During D23, Disney Plus unveiled the highly-anticipated trailer for Marvel’s latest ‘Special Presentation,’ which is set to introduce the Marvel Comics character Werewolf By Night to the MCU. The trailer revealed we were getting our first Marvel project filmed entirely in monochrome, with the sinister voiceover and jumpscares feeling reminiscent of classical monster movies.
Now, in an official synopsis for the 40-minute one-shot, Disney Plus has confirmed that Werewolf By Night is heavily inspired by genre-defining horror movies. “On a dark and sombre night, a secret cabal of monster hunters emerge from the shadows and gather at the foreboding Bloodstone Temple following the death of their leader,” the synopsis reads.
“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.”
The synopsis continues: “Inspired by horror films of the 1930s and 1940s, the chilling special aims to evoke a sense of dread and the macabre, with plenty of suspense and scares along the way as we explore a new corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”
This standalone Halloween special, which is set to be followed by the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special in December, is set to introduce 1970s Marvel Comics character Jack Russell to the MCU.
In Russell’s first comic book appearance in 1972, it was established that Russell was a werewolf because one of his ancestors, Gregor Rusoff, cursed the family with lycanthropy (the ability to turn into a werewolf) after messing with the Darkold (yes, the same Darkold from Doctor Strange 2). Although Russell is American in the comics, he is a descendant of the Russoffs, a Russian occultist family.
Jack Russell is set to be played by Gael García Bernal, with the one-shot also introducing two other prominent MCU characters: monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone (Laura Donnelly), and the half-swamp-monster, half-human Man-Thing (Conan Stevens).
If you want to check out some of Werewolf By Night’s inspirations, check out our guide to the best Netflix horror movies.