Quick Links
2022 was a big year for Disney+ and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Not only did Marvel Studios release three new shows—Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law—and a collection of animated shorts—I Am Groot—but they also premiered their first special: Werewolf by Night. This one-off story focuses on Jack Russell, a man who in the comics can turn into a bloodthirsty werewolf every three nights of a full moon due to his lycanthropic ancestry. First reported in August 2021 and officially revealed a year later during the Marvel Studios panel at the 2022 D23 expo, Werewolf By Night stars Gael García Bernal (Mozart in the Jungle) as the title character and Laura Donnelly (The Nevers) as monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone. Other cast members include Harriet Sansom Harris (Addams Family Values), Al Hamacher (Cobra Kai), Eugenie Bondurant (The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It), Leonardo Nam (Westworld), Jaycob Maya (Six Degrees of Separation), Daniel J. Watts (Blindspot), and Kirk Thatcher (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home).
Directing Werewolf by Night is Academy Award-winning composer Michael Giacchino, who already worked with Marvel on several other projects such as the first Doctor Strange movie and the Spider-Man trilogy. Less surprisingly, Giacchino also composed the musical score for this special presentation. On the other hand, Moon Knight writer Peter Cameron and Hawkeye writer Heather Quinn are credited with writing Werewolf by Night. The executive producers of this special include Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, co-president Louis D'Esposito, president of physical, post-production, VFX, and animation Victoria Alonso, Production and Development Executive Stephen Broussard, and Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation Brad Winderbaum. If any of this sounds interesting to you, we've created a handy, easy-to-read user guide that answers all the questions you may have about watching Werewolf By Night for Halloween this year.
Editor's Note: This article was updated on October 4.
When Was 'Werewolf by Night' Released on Disney+?
Werewolf by Night premiered on Friday, October 7, 2022, on Disney+, just in time for Halloween. After its successful release last year, Disney+ is releasing a color version of the special on October 20, 2023. And here's a bonus: if you would like to see the special on the big screen, Collider is hosting a free screening of Werewolf by Night in Color in North Hollywood on Sunday, October 15, starting at 7 p.m. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with director Michael Giacchino. You can fill out this form for a chance to win tickets to the screening.
Watch the 'Werewolf by Night' Trailer
The first trailer for Werewolf by Night was released on September 10, 2022, during Marvel Studios' D23 panel. This 86-second preview teases a Universal Monsters-esque spooktacular full of shock and terror. It's even shot in black and white and features more practical effects than most movies or shows in the MCU. For a more detailed look at the video, check out our Werewolf by Night trailer breakdown.
What Is 'Werewolf by Night' About?
Here is the official plot synopsis for Werewolf by Night:
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.
So What Exactly Is a Marvel Studios Special Presentation?
The trailer for Werewolf by Night begins with a snazzy new intro for "A Marvel Studios Special Presentation." Neither Kevin Feige nor anyone else in the studio elaborated on what exactly these Special Presentations are, but they're essentially a new type of programming for Disney+. These specials are stories set in the MCU (or its parallel universes) that are too small to be a movie or show and too big to be a short film. And while Werewolf by Night was the first, it's hardly the last. Already in December 2022, we got The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which was also billed as a Special Presentation. Marvel has yet to announce any other Special Presentations, but considering how well those first two were received, it seems inevitable that more may be on the way.
How Does 'Werewolf by Night' Tie Into the MCU?
Even though Werewolf by Night looks less like an MCU movie or show and more like a horror movie from the 1940s, Kevin Feige has revealed that the special will have a major impact on the universe (and maybe even other universes) going forward. The big man in charge said that they "wanted to explore entirely new characters and entirely new sides of the MCU with this unusual, fun, and frightening spin on the supernatural" and that they are "introducing a world that will ultimately become quite important to the future of the MCU." In the comics, Jack Russell becomes cursed after his grandfather Gregor read the Darkhold. This dangerous book of spells already appeared in the MCU, but Wanda Maximoff destroyed it (and its multiversal copies) at the end of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Still, Werewolf by Night could reference the Darkhold if the creative team is adapting Jack's comic-book origin for the special.
Besides Russell and Bloodstone, a few other major characters from Marvel Comics appear in Werewolf by Night. Elsa's zombified father Ulysses and living stepmother Verusa, the latter of whom is played by Harriet Sansom Harris, both pop up in the special. Jake Gomez, a young man of Hopi descent who in the comics is another Werewolf by Night, also reportedly appears in the Disney+ program, played by Jaycob Maya. More surprisingly, the trailer shows what looks like Man-Thing, the precursor to DC's Swamp Thing, and agents of the Time Variance Authority (TVA), who in the streaming series Loki were in charge of eradicating breaching timelines. Maybe Werewolf by Night takes place in one of those breaching timelines?
There's also Jack Russell's connection with Moon Knight. The Fist of Vengeance made his first comic-book appearance in 1975's Werewolf by Night #32 and the two characters have continued to appear in comics together ever since. Oscar Isaac already played Moon Knight in a Disney+ series that may or may not be limited, so he and Bernal's Jack Russell could meet in the MCU at some point in the future. Maybe Mahershala Ali's Blade will even tag along?
How Were the First Reactions to 'Werewolf by Night'?
Disney screened Werewolf by Night for critics, and many of them were big fans of the special. Here's what some of Collider's very own said about Werewolf by Night: