Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Werewolf by Night

  • Deep Thoughts: Hypothetical Marvel Studios 2022 Release Calendar, V3

    Deep Thoughts: Hypothetical Marvel Studios 2022 Release Calendar, V3

    Marvel Studios rendered our previous 2022 hypothetical release calendar meaningless when they shuffled their entire release slate a couple of weeks ago, so we took another shot at it. Of note to this new effort is that we have considered that it looks like Disney does not want to stream live-action Star Wars series and live-action Marvel Studios series concurrently. And so while this isn’t a hypothetical Star Wars calendar, we will mention some of those series along the way.

    It looks like Marvel Studios will have to wait a bit to start streaming in 2022 as a Lucasfilm series is going to start in late-2021 and carry over into early-2022. The Book of Boba Fett could end up completing its run on February 16th, allowing Marvel Studios to kick off its 2022 Disney Plus release calendar with a couple of episodes of Marvel Legends. We could catch up not only on Bruce Banner but also on The Abomination. It’ll be interesting to see what other characters, if any, they cover and to see how much of the events of The Incredible Hulk are part of the story that leads us to She-Hulk.

    She-Hulk is set to be Marvel Studios’ longest streaming series to date, with 10 episodes scheduled. Placing it here allows Marvel to stream one episode per week, should they choose to, and helps it avoid overlapping any other live-action projects.

    We should have several episodes of Marvel Legends leading up to the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In addition to catching up on Stephen, we’ll almost certainly see a Wanda-centric one. Given the role Wong is set to play in the film, he may get one of his own, too. And then there’s Mordo…and yeah, we’ll see how these turn out, but it seems like they’ll stream the Wednesday of release week.

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was the first domino in the wave of release date shifts for Marvel Studios. It’s a wildly ambitious film from a director who is noted for both his pursuit of perfection and his understanding that perfection is never achieved in the first draft, so waiting a little longer to have someone like Sam Raimi put together the best version of his vision isn’t he worse thing for fans. Hopefully, come May 6th, 2022, we all walk out in awe and forget that the film was delayed for an entire year.

    Following the Strange sequel, we might not see another Marvel Studios series until mid-June. Recent rumors suggest that the Lucasfilm Obi-Wan series is slated for May (I mean May 4th IS a Wednesday); what’s curious is that if we allow for it to run for 6 weeks, we run into June and that’s when Mohan Kapur, one of the stars of Ms. Marvel, recently said he expects that streaming series to begin! Even though Ms. Marvel is introducing Kamala Khan and a WHOLE bunch of new characters, it will also feature an appearance from Carol Danvers, so we might get an episode of Marvel Legends on June 8th; either way, Ms. Marvel could kick off its run on June 15th and conclude on July 13th, coinciding nicely with Kapur’s comments.
    *Note we are predicting a two-episode premiere for Ms. Marvel to avoid overlap with Moon Knight.

    While we might not get an episode of Marvel Legends for Ms. Marvel, we’re sure to get a few for Thor: Love and Thunder. In addition to keeping up with Odinson’s adventures, fans could also use a refresher on Jane Foster, Korg, and Miek, Valkyrie, and the Guardians of the Galaxy before they hit the screen together.

    Thor: Love and Thunder, like Doctor Strange 2, was bumped down the road a few months giving director Taika Waititi time to really fine-tune this film which, coincidentally, was supposed to come out just about one year ago on November 5th!

    In this hypothetical situation, Moon Knight does some big moving. I originally thought Moon Knight might run in May, but it’s getting bumped 2 months (seems like a pattern, right?). It’s reportedly a 6-episode series which means if it follows up Thor 4 and doesn’t have any ties to any existing characters that we know of, so it can go just about anywhere. For what it’s worth, this could easily switch places with Ms. Marvel, moving Ms. Marvel a little bit closer to The Marvels which was bumped into 2023.
    *Note we are predicting a two-episode premiere of Moon Knight to avoid overlap with Season 2 of What If…?.

    We got a few episodes of Marvel Legends ahead of Season 1 of What If…?, so there’s no reason to think we won’t see some ahead of Season 2.

    What If…? is, according to Disney, set to be an annual event and it would seem totally possible that they could even keep it in the same general slot every year, too. Season 1 kicked off on August 11th, and this hypothetical would see Season 2 debut on August 24th. This timing would work out well for Marvel Studios because this same time could also see Lucasfilm’s 12-episode Andor hit Disney Plus as well. As stated in the opening, keeping Star Wars live-action away from Marvel Studios’ live-action was a priority here and the whole calendar works out very nicely if we have What If…? and Andor going around the same time.

    What If…? could wrap up just in time for Marvel Studios to stream one of its two 2022 holiday specials: Werewolf By Night. Now to be clear, we aren’t 100% sure exactly what is going on with this project, but if it is just a one-shot holiday special, its February start of production would give the team plenty of time to have it ready for October 26th, just ahead of Halloween.

    Marvel Legends episodes for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever should hit D+ on November 9th, a couple of days ahead of the film’s release. We’ll certainly need to catch up on T’Challa’s journey along with Shuri, Ramonda, M’Baku, Okoye and the Doras and even Killmonger, you know just in case he shows up.

    Of all the films getting shuffled around, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever might have needed it the most. Production was delayed when Letitia Wright sustained an injury and it was in mid-production when the new IATSE/AMPTP agreement went into place, meaning some adjustments were made on the fly. You can absolutely guarantee that Ryan Coogler will use these extra 4 months to put together an absolutely amazing sequel in memory of Chadwick Boseman.

    It looks like Marvel Studios’ offerings for 2022 will end with the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on November 23rd. James Gunn has said he’ll be introducing an important new character in it and while a lot of folks believe that’s going to be Santa, I’ve heard rumblings (nothing concrete, so I’m not too excited myself just yet) that the new character might be one of the shinier ones in Marvel’s toybox.

    After the GotG special, Disney Plus could stream something from Lucasfilm (a second season of The Bad Batch is reportedly coming for 2022) and it’s also important to note that the now Disney owned Avatar 2 is still slated for release on December 16th, 2022, meaning the parent company will still have a lot going on even if there’s no other Marvel Studios’ series ready to stream. Of course, we’ll have a much clearer picture of things in just two weeks following the first annual Disney Plus Day, so bookmark this and come back and throw tomatoes at us then!


  • Marvel Studios Could Do What Universal’s Dark Universe Couldn’t

    Marvel Studios Could Do What Universal’s Dark Universe Couldn’t

    Marvel Studios is expanding in more ways than one. Yes, our focus is primarily on the multiversal focus of the stories so far, but there’s another one that is heading our way soon. Its first tease came in 2019’s San Diego Comic-Con panel. Mahershala Ali came out and shared that he’ll star in a new adaptation of Blade. The Marvel Cinematic Universe would soon introduce vampires into its ever-expanding universe. Yet, that wasn’t all as shortly after followed the reveal of a Moon Knight Disney+ series. The supernatural side of this universe is expanding, but the report of a Werewolf by Night special for next year might hint at a bigger story at play. Marvel Studios might accomplish what the Dark Universe couldn’t.

    To bring up some memories, In May 2017, Universal Pictures announced that a slew of films would create its universe. The idea made sense if you consider that the original Universal Monster films built their cross-over universe back in the day. Tom Cruise‘s The Mummy was the first in many projects to bring this idea to life but quickly fell into obscurity. It mostly is used as branding for the classic films to still make use of the visual. Still, the idea of various monsters facing each other is something that would’ve been great to see in the modern age.

    Luckily, if Marvel Studios continues down this path, we might see that vision become a reality. Moon Knight is no stranger to face off against supernatural beings like Werewolf by Night. He’s a mercenary that believes he is possessed by the Egyptian god Khonshu. So, he could take the place of the usual mummy character in these types of stories. Blade makes for a natural addition to the team to represent vampires. Marvel Comics even had their own Invisible Man who was part of the modern Howling Commandos alongside Abominable Snowman, Glob, Man-Thing, The Living Mummy, Vampire by Night, and many more. Hell, they even had a clone of Frankenstein’s Monster that went by Frank.

    Yet, they’re not bound by the classic movie monsters and can mix it up with their own. It’s uncertain if the team of the Midnight Sons is in the cards, but the potential of Ghost Rider, Hellstrom, and other supernatural characters teaming up would make for a compelling storyline. There’s also the option of pushing Nick Fury into a new part of the world, as he gathers the Howling Commandos together to face supernatural enemies. They could even bring back Dum Dum Dugan as a self-conscious Zombie in this story that leads the team. Not only would we get Neal McDonough back into the live-action franchise, but build upon the What If…? episode.

    The comics offer quite an extensive source of inspirations to build upon a distinct corner of this universe. It’s also a genius move by Marvel studios to diversify their cinematic portfolio. Each new aspect of their universe allows them to attempt different types of stories. A space opera is not bound by the story conventions of a horror flick. They’re truly embracing their genre diversity rule by mixing up the characters they introduce. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was pitched as a horror story and we may get many more in the future. Perhaps his story is also building into the Marvel Monster corner of this franchise.

    Source: YouTube

  • Connecting Imaginary Dots: Marvel Studios and One-Off Specials

    Connecting Imaginary Dots: Marvel Studios and One-Off Specials

    Marvel Studios could be using one-off specials on Disney+ to introduce new characters before they appear fully-formed in theatrical releases. The multiple reports that Marvel Studios is working on a Werewolf by Night Halloween Special for Disney+ suggest the studio could be expanding beyond traditional streaming series to formats that will allow more inventiveness in their theatrical releases. The evidence isn’t definitive at this point in time, but let’s take a look at what there is and see how it might play out beyond the projects we know about. 

    The Cosmic Circus reported earlier in August that Werewolf by Night would be a Disney+ project using Natural History Productions LLC as its production company and a February 2022 filming start date. But then The Wrap reported last week that the Werewolf by Night Disney+ project would be a Halloween Special. This prompted a reevaluation of 10 possible Marvel Studios LLCs that have been incorporated since the beginning of April.  Natural History Productions is listed as a “DTC STREAMING PRODUCTION” while other Marvel Studios’ LLCs are listed as “DTC SERIES”, meaning this designation could indicate Disney+ specials have a particular registration. 

    With that in mind, it seems logical that there would be less than a year between a special airing and a theatrical appearance from the same character. So what could be filming in 2022 that could feature Werewolf by Night? Blade is currently scheduled for a July 2022 start, putting it on track for the October 2023 release date. The origins of both characters are connected to the Darkhold, as vampires and werewolves were created using the book of the damned in the comics. It is possible we might see similar traces of lore as the book travels from Wandavision to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Both Werewolf by Night and Blade have also been members of Midnight Sons in the comics. It remains to be seen whether the actor that is cast as Werewolf by Night will appear in Blade, but it’ll be exciting to look out for it! 

    What about the other special we know about? The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will release in December 2022 while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set for release May 5th 2023, continuing the speculated pattern of less than a year between special and film. James Gunn has said that it will contain “stuff you’ll need to know ahead of Guardians 3.” This perhaps emphasizes the point about specials introducing someone or something ahead of a theatrical release.

    So what stuff could we need to know before Vol. 3? Maybe we’ll spend some time with Adam of The Sovereign from the Vol. 2 post-credit scene, or perhaps we might be introduced to a villain, event, location or event that will be important for the film. As it is filming with Guardians Vol. 3 and using the same sets, it is likely the holiday special won’t have a separate LLC, as it won’t need separate accounting so will probably use Infinity Productions III LLC. 

    This doesn’t stop us from speculating on what the other LLCs not listed as DTC series could be. It’s by no means guaranteed they’ll be specials as Natural History Productions LLC is with Werewolf by Night. For the fun of speculation, let’s keep them as specials connected to a film or series starting to film within 12 months of the special itself filming. Taking on board the filming date of Werewolf by Night and that each of these LLCs were incorporated in April 2021, it’s likely both the specials and connected film/series will begin filming in 2022 or early 2023. So let’s speculate about what specials On Your Mark Productions LLC, Battle Anybody Productions LLC, and Acid Pop Productions LLC could be. 

    Although it seems like On Your Mark Productions LLC might be related to Ghost Rider, there is a better LLC match. As previously explored, Richmond Street Productions LLC, which is registered as “DTC SERIES” could be referencing the first appearance of Danny Ketch, indicating a better connection. The Human Rocket known as Nova could be suited to On Your Mark Productions, but where could he appear soon? With The Marvels releasing in November, perhaps there might be enough time after that finishes filming to produce a special to give some background on Richard Rider before he appears fully formed.

    Battle Anybody Productions LLC could seem to fit the former commander of the Red Room who has experience in mimicking fighting styles to fight anyone that comes at her. It might also fit Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine who is seemingly building a team ready to take on any threat. Perhaps Toni Masters (formerly Dreykov) is using her skills learnt from muscle memory to instruct low-level associates of organized crime when Val recruits her. This could easily be some backstory that we see filled in before appearances of both in Captain America 4 perhaps. 

    Lastly, Acid Pop Productions LLC has a Harry Potter connection as The Cosmic Circus pointed out. The most immediate reference there could be to Young Avengers which we have speculated could be using Blueberry Waffles Productions LLC through young heroes connected to magic. Perhaps this special could be an introduction to Billy Kaplan and Tommy Shepherd as they exist in the MCU after Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and before the Young Avengers series itself. 

    None of this speculation is assured by any means. It might be that these specials introduce an event, concept, or location, as recent Legends episodes have focused on The Tesseract and The Avengers Initiative. Or perhaps if a special is successful enough it might spin off into a full series. Perhaps specials themselves might be strung together as an anthology like BBC’s Small Axe before a theatrical film introduces a team-up. This speculation does perhaps point to increasing ways Marvel Studios might be creatively using their platform on Disney+ which could, in turn, enable them to innovate around their films. 

  • Marvel Studios Starts Casting for ‘WEREWOLF BY NIGHT’ Halloween Special

    Marvel Studios Starts Casting for ‘WEREWOLF BY NIGHT’ Halloween Special

    Werewolf by Night is moving forward over at Marvel Studios, as The Wrap has just unveiled they are currently casting a Latino male in his 30s to star in a Halloween Special. It is currently still untitled but will follow the story of a werewolf character, which may confirm earlier reports that they are actively working on a project for the character. Production is eyeing an early 2022 with earlier reports hinting at a February start. No episode count has been named, but might be a one-off episode rather than a full season order.

    There have been some rumblings on Werewolf by Night making a possible appearance in the upcoming Moon Knight series. If they are currently casting, it would imply that he won’t have a role. Though, there were two that held that title in the Marvel comics, Jack Russel and Jake Gomez. So, perhaps we get to explore the origins before he splinters off into his own project. It’s not the first special we’re getting from Marvel Studios, as Guardians of the Galaxy is also expected to release a Holiday Special next year.

    The only confusing aspect is that earlier reports hinted at a series being in development. From the sound of it, and Disney+’s history with any kind of special, they are only a one-time release. Perhaps there are multiple projects in the work, such as Guardians getting a special ahead of the third entries release in cinemas. Of course, they might also want to introduce the character ahead of a potential crossover. Are we finally getting Midnight Sons?

    Source: The Wrap

  • REPORT: ‘Werewolf by Night’ Series In Development At Disney+

    REPORT: ‘Werewolf by Night’ Series In Development At Disney+

    The supernatural side of the MCU is getting bigger, and furrier. The good folks at The Cosmic Circus are exclusively reporting that Werewolf by Night, a fancy name for Marvel’s Wolfman, will be getting his very own live-action series on Disney Plus. The report claims the show will begin filming next February, under the clever working title “Buzz Cut”. The production company for the show will supposedly be “Natural History Productions LLC”.

    If true, the news makes Werewolf by Night one of the many unannounced projects Marvel has teased in the past. The character was previously rumored to be making an appearance in Oscar Isaac’s secretive Moon Knight series, as the two characters share a long history together. That could still be true, given Marvel’s penchent for debuting characters in other projects before their solo outings. Not long ago, director Kevin Smith stirred the lycan pot by revealing Marvel Studios had prevented the character from appearing in his unproduced Howard the Duck cartoon. This sort of blockage is usually a good sign the company plans to use that character in the near future.

    Debuting in 1972, the original Werewolf by Night has a complicated history that stems from usage of the Darkhold. A modern descendant of ancient werewolves, Jack Russell is born with his family’s curse and acts as Marvel’s first Wolven protagonist. In recent years, a Native American character named Jake Gomez took on the title. It’s unknown which of these characters might be the focus of the show when it airs.

    Source: GWW, Cosmic Circus

  • ‘Werewolf by Night’

    ‘Werewolf by Night’

    Premiere: October 7, 2022

    Following the disclosure, over several months, of a number of LLCs linked with MCU projects, a report on August 2021 stated that one titled “Natural History Productions” is referring to a Werewolf by Night Disney+ project said to be in early development over at Marvel Studios. The details surrounding the show are scarce, to say the least, but with three Disney+ series already under their belt, we should expect more news on both this and several other MCU series set for development in the coming months.

    With production set to begin in early 2022 the project, a Halloween Special, is likely to be eyeing a late October 2022 Disney+ premiere.

    Even without the show having been officially titled, Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal joined the project in early November 2021. His role is, as of his casting, unknown. With Michael Giacchino directing the project, Laura Donnelly joined the cast in early 2022 with production on the Disney+ Halloween Special set to begin in March.

    A trade report confirmed Giacchino‘s involvement in the project in March 2022. This was something that had been long rumored, mostly due to some solid pieces of evidence that heavily hinted at his Marvel-associated directorial debut. Considering his professional background, having music play a bit part in the project seems like a given at this point.

    This was later confirmed via a trade report, along with confirmation that the show indeed started production in March 2022. Just a month afterward, and with shooting well underway, it was rumored that Laura Donnelly’s character was none other than Elsa Bloodstone.

    With an expected Halloween 2022 release date, the Marvel Studios Special Presentation was only actually confirmed to exist in September 2022. At D23 there was official confirmation of both the director (Giacchino), both leads (Garcia Bernal and Donnelly) and their respective characters. The first trailer, released at the same event, revealed that a number of other characters are set to make appearances, with Man-Thing being the highlight.

    Cast

    • Gael Garcia Bernal as Jack Russell
    • Laura Donnelly as Elsa Bloodstone

    Promotional Material