Marvel Studios’ Werewolf by Night is a special feature on many levels: it’s the first feature to delve into the darker corners of the Marvel universe, the first to expand on the ‘horror’ side of the MCU with werewolves, and monsters, and a first directing gig for world-renowned composer Michael Giacchino. In a new featurette shared by IGN, the cast and crew spoke about the importance of the feature going forward in the MCU.

The first trailer debuted during the D23 Expo and introduced us to Jack Russell's iteration of the werewolf, which was an obscure comic book character until Giacchino decided to make a Halloween special out of it. Gael García Bernal will play Jack Russell who unlike most werewolves was never bitten by one. He inherited the curse of lycanthropy through his ancestors, the first of whom became a werewolf after reading the cursed book known as the Darkhold, which we have seen previously in WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The director described the feature as “a giant mash-up, a love letter to all the old movies that I absolutely loved and lived on growing up.” The black and white TV special takes its inspiration from 1930s horror movies.

Actor Laura Donnelly, who will play Elsa Bloodstone in the series, calls it something "brand-new that we've never seen in this universe before." Further speaking of the influences on the series the director revealed that some of the “scariest things [he] saw as a kid were just the shadows of things.” Along with Russell, we’ll also meet characters like Billy Swan, Jake Gomez, The Thing, and more. Marvel head Kevin Feige revealed that the studio “wanted to explore entirely new characters and entirely new sides of the MCU with this unusual, fun, and frightening spin on the supernatural." However, there's no Marvel iteration without the trails that connect it to other MCU features while the Darkhold reference comes from the comic book, many eagle-eyed fans have spotted TVA agents in the trailer, and Feige too added in his cryptic fashion, "we are introducing a world that will ultimately become quite important to the future of the MCU."

werewolf by night

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Werewolf by Night will feature Bernal as Jack Russell/Werewolf by Night, Donnelly as Elsa Bloodstone, Harriet Sansom Harris as Verusa, Eugenie Bondurant as Linda, Al Hamacher as Billy Swan, Jaycob Maya as Jake Gomez, Kirk Thatcher as Jovan, and Leonardo Nam as Simon among others.

The series debuts on Disney+ on October 8. You can check out the new clip and synopsis below:

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On a dark and somber night, a secret cabal of monster hunters emerge from the shadows and gather at the foreboding Bloodstone Temple following the death of their leader. In a strange and macabre memorial to the leader's life, the attendees are thrust into a mysterious and deadly competition for a powerful relic—a hunt that will ultimately bring them face to face with a dangerous monster.