QUICKIE -- Werewolf by Night (Marvel Studios Special Presentation)

Werewolf by Night is an American television special directed by Michael Giacchino and written by Heather Quinn and Peter Cameron for the streaming service Disney+, based on the Marvel Comics featuring the character of the same name. It is the first Marvel Studios Special Presentation in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and television series of the franchise. The special was produced by Marvel Studios, and follows a secret group of monster hunters as they compete for a powerful relic while going up against a dangerous monster.

Gael García Bernal stars in the special as Jack Russell / Werewolf by Night, along with Laura Donnelly and Harriet Sansom Harris. Development of the special had begun by August 2021, with Bernal cast that November. Giacchino joined by March 2022, ahead of the start of filming later that month at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, which concluded by late April. The special was formally announced in September, when Giacchino revealed he was also composing.

Plot

Following the death of Ulysses Bloodstone, five experienced monster hunters, including Jack Russell, are summoned by Ulysses' widow, Verussa, to Bloodstone Manor, where they are instructed to participate in a competitive hunt to determine their new leader, who will wield the powerful Bloodstone. Ulysses' estranged daughter Elsa also arrives to compete for the Bloodstone, despite Verussa warning her against doing so.

The hunt begins in a large maze on the grounds of the manor, with a captured monster that has been implanted with the Bloodstone as the hunters' quarry. Following an encounter with Elsa, Russell finds the monster, "Ted", a friend that Russell was searching for and intended to rescue, while Elsa fights and kills one of the other hunters. Russell leaves Ted to carry out his escape plan, and reunites with Elsa while she is hiding in a mausoleum. The two agree to work together to free Ted and obtain the Bloodstone. Ted kills another of the hunters, and Russell destroys the outer wall of the maze so they can escape. Ted flees into the forest after Elsa removes the Bloodstone from him. However, the Bloodstone reacts violently to Russell's touch, indicating that he is also a monster, as Verussa and the other hunters arrive.

Verussa captures Russell and Elsa, places them in a cage, and uses the Bloodstone to trigger Russell's transformation into his werewolf form. Instead of killing Elsa as Verussa intended, the werewolf breaks the cage and slaughters Verussa's guards, only for Verussa to subdue him using the Bloodstone. Elsa also escapes, kills the two remaining hunters, and stops Verussa from killing the werewolf. The werewolf attacks Elsa, but spares her upon recognizing her, and leaves the manor. A furious Verussa tries to kill Elsa, but is incinerated by Ted, who then leaves to find Russell while Elsa takes possession of the manor and the Bloodstone. The next day, Russell awakens in the forest in his human form with Ted watching over him, and is pleased to learn that Elsa is safe.

Cast

• Gael García Bernal as Jack Russell / Werewolf by Night

• Laura Donnelly as Elsa Bloodstone

• Harriet Sansom Harris as Verussa Bloodstone

Also appearing as the additional monster hunters are Kirk R. Thatcher as Jovan, Eugenie Bondurant as Azarel, Leonardo Nam as Liorn, and Daniel J. Watts as Barasso. Al Hamacher appears as Billy Swan, the Bloodstones' servant; Carey Jones portrays the swamp creature Ted / Man-Thing, with the special's editor Jeffrey Ford providing additional vocalizations; David Silverman appears as the flaming tuba player; Rick Wasserman narrates the special's opening sequence; and Richard Dixon voices Ulysses Bloodstone, Elsa's deceased monster-hunting father who originally wielded the Bloodstone and has become a talking corpse. Erik Beck was a puppeteer on the special.

The Verdict:

To make a long story short, this was a pretty straight-forward, short and concise tale, even though it came off a little clichéd at points. The whole gathering of hunters to vie all for some coveted prize is a tired and true trope at this point, especially with the stereotypical and generic archetypes for the five "greatest" hunters in this contest. These hunters are all competing for possession of the Bloodstone, a powerful artifact that is highly beneficial in aiding in the task of monster hunting. 

The Bloodstone wards off evil so it is another highly sought after artifact of mysterious origins to go along with the many in this continuity. It makes sense that it would be used for monster hunting and slaying of evil entities. The previous wielder of this artifact, Ulysses Bloodstone, died recently so that this competitive hunt would determine who would be both the leader of these monster hunters and wielder of the powerful Bloodstone. Ulysses' widow, Verussa Bloodstone, warned Elsa against participating but she shows up anyway. 

I have to wonder who or what trained Elsa Bloodstone since she explicitly states that she dislikes her family's tradition of hunting monsters, but is a formidable fighter in her own right. The plot sees these hunters attempting to take down their mysterious foe while simultaneously hunting each other in the process, until Jack Russell and Elsa Bloodstone form an unlikely partnership to survive this ordeal. Jack doesn't want the Bloodstone at all. Instead, he merely wants to rescue his friend "Ted" (AKA Man-Thing) and escape the Bloodstone Manor alive. Elsa agrees to help him out in exchange for possession of the Bloodstone. Everything seems to work out without a hitch in their plans until the Bloodstone reacts violently to Jack's touch, knocking him away and exposing him to have "evil" within. 

Verussa witnesses all of this transpire and captures both Elsa and Jack to force out whatever evil lurks within Jack to hunt Elsa instead while both are confined within a cage. That plan goes awry as Verussa uses the Bloodstone to force Jack to transform into a werewolf, who breaks free from confinement and proceeds to slaughter Verussa's guards in a truly visceral display of violence. Elsa escapes too and kills the remaining hunters before calming down the transformed Jack. He escapes off into the night, leaving Elsa with her defenses down as Verussa sought to strike from behind, only for Ted to execute her in a manner that would make Mortal Kombat creator, Ed Boon blush. With Elsa as the last one standing, she's now the new heir to the Bloodstone Manor and the Bloodstone itself. 

If it felt like I rushed through the entire plot of this featurette, it is because that's how "rushed" the events of this special presentation play out. It only has a 55 minute runtime and I honestly feel like it could have gotten away with pushing that to at least 90 minutes if they wanted without making this feel bloated nor adding a feeling of this story overstaying its welcome. 

Director Michael Giacchino mentions that he ensured that this depiction of the character wouldn't be oversexualized like her comic book counterpart and wouldn't use guns. I had to laugh reading that statement because there isn't a single female in the MCU that is sexualized outside of maybe Black Widow (in her initial appearances and not so much as the MCU churned along) and currently with She-Hulk (but that is up for debate). The decision for this version of Elsa not to use firearms is an interesting choice, especially given the current modern day climate with widespread gun violence. That was a wise choice not to have another character, like the Punisher, who is glamourizing gun violence in this continuity. I think they should have rethought their choice to go with dark hair instead of the character's iconic red hair as I think that may confuse Marvel fans with Kristen Ritter's Jessica Jones at first glance.  

Closing Thoughts

I'll admit that this "horror" side of Marvel Comics isn't something that I'm very well-versed/knowledgeable in, but the arrival of Werewolf By Night does make me excited as his introduction leaves the door wide open for some other characters to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe or to even cross paths with Jack Russell down the road...

As seen in the images above, Werewolf By Night has had some noteworthy crossovers, team-ups, and even hostile interactions with other heroes, such Tigra the Were-Woman (who becomes one of the Avengers and is one of their regular members for a very long time) and Moon Knight (who already got introduced to the MCU recently in his own Disney+ series). Anyone who knows me personally could easily tell you about how much I have been geeking out at the breadcrumbs and seeds that have been planted in the MCU as of late for the arrival of an iteration of the West Coast Avengers in this continuity. Seeing Tigra debut in live-action would be one major step closer to that. I personally would love to see her portrayed in live-action as much as I did with She-Hulk recently. Alternatively, if Moon Knight was to get another season, I would love to see the characters introduced here cross paths with Moon Knight and Scarlet Scarab. 

Let's not forget that before Marvel Television was dissolved and all of those properties were shutdown, Marvel Studios had plans in place for developing a horror-centric corner of the MCU, focusing mostly on the "Adventures into Fear" titles. FYI Man-Thing was derived from that corner of the Marvel Comics umbrella too, along with Morbius, who exists in Sony's Spider-Man centric universe but still that's worth noting. Seeing this project come to life gives me hope that Marvel Studios haven't given up on those plans. Say what you will about the reception of Helstrom TV series back when it was on Hulu, but this is a corner of the MCU that should be touched upon again. Werewolf By Night wasn't perfect by any means, but makes me optimistic that Marvel Studios could do more with this corner of the comics lore to liven up their brand with more thinking outside of the box in terms of what we have seen as the normal formulaic patterns for these films and television shows.