Werewolf by Night is a marvel comic character first introduced in 1972. He’s part of Marvel’s supernatural side. There were rumors last year the character was coming to live-action. Those rumors also came with a surprise of who was directing. Notable film composer Michael Giacchino was the rumor for directing the feature. However, it wasn’t until D23 last month that both rumors were confirmed. Michael Giacchino joins the likes of John Carpenter as a director who also composes the music for their films. See Halloween for Carpenter’s work.
Werewolf by Night is the first of Marvel’s special presentations. These presentations are mini-features that are on Disney+. This one is roughly around the same runtime as a TV show coming in at 55 minutes. It’s something the Marvel Cinematic Universe hasn’t seen before. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t the first horror in the universe. A few others have used horror to great advantage. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was a campy toned-down horror by Sam Raimi.
Meanwhile, Giacchino’s work harkens back to the horror of old. Fans of horror movies from the 30s and 40s will love this one. The Wolf Man and King Kong are inspirations for the movie’s aesthetic. It’s in black and white and uses it well.
In an interview with Den of Geek, Michael Giacchino revealed his intentions for this story.
“I feel like the world has gone into this thing where all the scary stuff has gotten too sadistic and we’ve lost the heart of it as well. It was important to me that this has a real heart to it, that it’s not just blood and guts, that it actually has a real moral center.’
For anyone watching with their kids, there is blood but the black and white masks it. Other than that, the scares are few and the horror comes from the story. The plot sees Jack Russell (Gael García Bernal) attending the funeral of notable monster hunter Ulysses Bloodstone. Meanwhile, Ulysses’s strained daughter, Elsa Bloodstone (Laura Donnelly) returns to claim what is hers. Their path cross as they fight monsters and they learn to trust one another.
The cinematography by Zoë White is beautiful. It’s eclectic and is reminiscent of old-school horror. This is someone Marvel should want to keep. Is Blade looking for a Cinematographer? Another positive about the TV Movie is how the Werewolf and Man-Thing look. Where other directors might have gone full-on CGI with them, Giacchino uses practical instead. By doing this, the characters look more realistic and, again, it harkens back to the old ways.
With so many directors preferring CGI over practical, it’s amazing to see this in a Marvel story.
Gael García Bernal kills it as Jack Russell. Through most of his appearance, he’s a mild-mannered well-spoken man with no dubious intentions. The heart of the character shines through Gael’s mesmerising portrayal. He leaves you wanting more. I can’t wait to see where he appears next. Hopefully either in Blade or a Midnight Sons movie. I mean, we’ve got to be going there, surely?
Another character who has to be in it is Elsa Bloodstone. Before I get into this particular version, I’ll preface it by saying I’m a big Elsa fan. Over the last couple of years, I’ve been devouring her appearances and fell in love with this character. When I first heard they were ageing Elsa up and slightly changing her background, I was worried. In some continuities, Elsa’s dad dies when she’s 18 and she’s thrust into the monster-hunting life then.
However, while the character feels more like Jessica Jones than Elsa at times, she’s still great. There are several moments I was punching the air and screaming “that’s Elsa!” Her trademark cynicism and wit to rival John Constantine are thankfully still there. The only thing I hope they change in a future appearance is her hair colour. Let’s not add Elsa to the list of redheaded characters who are turned into brunettes and other dark hair colors. The hair’s part of her trademark look.
Laura Donnelly is great and I look forward to seeing more of her Elsa Bloodstone.
The last thing I want to talk about is the writers. Heather Quinn and Peter Cameron are the scribes for Werewolf by Night. Heather was a staff writer on Hawkeye and wrote episode 4. Peter has written for Wandavision and Moon Knight. It makes sense I like the writing on Werewolf by Night as I liked the episodes they’ve written for the other series. Hopefully, Marvel keeps them, especially for their supernatural side.
It’s October – nights are getting darker, and the time of spookiness is nearly upon us. If you’re a comic book fan and horrors, what’s stopping you from celebrating Halloween with Werewolf by Night?
