Werewolf at night is an MCU Disney+ Halloween special based on the comic book series of the same name. There are two fictional werewolves in American comic books published by Marvel Comics known as “The Werewolf by Night”. The first appearance of Werewolf by Night (often referred to simply as The Werewolf) was in Marvel Spotlight #2 (February 1972). Variety only speculates which character will be featured in the Disney+ Halloween special, namely Jack Russell or Jake Gomez.
The Hollywood Reporter plays even more coy, with sources claiming it wouldn’t have a title Werewolf at night “by the time the special airs on Disney+ later this year,” although this isn’t the case. Disney+ plays this one close to the vest. Shooting wrapped up in April, and while no production photos have been leaked, here’s everything we know so far.
Updated September 2022 by Liz Young: If you are looking for more information about: Werewolf at nightyou’ll be pleased to know that we’ve updated this article with more information, including what’s released on D23.
Werewolf at night: the plot
Is it Jack or Jake? Rumors and leaks are all over the internet, including the r/ subredditMarvel Studios Spoilers. These were just speculations, but with some additional digging it can be seen that at least some of these alleged elements may be true. Trade magazines made sure not to tilt their hands and provided information about both Jack Russell and Jake Gomez. With the release of the trailer during D23, it is finally confirmed which werewolf we get. Gael Garcia Bernal plays Jack Russell, based on available information and the trailer’s subtitles.
Jack Russell comes from the mysteriously transformed branch of humans known as Lycanthropes. He is forced to transform into a werewolf, a large, powerful form that is a combination of human and wolf. He loses his human spirit during the night of the full moon and the two nights surrounding it. He can also freely mutate outside of the full moon when in control of himself, thanks to a confluence of circumstances. Jack has the commensurate physical advantages of a wolf standing nearly 7 feet tall. He has superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability, agility and reflexes in this form. In both his human and superhuman forms, he has a phenomenal sense of smell.
This doesn’t rule out Jake getting or appearing in his own movie in the future. Jake Gomez, a second version of the character, was introduced by Marvel in Werewolf at Night (Vol. 3) #1 of the previous year. Gomez, a member of the Hopi Native American tribe whose family is cursed with lycanthropy, clashes with a dishonest pharmaceutical company that abuses members of the tribe. This most recent comic book was developed by Taboo, Benjamin Jackendoff and Scot Eaton.
The trailer gives a great idea of what to expect. Fans of black and white horror movies like Orphans from the Black Lagoon are in for a treat. The trailer is presented entirely in black and white, with iconic sound effects and cutscenes reminiscent of horror films from the first half of the 20th century.
The voice-over tells that there is a monster in the group that evening and that someone is going to find them. A large, round cage sits in the center of the room and it looks like the “monster” will end up in it at some point as someone is roughly pulled against the bars. But is it the monster they had in mind?
Werewolf at night: the cast
Gael Garcia Bernal will play Jack Russell. Bernal is best known for his role in Mozart in the jungle, where he received critical acclaim and won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. He has starred in numerous films, including the globally acclaimed feature film Y Tu Mama Tambien and The motorcycle diaries.
Northern Ireland actress Laura Donnelly is tapped to play Elsa Bloodstone, known for starring in HBO’s the Nevers, Amalia Where. For her work in the ferrymanshe won Best Actress at the 2018 Olivier Awards in April. She made her on-screen debut in the 2005 drama sugar rush on Channel 4. She is also recognized for her roles in the television series Foreigner, accident, The fall, Hexand the Irish movie Insatiable (2008).
IMDB lists Jaycob Maya as Jake Gomez, although the actor’s role has not been confirmed. Maya is an actor and producer known for: Alchemical Sons: A Star Wars Story (2022), SkyFlyand Six degrees of separation (2019). Of course, this could be a trick to avoid finding out more about it Werewolf at night. Twitter has a list of other actors. However, no sources are given.
There is a lot of information floating around in the Marvel universe about this title. Most are seemingly baseless or incorrect. Variety even wrote a full article suggesting that “Dimension Films set Oscar-nominated screenwriter Robert Nelson Jacobs” to come up with the play franchise Werewolf at night. But a quick look at one of the transactions or other source material shows that Jacob has no new credits to his name.
Other sources, as mentioned above, have actors playing certain roles without substantiated reporting. Disney+ is undoubtedly keeping this a secret. Disney’s WikiFandom page lists all of these actors, but there are no announcements or evidence that these actors have been cast. The r/MarvelStudioSpoilers subreddit suggests that several other Marvel monsters will make an appearance in the film. Man-Thing and Elsa are among the characters.
As we noted above, Laura Donnelly has been cast as Elsa. However, no actors have been listed for Man-Thing. There are other rumors that Man-Thing could be a fully animatronic character.
Publication date
As announced on D23, Werewolf at night will be available to stream on Disney+ from October 7, 2022.
Everything else we know
While Disney and Marvel have been rather elusive about the film, they unveiled the trailer at D23 when director Michael Giacchino, Gael García Bernal and Laura Donnelly joined Kevin Feige onstage. Giacchino says, “This is something I’ve wanted to make for you since I was ten.” Many know him from his work as a composer on projects such as The Incredibles, Thor: Love and Thunderand Rogue One: A Star Wars Story just to name a few, but Werewolf at night will be his directorial debut in a feature film.
As we head into fall, the days are getting shorter and the nights longer, so keep your eyes and ears open for nocturnal creatures lurking in the shade!