Of all of Marvel’s offerings across film and television last year, arguably none were more memorable than Werewolf by Night, the fifty-minute “special presentation” the company released just in time for Halloween. Directed by Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino and starring Gael García Bernal, the special followed Jack Russell, a man with a lycanthropic secret who infiltrated a group of monster hunters in an attempt to rescue his friend. Naturally, the new format featured Marvel’s familiar brand of action, but this time blended with a black-and-white, Old Hollywood approach to introducing one of their most monstrous heroes, who quickly went on to become a fan favorite.
Fans are now clamoring to see more of Jack Russell — and his new ally, Elsa Bloodstone, played by Laura Donnelly — in the MCU, especially if it means coming face to face with his comics ally, Moon Knight, who received a series of his own last year. No further adventures for the werewolf have been confirmed yet, but it seems that fans are not the only ones who’d like to see more.
Speaking to Collider’s own Perri Nemiroff at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival to promote his new film, Cassandro, Bernal revealed that he’s eager to see more of Werewolf by Night himself. When asked whether Jack Russell could make appearances in other parts of the MCU without losing the Hammer horror-style grit that made his special so unique, Bernal did agree that the possibility exists, considering that the fifty-minute mini-movie was “just a little tease” of the character that has an extensive history in the comics:
I would be delighted because also, it was just a little tease what we got, you know? And what I experienced by playing this character in Werewolf by Night, I loved it. And the people that were there, with Laura Donnelly, it was fantastic to work with her because she’s a very strong diehard horror movie fan, and it was fantastic to play that. And yes, I hope that we can do that in different ways, shapes and forms. And who knows where it’s gonna go? I have no idea, but I want to be part of that and I really love how it came out. I’m very pleased.
While Bernal himself isn’t big into horror — “I get really scared,” he told Nemiroff — he compared the genre to opera, as a subset of film that’s able to experiment, and that “encompasses the best aspects of filmmaking”. And certainly, it’s a genre that the MCU has never experimented with before, introducing a little bit of terror to its audiences by way of Werewolf and Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Whether it will continue to make appearances as we meet Kang the Conqueror or go on a final adventure with the Guardians of the Galaxy is unknown, but the fan demand certainly exists.
Werewolf by Night is streaming now on Disney+. Check out our interview with Bernal below: