Michael Giacchino has been a go-to composer for the comic book genre, the man behind the music for films like Doctor Strange, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man trilogy, and The Batman. Now, one of the hottest composers working today is getting in the director's chair for one of Marvel’s next projects. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Giacchino will be directing the upcoming untitled Halloween Special for Marvel.
Not much is known about the project as of now, but it sounds like the one-hour special will center around Werewolf By Night, a werewolf character from Marvel Comics in the 1970s who tusselled with the likes of Moon Knight, where the latter character was introduced. While it seems like Marvel will not be using that exact title for the special, Gael Garcia Bernal and Laura Donnelly will be starring in the special, and it is believed that Bernal is playing a version of the werewolf character. In the modern comics, the werewolf was rebranded as a new character of Native American descent, and music became a center-point to controlling his transformations.
It is rather uncommon for a composer to be hired as a director of a project, but the music angle to the werewolf character may be what drew Giacchino to the special. Over the last two decades the composer has made memorable scores for films like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Ratatouille, Up, Inside Out, The Incredibles, Jurassic World, Star Trek, and Lost. His work will next be heard in Jurassic World: Dominion, Lightyear, and next year’s Marvel sequel Thor: Love and Thunder. Composers, like directors and writers, are storytellers and Giacchino is one of the finest modern storytellers in his medium. Due to this, it will be interesting to see what he will bring to the table with this unique special.
Besides Giacchino directing, this will be an interesting venture for Marvel and Disney, because this Halloween Special seems to be more of a horror story. These two studios are known for their family friendly content for all ages, especially when it comes to most of their Marvel films and shows. Werewolves do not scream family friendly, so it will be exciting to see if Disney is willing to have a horror centric story. Giacchino’s incredible Batman score, which can be heard in theaters right now, is very much rooted in the horror genre. He has experience in that darker setting. Marvel fans are sure to find out more soon enough as the untitled Halloween Special is entering production in Atlanta later this month and is set to release later this year on Disney+ — given its namesake, most likely in October.