The Marvel’s Halloween Special is howling around on Disney Plus now. This is the scoop about the new cast members including horror homages, and MCU connections (spoilers).
Hello, ghouls and guys for the Marvel Halloween special available on Disney Plus. One-hour special Werewolf by Night is frightfully entertaining (see our review on CNET) and is also something completely distinct in fans of Marvel Cinematic Universe. Let’s explore all the references to comic books, celebrate the film’s tributes to classic horror, and think about the next chapter to come for Gael Garcia Bernal’s Jack Russell and Laura Donnelly’s Elsa Bloodstone.
Werewolf by Night is streaming at the moment. Check it out… in case you’re brave enough! (Not since this article is scary, but for the sake of spoilers).
What’s the story’s ending?
Monster hunters have congregated at the house of the Late Ulysses Bloodstone to claim the Bloodstone, a super-weapon that is supernatural that is the basis of the bloodstone family’s power. However, the hunter who has highest kills Jack Russell, is not the dangerous slayer who he claims to be. Instead of killing animals, Jack is able to free the creatures. With the help of Elsa, Jack assists the hunter’s prey escape, and reveals that the terrifying tentacles of Man-Thing to be more than gentle gigantic (named Ted). As a result, Jack is captured and was forced by Bloodstone to transform into a terrifying alter ego The superhero from comic books Werewolf By Night.
Prior to transforming, Jack gets up close and personal with Elsa’s scent hoping that his best-known form will remember her scent — an idea that has only worked once before, and suggests an interesting tale from his previous. The trick is successful, and The werewolf along with Elsa cut and hack to get through the remaining henchmen and hunters. Elsa takes the Bloodstone as hers and takes up her ancestral seat inside the Bloodstone mansion. Meanwhile, Jack awakes in human form due Ted’s swift intervention.
Why is it the black and white?
The TV film is a tribute of vintage horror films from the early part of the twentieth century. From the retro-styled opening credits to the constrained graveyard set-up, reminiscent of a maze, and the crackling 1940s gramophone tracks and allusions to the expressionist terror of silent films like 1922’s Nosferatu and 1920’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Another major influence is the studio known as Universal which during the 1930s and the 1940s created several horror films that featured the ghouls of the golden age, such as Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy and of obviously the Wolfman.
It even has those little blink-and-you-miss-’em “cigarette burns” in the top right hand corner of the screen, which were added to old movies to show theater projectionists when to change the reel (if you don’t know what any of these words mean, it’s memorably explained in Fight Club).
The screen is filled with colors as Elsa declares the Bloodstone and the tune Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland swells. Somewhere Over The Rainbow comes from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz which also switched between monochrome and color. Incredibly, Werewolf by Night is the opposite from The Wizard of Oz, that shifted to glowing Technicolor throughout the film, and before returning to monochrome. In this instance the black-and-white scenes represented the real world and the color hints at a transition to the realm of fantasy Oz (which could be a dream).
This color scheme could be just a fashion reference to a classic film however, we’re here to think things through, and it’s tempting to think that it’s a commentary on how reality plays out within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It could be that the supernatural elements that are part of Marvel’s Marvel universe are coming out of the shadows and changing into color to prove that characters such as Elsa Bloodstone, Jack Russell and the Man-Thing character are actually as part of the MCU.
Who are the hunter?
Other than Jack, Ted and Elsa The majority of the characters in the film were made specifically for this film and don’t have comic book characters.
Gael Garcia Bernal plays Jack Russell The Werewolf by Night.
Laura Donnelly, who you might recognise as Laura Donnelly from Outlander as well as The Nevers, plays Elsa Bloodstone.
Carey Jones plays Man-Thing AKA Ted. Jones was previously a an angry Wookie Black Krrrsantan from The Book of Boba Fett.
Harriet Sansom Harris is Verusa as the caretaker in Bloodstone. Bloodstone legacy.
Eugenie Bondurant plays Azarel. You might already have watched Bondurant on screen in Hunger Games and The Conjuring films.
Leonardo Nam is Liorn. Nam was previously in Westward.
Kirk R. Thatcher is Jovan The big Scotsman. In addition to appearing on Star Trek: Picard, Thatcher is probably most famous for being one of the punk rockers who spied Spock on an unmarked coach on the way to Jakku’s house in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Daniel J Watts plays Barasso. Watts has previously appeared as a character in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Al Hamacher plays Billy Swan. Hamacher was previously on screen in Cobra Kai.
David Silverman is The Flaming Tuba (seriously).
Some initial news reports indicated that Jaycob Maya would play a character dubbed Jake Gomez, known to comics fans as the sequel version of Werewolf by Night. He doesn’t make an appearance in the final film.
Who are their names that appear on the tombs?
It’s likely that the tomb where Elsa as well as Jack are trapped for a moment could be perfect to be filled with Easter eggs. However, the different names that are on the headstones don’t make obvious Marvel comics reference. They could be jokes made by the department of artfor example, Mika Brandonen Kleyla for instance, is likely an homage to the an art director who was also a former Disney creator Brandon Kleyla.
Who are we to look to in our credits?
The show was written by Michael Giacchino, who previously directed the Star Trek short but is more well-known as the composer for various film scores. He has composed music for numerous Mission: Impossible, Jurassic World, Star Trek and Pixar film soundtracks in addition to The Batman, Lightyear and numerous Marvel movies, like Thor: Love and Thunder.
The credits are a nod at Werewolf by Night creators Roy Thomas, Jean Thomas, Gerry Conway and Mike Ploog.
Creators of the comic Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Michael Lopez are saluted for their work on Elsa Bloodstone in 2001, as well as John Warner who created Ulysses Bloodstone in 1975 (with Len Wein and Marvel Wolfman who are which are not listed in the credit line). Stuart Immonen is thanked for his role in defining the style for Elsa Bloodstone in anarchic comic series Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. (written by Warren Ellis, not mentioned in this article).
In addition, they are praised by legendary horror comics artists Gray Morrow, Sonny Trinidad and Pat Boyette (who incidentally created Peacemaker and was seen in the past in the DC Suicide Squad) and Mike Vosberg (who was employed by Marvel and DC and also illustrated his 1990 Tales From the Crypt series).
Special thanks go by Giacchino’s father Anthony the Oscar-winning documentarian and film director Bryan Burk; Brad Bird who was the director and animator of The Incredibles, Ratatouille, The Iron Giant, and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and the team behind the film as well as “parents who encouraged their children to imagine an imaginary world filled with iconic monsters.” Awww.
What’s the next step for Marvel?
The current MCU series She-Hulk recently returned Daredevil and will be returning for its final episode on Thursday, October. 13.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be released in theaters November. 11.
After that , it’s back on Disney Plus for another one-off special, an Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special directed and written by James Gunn in December.
