D23 has come to an end but it still offered quite a few special surprises to keep us guessing on the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Among the many reveals was the confirmation that Marvel Studios’ first special will be the long-rumored Werewolf by Night adaptation. Not only did they confirm long-time MCU composer Michael Giacchino in the director’s chair but also gave us a trailer to get a feeling for what exactly the project might be. Besides teasing a classic throwback to horror movies from the black and white era, we also got a small glimpse of the story. Luckily, the new Disney+ page gave us even more details.
As first noticed by ComicBook.com’s Adam Barnhardt, the detail page not only includes a great new visual teasing the atmosphere this project has in store for us but also includes the official summary for the project. That’s not all as it looks like the trailer wasn’t lying about the series taking these classic Universal era monsters and giving them a comedic twist as it’s been classified as a comedy, which always has been a great combination with horrors for many years now and makes us wonder how they’ll tackle the character of Werewolf by Night in the story.
The description reads as:
On a dark and somber night, a secret cabal of monster hunters emerge from the shadows and gather at the foreboding Bloodstone Temple following the death of their leader. In a strange and macabre memorial to the leader’s life, the attendees are thrust into a mysterious sand deadly competition for a powerful relic – a hunt that will ultimately bring them face to face with a dangerous monsteer.
It definitely sounds promising and it’s a great way to introduce various fodder characters while building up whatever the “dangerous monster” might end up looking like, as we know it’s the titular character. Though Man-thing has also been showcased in the trailer which means there might be more to this story than what the description may be hinting at. Whatever they have in store for us, it’s going to be a blast either way and hopefully, open up the possibility for more “Special Presentations” from Marvel Studios.
Marvel Studios unveiled the first trailer for their upcoming Halloween Special, Werewolf ByNight, at D23 Expo in Anaheim. The black and white trailer for the special, directed by Michael Giacchino, captivated the D23 audience with its pulpy, grindhouse feel, something Giacchino said he worked hard to achieve as an homage to classic 1930s and 1940s horror films.
Werewolf By Night stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Laura Donnelly joined Giacchino in Anaheim to discuss the project. Donnelly, who plays Marvel Comics monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone, was heavily featured in the trailer, which set up the premise of a group of monster hunters coming together after the passing of Elsa’s father, Ulysses, for a hunt. Following the trailer premiere, Donnelly spoke with Deadline in the D23 press line, giving some insight into the project.
I think that we can expect something that is genuinely scary and really thrilling, but also something that has a really beautiful heart to it. It’s a really human story. And I think that it is genuinely unique in the MCU.
Laura Connelly
Given what fans have seen of the project to this point, it’s clear that Donnelly’s comments on the uniqueness of the project are on point. Giacchino certainly reached his goal of paying homage to classic horror films like The Wolf Man. Now it remains to be seen how fans of the MCU take to the pulpy project when it streams on October 7th.
As part of D23, Marvel Studios unveiled the first look at their Halloween special, Werewolf By Night. Directed by Michael Giacchino, Werewolf By Night introduces some classic monsters to the MCU, including the titular werewolf, Jack Russell, played by Gael Garcia Bernal. Bernal is joined by Laura Donnelly, who will portray Marvel monster hunter, Elsa Bloodstone.
Seconds after Werewolf by Night was finally confirmed, we also got the first trailer. To make things stand out, even more, is that the trailer includes our first look at the MCU’s first appearance of the iconic monster Man-Thing. Check out the first look at the iconic monster in his black and white glory from the special’s trailer.
Kevin Feige once said that Marvel Studios would not appear at San Diego Comic-Con unless they could overdeliver, and this year’s event proved he wasn’t kidding. Through two major panels, one for animation and the other for live-action, the entertainment giant landed punch after punch of exciting news. Those in attendance were treated to countless announcements at a rapid fire pace, and information drops were used to both expand on known projects and reveal entirely new ones. If any fans felt left in the dark after 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, they should have a pretty good idea as to what the future holds now.
That being said, there were still quite a few titles missing from the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline shown at the end of the company’s Hall H presentation. Despite all the thrilling surprises, it’s hard not to wonder what might be going on with the shows and movies Feige didn’t talk about over the weekend. As such, it feels right to round up every single MCU project that’s definitely in development but somehow still on the downlow. Let’s dig in:
This was the biggest question mark coming out of Marvel’s Hall H. Armor Wars, an upcoming Disney+ series based on the comic arc of the same name was officially announced during a Disney Investor Day presentation in 2020. It’s probably the longest-standing MCU project yet to score a release window, despite a promising premise and a genuine leading man in Don Cheadle‘s War Machine. Actor, writer, and comedian Yassir Lester was brought on to serve as the series head writer almost a full year ago, and that was more or less the last time fans heard of any progress behind-the-scenes. The fact that Armor Wars wasn’t even mentioned during this year’s Comic-Con initially caused a bit of panic that the series might have been quietly canceled, until Lester took to social media and confirmed it’s still planned to release.
As history has shown, Marvel Studios is not above shifting its calendar to accommodate new things. It’s very likely that Armor Wars is simply still in its early development stages, and will be slipped into the release schedule when the company and the creatives feel everything is ready to go. It’s also possible the show’s story fits better later in the MCU timeline, and Feige just revealed its existence earlier than he ended up needing to. Until more is known, fans will just have to settle for seeing Cheadle‘s James Rhodes in Secret Invasion instead.
It really felt like this one was coming, and it’s still kind of shocking that it never did. Deadpool 3 has been in various stages of production since 2018, with its creative process being understandably delayed by Disney’s acquisition of former parent company 20th Century Fox. Since then, it’s been confirmed by the likes of Feige and star Ryan Reynolds that another film is indeed on the way. If that wasn’t enough, they’ve also revealed that this threequel will finally transition its R-rated antihero into the MCU proper.
The lead-up to this year’s convention saw Disney put both previous Deadpool films on their previously-kid-friendly streaming service, and the convention grounds themselves had the Merc with a Mouth handing out free chimichangas to promote the big additions. Nothing has ever felt like more of a sign that Marvel might announce the new entry during their Hall H panel. Alas, no Deadpool 3 was found on the timeline. At least fans can rest easy knowing Reynolds, along with franchise writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, are currently hard at work preparing Wade Wilson for his next cinematic adventure.
Marvel’s Hall H presentation was surprisingly Avengers-heavy for a franchise with so many new toys to play with. As stated before, the MCU can now legally include mutants, and more specifically, the X-Men, in their theatrical projects. Patrick Stewart became the first mutant in the MCU earlier this year when he reprised his iconic role as Professor Charles Xavier for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Iman Vellani took the reigns as part of a huge twist ending when Kamala Khan turned out to be a mutant in Ms. Marvel‘s finale episode. Now seemed like the perfect time for Marvel to announce exactly when to expect the X-Men’s return to cinemas, in a film Feige continues referring to as The Mutants, but no such confirmation ever came. Not even a peep about a potential creative team.
It’s worth noting the X-Men did have a presence at the convention, however, in the form of the animated X-Men ’97 series coming to Disney+ in fall 2023. It’s very possible Marvel held back on revealing The Mutants so that show would have time to shine, and besides, there were still about eight empty slots on that Phase 6 slide. It wouldn’t be shocking if Marvel’s Merry Mutants found themselves occupying one in the very near future.
It’s actually pretty strange that this one didn’t make the cut. It’s an incredibly open secret that Marvel Studios is developing an untitled Disney+ Halloween special centered on Werewolf by Night, but the transparency behind the project isn’t what makes its lack of attention at San Diego Comic-Con so weird. Not only does this one-hour special have a director in longtime composer Michael Giacchino, a runtime, and a full-blown cast in Gael García Bernal and Laura Donnelly, it’s actually already completed filming and is supposedly set to release in October of this year. It seems like, by this point, it should at least have an official title. Yet, the elongated Marvel One-Shot, or whatever it may be, was not even included in the MCU’s Phase 4 when Feige discussed the future timeline with fans, despite coming out before the Phase ends with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
It’s starting to look like Marvel Studios doesn’t consider holiday-themed specials as part of their actual Phase plan. Much like the still-untitled Halloween special, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is all filmed and rearing to go for this December season. Set photos, promotional merchandise, and a lot of updates from director James Gunn have kept fans satiated for the past year, but an official release date would be a nicer present for under the tree.
It wasn’t that long ago fans learned Simon Williams would be coming to the MCU. It was just last month The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton and Community writer Andrew Guest would create a Wonder Man series for Disney+. The article mentioned that cameras could begin rolling on the show as soon as 2023, so many fans felt that an official announcement from Marvel might come out of Hall H. Sadly, Feige‘s presentation ended without any sort of Phase placement or casting reveal for Wonder Man. Perhaps supporters of the longtime Avenger will have better luck at D23.
Nova is maybe the most elusive MCU project in the company’s history. The character has been rumored to appear in a number of projects since it seems, the beginning of the company’s history. It was once confirmed that Richard Rider, the last of the Nova Corps, was intended to appear in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, but was cut for the sake of trimming story fat. All hope seemed lost until news dropped in March that a Disney+ series focusing on the character was in development from Moon Knight scribe Sabir Pirzada. Of course, this led many to believe Marvel would finally make the project official at Comic-Con, putting an end to the cult-like social media campaign to bring Nova to live-action. Maybe Marvel likes all the begging because that obviously didn’t happen.
Black Panther Spin-Offs
Early last year, it was reported by Deadline that Marvel Studios had put two Black Panther spin-off series into development at Disney+. One was said to revolve around Danai Gurira‘s Okoye, while the other would be Wakanda-centric and produced by director Ryan Coogler. Not much has been heard about either show since then, even if many expected at least one to be announced alongside Wakanda Forever‘s portion of the night’s program. Much like the mutant situation before it, this could be due to the fact Marvel wanted its highly-anticipated sequel to get every bit of the attention.
Not long after Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings became a massive success, it was announced that director Cretton and star Simu Liu would return for another go-around. It wasn’t likely that Marvel would make a big fuss about the future project with so much else to cover, but it did seem logical that a title reveal or release date could come with the outlining of Phases 4-6. While this didn’t pan out, fans can still be excited to see Cretton come back for Disney+’s Wonder Man, which as previously mentioned, also wasn’t discussed at Comic-Con.
Ahead of Moon Knight‘s debut, rumors indicated that a Werewolf by Night cameo would occur. The rumors seemed to only grow more rapid when a trailer for the long-awaited series showcased a Werewolf by Night Easter egg thanks to a framed comic book cover featuring the character fighting Moon Knight. Unfortunately, though, in the end, there was no appearance by the character, and for good reason.
In a new interview with Comicbook, Moon Knight‘s head writer Jeremy Slater explained that while he might’ve included the character in a pitch, it never really went beyond that. “There weren’t discussions of doing Werewolf by Night per se, just because they had already had some plans for him, and Kevin [Feige] had an idea of how he wanted to use him,” he explained.
While Marvel Studios has yet to officially announce its Werewolf by Night Halloween special that is in production, we do know that Gael Garcia Bernal (Mozart in the Jungle) will star in the special alongside Laura Donnelly (The Nevers). The special is being directed by composer Michael Giacchino, and production has been underway for a bit now and very little is known about the project outside of that. As for what could’ve been, however, Slater had a fun fight sequence he pitched for the character to show there’s plenty more to Moon Knight than we get to see in the series.
“In my pitch, one of the images that I used was a shot of Moon Knight fighting a giant, 12-foot-tall werewolf with glowing eyes,” he says. “I was like, ‘Look, yes, Moon Knight is a street-level vigilante guy. He can go up against the purse snatchers and the drug runners and everything. But he’s also a monster hunter and that’s how he was introduced.’”
Although it is unfortunate that Slater’s pitch didn’t work out, fans can rejoice knowing Werewolf by Night is expected to hit Disney+ later this year.
A clip for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness shows off Doctor Strange’s abilities while he is protecting America Chavez. At first, she is seemingly being attacked by an invisible enemy that Strange unveils to actually be Gargantos, the MCU’s version of Shuma Gorath. While he was heavily promoted with promotional artwork, it seems like we’ll see the character quite early in the film. Yet, the moment we saw the bus being picked up by something invisible, it was quite reminiscent of another recent Marvel Studios project that included otherworldly monsters. It reminded me of when Steven Grant was being chased by invisible jackals in Moon Knight.
It almost seems like there’s a chance that creatures from another world are invisible when they enter our reality. Arthur Harrow uses his staff provided by Ammet to open a portal through which these mysterious jackals come crawling out. While Grant was able to see them, probably due to his connection to Khonshu, Layla had no idea what exactly he was talking about. We would then see the strange creature leave an impact on the world with a car getting crushed and more. So, while it seems like he might be in Grant’s head, he actually has a tangible effect on the world around him. The same rule applies to his God Khonshu, who seemingly can only be seen by him and no one else.
The clip that was shared seems to have a similar effect, where he is invisible to those standing around and it takes Strange’s magic to give us an actual first look at the creature. So, it does open up the possibility that the many mystical creatures in this world actually can’t be seen by normal people. Shang-Chiand the Legend of the Ten Rings also hinted that many mystical creatures stem from alternative realities. Perhaps traveling into another reality somehow makes them invisible and allows them to stay hidden from the public. That might explain why the MCU rarely mentions any supernatural creatures and they still remain legends or stories.
With the Halloween special on the horizon, we might get to explore that aspect even more. Elsa Bloodstone is rumored to appear in the Werewolf by Night project, and someone who specializes in monster hunting seems like the perfect person to finally explain why these creatures are seemingly invisible. The consistency between Multiverse of Madness and Moon Knight adds a little speculation to how these creatures work within our world. Plus, it’s a great consistency if this is, in fact, how they’ll tackle these supernatural creatures moving forward.
The supernatural side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in full bloom as projects like Blade and the upcoming Halloween special are set to explore that side of the world. The special is rumored to focus on the character Werewolf By Night, a lycan that has been around the Marvel Universe since 1972, with Gael Garcia Bernal set to paly the role. As we await confirmation on the Halloween special, it seems yet another creepy character will debut in the special.
The special is shaping up to be quite the monster mash if these rumors pan out with Cosmic Circus reporting just a few days ago that actress Laura Donnelly would be playing Elsa Bloodstone, a famous marvel universe monster hunter.
No release date for the Halloween special has been set just yet, as the project still remains unannounced by Marvel Studios. We do know however that composer MichaelGiacchino will make his directing debut with this, which we expect to release sometime this October.
It’s still weird to think that Marvel Studios has already started work on their Werewolf by Night Halloween special but still hasn’t officially announced the project in any capacity. The Disney+ special will see composer Michael Giacchino take on directing duties for the project. It has gone silent since, as Marvel Studios tries to keep as much a secret as possible. Yet, a new rumor seems to hint that actress Laura Donnelly, famous for her work on The Nevers, has joined the project in a role that comic fans will be happy to hear about.
It was in January when we learned that she joined Gael Garcia Bernal in the series, who will play Jack Russell or the famous Werewolf by Night. At the time, she was believed to be Russel’s niece Nina Price who was a vampire and werewolf hybrid. Now, Cosmic Circus is reporting that she may be playing a different character altogether. According to them, she’ll play the famous monster huntress Elsa Bloodstone, a popular character fans have been hoping to see join the Marvel Cinematic Universe at some point.
It does beg the question of which one of the two rumored characters she might end up playing. We have to keep in mind that the Halloween special currently has no official title and Werewolf by Night was simply attributed due to the lack of one and it focuses on Russel. So, we might get a better picture once they do officially announce as the project is currently still eyeing a release this Halloween. Bloodstone does make a good choice as we start to explore the darker, Universal Monster-inspired side of the universe and it’ll be interesting to see if the special is also there to set up the seeds for the Midnight Sons moving foward.
The supernatural corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is slowly beginning to unravel with characters like Werewolf By Night on the horizon. The character is set to make his live-action debut in an upcoming Halloween special for Disney+ that started production not too long ago. Although the special has yet to be officially confirmed by Marvel Studios, we know it’s happening and that it’s already filming.
While we still don’t know a whole lot plot-wise for the upcoming special we know that Werewolf By Night will lead the project with hints that Vampire By Night might be popping up as well. It seems some internet sleuthing by the folks over at AfterHoursMedia led to them discovering some interesting evidence that Werewolf By Night will be a practical design. They’ve uncovered that some make-up artists behind the popular Halloween Horror Nights event at the Universal theme parks is working on the project.
They’ve discovered tweets from crew members supposedly working on the project saying “working on a certain Halloween special for a certain streaming platform” and shared a message he sent via text saying “I have a stunt performer who is in full werewolf makeup.”. They also shared that while things onset will be practical, things could be touched up in post-production with CGI similar to what they do on The Witcher with a lot of their monsters.
We still don’t have a release date or any official confirmation for the upcoming Halloween special but it sure is something exciting to look forward to. This will be the first of two holiday specials this year, with the Guardians of The Galaxy Holiday Special releasing sometime in December.
Source: AfterHoursMedia
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