MCU, the character however has had two live-action films in the early 2000s starring Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze. 

• In the Werewolf by Night comics, there is an organization who sought the Darkhold (briefly mentioned above in Jack Russell’s comic history). The Darkhold has been mentioned multiple times in the MCU most recently in WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The Darkhold is also known as the Book of the Damned or the Book of Sins. The ancient and evil book contains dark magic spells and is said that the reader or anyone who possesses the Darkhold will turn to evil and lose their mind and possibly their soul… 
• In the trailer fans get a glimpse of an animatronic or some believe is a reanimated corpse who states, “Good luck, I’ll be rotting for you.” Some believed it was Simon Garth AKA Zombie. Who was once a living man but was part of a voodoo ritual that turned him into a living zombie. But if you watch the trailer with the captions on it is actually revealed to be Ulysses Bloodstone. Just a reminder that the entire special is rumored to take place on the premises of the Bloodstone Manor. Ulysses Bloodstone is the father of Elsa Bloodstone, is a former leader of a monster hunting squad and passed down his sport to his daughter. Once again from the looks of it in the trailer he is an animatronic or some believe is a reanimated corpse or even an animatronic corpse. 

• A woman can be seen by the Ulysses Bloodstone animatronic who has appeared to organize the meeting. The woman is played by Harriet Sansom Harris who is rumored to play an all new, original character named Verussa. Since there is no prior comic storyline or knowledge of the character it is just assumed from the look of the trailer that she will be gathering all the hunters together to hunt down the unknown monsters who lurk the grounds of the manor. She even states very creepily that “one of you is a monster. Masquerading as one of our own.” Then goes on to say, “I can’t wait to find out what breed of evil you are.” 
• Verussa is clearly one of the villains of the special, one of our main protagonists can be seen played by Laura Donnely. It has yet to be confirmed that she will be playing one of thee greatest monster hunters in the Marvel comics of today, Elsa Bloodstone. She is the daughter of the legendary monster hunter, Ulysses Bloodstone, and inherited the jewel of her family’s surname, the Bloodstone. The gemstone endowed her with superhuman abilities and powers to continue her father’s legacy in the fight against evil. Elsa has been described as the Marvel comics version of Buffy Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

• Though Jack Russell is the title character of the special he is barely seen in the trailer. Same goes for his monster counterpart of Werewolf by Night. What we do see of Werewolf by Night, which is little, is quite promising. It is confirmed however that it utilized primarily 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 which makes Werewolf By Night completely different from other Marvel projects. In newly released critical reviews of the special presentation it was announced that the Werewolf himself is barely seen throughout it and needed more scenes. Though it has not been released yet, it is bold to assume that Werewolf By Night is taking the horror route with things by relying on shadows and having the elements of surprise and paranoia.

• Man-Thing can easily be seen in the trailer in multiple frames battling someone and even grabbing Jack Russell. The trailer shows Jack among the other monster hunters meaning he was an invited guest where many are assuming that they were invited to hunt Man-Thing. In the comics, Jack’s MO is he is in search of supernatural beings hoping to find a cure for his family curse.

• As if Werewolf By Night and Man-Thing are the only unexpected guests. At the end of the trailer the Werewolf can be seen attacking hunters but not the monster hunters at the beginning. From the little glimpses we get in the trailer they look like Time Variance Authority hunters from the TVA seen in Loki. This little easter egg increases the chances that Werewolf By Night takes place in the past. This begs the question however, why does the TVA need to be involved in this little monster hunt?? Fans are theorizing that it has to do with something with the Darkhold since a majority of Jack Russell’s comic storyline relies on the book of the damned. The book of dark magic reactivated the family curse burdening him turning into a werewolf. Den of Geek points out that “if one can use the Darkhold to take over alternate versions of one’s self, it’s easy to see how a variant could be created, which would catch the attention of the TVA.” 
• The end shot from the trailer is perfect to say the least, perfectly showing Marvel intentions to really be going for the classic horror shot. Panning in on Elsa Bloodstone screaming as a dark lite shadow appears behind her, transforming into the werewolf.

Werewolf By Night is streaming on Disney+ October 7th!! 

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