Since it was first reported that Marvel was developing a Halloween special focused on the Werewolf by Night comic book series back in 2021, many have speculated which version of the character fans would get. Now we have our answer as Marvel has released its first trailer for Werewolf by Night at this year’s annual D23 Expo.
Gael García Bernal will star as Jack Russell, the titular character Werewolf by Night. And yes, that is the character’s full name. There are several iterations of the character shown in the comics thanks to Rusell’s family curse being spread down the family tree every generation. A more recent take on the character saw a 17-year-old Hopi American named Jake become the titular werewolf when the Life Foundation started experiments on their reservation.
Not much else is known about who’s playing who besides Laura Donnelly as Elsa Bloodstone and Al Hamacher as Billy Swan. In the comics, Bloodstone is an immortal monster-hunter and a partner to Deadpool.
Werewolf by Night will also bring another longtime supernatural Marvel Comics character to the MCU: Man-Thing, the part-man, part-plant swamp monster who debuted in Marvel’s Savage Tales #1 in 1971.
From the trailer, the Halloween special is apparently an homage to classic Universal monster flicks like Frankenstein and The Mummy. The black and white visuals alongside hilariously camping acting displayed in the trailers look to be doing a good job replicating the feel of those old 50s horror films.
The Disney+ special will be directed by Michael Giacchino, best known for his composition work for movies like The Batman. Werewolf by Night streams on Disney+ on October 7, 2022.
