Don’t expect Blade, Moon Knight or any other major MCU character to appear in Marvel’s upcoming Halloween themed special presentation, Werewolf at night.
Even Werewolf at night Being described as Marvel’s scariest entry yet and the titular monster, played by Gael Garcia Bernal, has connections to other Marvel superheroes such as Blade and Moon Knight in the comics, the TV special remains isolated from the MCU.
Werewolf at night director Michael Giacchino considered using Blade in the special, but ultimately decided against it. Clocking in with a smooth 53 minutes, Werewolf at night takes place over the course of one night in the lives of Jack Russell/Werewolf by Night and Elsa Bloodstone/Vampire by Night (played by Laura Donnelly).
Giacchino has nothing against the other characters, but wanted Werewolf at night, his mainstream directorial debut, to stand alone, even though the special exists in the MCU. This is what Giacchino told Comicbook.com in a recent interview:
“[Cameos] never really came up. I mean, we talked a little bit about Blade, but in the end it was like, ‘You know what, when we look at this and I’ve always described this as an episode of The Twilight Zone, you know, let’s keep it that way. contained.’ This is a night in the life of Jack and Elsa, and let’s see what that is like. And I know everybody’s looking for connection and we want this person here and this, and I thought, ‘No, let’s just do this.’ It exists in the same world as all these other things. You can, but let’s not worry about that now. We might deal with that someday, I don’t know. But for now I just wanted to tell the story of a night in the lives of these characters and hopefully something that you could walk into if you haven’t seen anything else and just enjoy it for what it was.”
Werewolf by Night Early Reactions Call it Marvel’s Best Offering in Years
The Werewolf at night trailer surprised fans at the D23 Expo with its retro Hammer horror-inspired tone. Michael Giacchino has also quoted: the twilight zone as another influence on Werewolf at night, alongside the classic universal horror movies.
Marvel has been experimenting with its titles lately, but Werewolf by Night looks like the most unique thing the studio has tried yet. And the early responses only reinforce that claim. Werewolf at night recently screened for a few industry insiders, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive, with some even calling the special one of Marvel’s best.
Werewolf at night will no doubt be dark and scary, but it looks like fans will have to wait longer to see a full-fledged Marvel movie, as the upcoming special features also feature a lot of comedy. Giacchino describes Werewolf at night as “fun horror.” Hopefully fans will appreciate the special as much as the critics.
Werewolf at night is written by WandaVision writers Heather Quinn and Peter Cameron and also stars Harriet Samson Harris, Eugenie Bondurant, Kirk R. Thatcher, Leonardo Nam and Al Hamacher.
Werewolf at night premieres on Disney+ on October 7, 2022.