Werewolf By Night Preview and Breakdown
Welcome back to HLS Entertainment! Today we are going to be breaking down Marvel Studios first holiday special Werewolf by Night! This movie is going to be paying homage to the classic Universal Horror films so if you want a list of movies to get you in the Spooky season mood click here!
This special is directed by the incredibly talent Michael Giacchino, who is one of the best living composers in the world. You will know his musical scores from many Marvel movies including the MCU Spider-Man and Doctor Strange films, but he also did The Batman, Rogue One and a few of the new Planet of the Apes films. He also did scores for many Disney and Pixar movies like Ratatouille, Coco, Up, Inside Out, Zootopia and others. Oh, and the new Star Trek films. Point is he is wildly successful, and I adore his work. I think more people should just go check out his scores they are excellent, and I enjoy working to them. Currently writing this to the ever ominous The Batman score he did.
Reports are this TV Special will come in under an hour long at around 52 minutes, so I will not be going into as long a detail as I generally do for these. Why so short? Well, if you have ever watched any of the old Universal Monster movies they were typically just at or over an hour long so this special will follow that tradition. Those who have followed along for a while will know a lot of this is a prideful "ha I called it" for me and I enjoy talking up a program or movie before it releases. Who doesn't enjoy chatting about the things we love? Screeners have been out for this special for the past week or so and I sadly have not been able to see one (still dreaming of getting on that list) so know this is SPOILERS based on information I put together from trailers and news, NOT that I actually know what things will be. If you would like to know my credentials as to why you should care about my predictions, I invite you to look through this blog I have every MCU Phase 4 property preview and breakdown on here (except Ms. Marvel sadly, I did not finish it in time due to personal reasons). My track record speaks for itself I am very good at this, so take this as spoilers as you will.
Locations to Know
Bloodstone Estate / Temple
The Labyrinth
From what I can tell this is the "arena" that the hunter's competition will take place in. This very well could be the Bloodstone family labyrinth.
Characters to Know
Director Michael Giacchino himself aside from Jack and Elsa the hunters are entirely new characters so there is nothing to go off on who they are so I will not speculate (aside from one)
Jack Russell aka our wolf in human clothing - Gael Garcia Bernal
Elsa Bloodstone - Laura Donnelly
Elsa Bloodstone has been compared to Buffy the Vampire Slayer on many many occasions since her first appearance in Marvel comics in 2001, but the creators deny having ever seen a full episode. If we are talking Marvel comics monster hunters, Elsa is #2 only behind Blade in terms of popularity. She is the daughter of Uylsses Bloodstone a famed monster hunter and brother to Cullen Bloodstone, and has become an incredible monster hunter as well.
Verusa - Harriet Sansom Harris
The host of this cabal, and widow of Elsa's father Ulysses Bloodstone (from reports)
Ulysses Bloodstone - ?
Linda - Eugenie Bondurant
Jovan - Kirk Thatcher
Simon - Leonardo Nam
? - Daniel J Watts
Man-Thing aka Dr. Ted Sallis - ?
Normally a resident of the Florida everglades, somehow our favorite deadly bush is in this labyrinth! In the comics Dr. Sallis is trying to come up with a copy of the super soldier serum, injects himself before AIM arrives and crashes into a swamp where a magical force transformed him into Man-Thing. Now as a giant slow moving living swamp he is immensely powerful and burns people with a touch that is strengthen around negative emotions such as fear.
Plot Breakdown
This special is going to follow a group of monster hunters that have gathered with the purpose of competing for a special relic, seemingly the Bloodgem. According to the official synopsis this "cabal" is gathered after the death of the group's leader, assumingly Ulysses Bloodstone, and this competition could determine who is to be their new leader. It has been rumored that the competition will be for the hunters to try to kill Man-Thing, but I am not even sure that it is possible for them to kill him. Maybe that is part of some kind of test? Nothing to fear but fear itself?
The plot of this special has been pitched as an almost Twilight Zone episode of a day in the life of Jack Russell and Elsa Bloodstone, while paying serious homage to the classic monster movies of the past. This special has been reported to be one of Marvels' most violent outings yet, as well as the scariest. Perfect for the Halloween season. Marvel's resident hat man in charge Kevin Feige has stated on a few occasions that this special is introducing a new side of the MCU (the monster/occult side) that will be "quite important" to the future of the MCU.
Okay enough background information, here is my VERY barebones breakdown of how I see the plot of this special playing out.
I believe it will kick off with very creepy imagery as we see the Bloodstone Estate, maybe some teases of something lurking in the labyrinth, focusing on the cultish creepy imagery while showing the security set apart in their gear (No I do not think they are TVA). We then see all of the monster hunters show up to the Bloodstone Temple/Estate. One by one we are introduced to each of them and Verusa explains what is happening and why they are all there. Ulysses Bloodstone has died and in honor of his death they are holding this competition for members of their order to compete to be considered the greatest monster hunter and possibly their new leader.
At some point I believe we will see Elsa sneak off doing something before we really get rolling, it is possibly her old home maybe she has something buried or hidden she retrieves. Before the competition begins heavy accusations are laid out that one of them amongst them is no longer pure and has become a monster themself.
It is explained to them all that the competition is to slay the beast trapped in the labyrinth, and the winner will receive the ancient relic, the Bloodgem. Then all of the monster hunters are led outside and partake in a ritual before being allowed into the labyrinth. Tensions rise as egos flair and each hunter is out for themselves trying to get the relic. Jack and Elsa become reluctant allies within the maze as Javon and others seem to have it out for them (maybe Jack's secret is revealed?)
While inside the maze we get many gruesome scenes of hunter after hunter turned prey by Man-Thing or killed by a fellow hunter. This is where the complete guess work comes in. I believe Jack and Elsa find Man-Thing but are not killed, and actually help to let him out of the labyrinth. The only surviving hunters being Jack, Elsa and Daniel J Watts character.
Once out of the maze themselves the cult imprison the pair and Verusa uses the Bloodgem to force Jack to transform into a Werewolf. He breaks out, goes on a killing spree. Horror horror horror, blood blood blood, lots of howling. Elsa ends up with the stone and on the run, but Jack ultimately catches her but lets her go free. Fin.
Theories
This is not a heavy theory special because they have come out and said this special will NOT feature any established MCU characters... but that doesn't stop the speculation train.
The Monster Hunters
Very randomly (or not?) there is a Marvel comic from the late 90s called The Monster Hunters and it features Ulysses Bloodstone teaming up with a Wakandan warrior named Zawadi, and an Atlantean named Namora. Is it a coincidence that Namora is making her MCU debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever later this year? 99.9% yes... but let's have fun speculating. We could have a situation where we get a quick flashback or discussion of Ulyesses time hunting monsters and how he fought with (or against) Wakandans and Atlanteans. The team also included at one point our favorite speedster and Eternal Makkari, would be awfully fun to tie her to the cabal because she was interested in finding an occult artifact.
Blade (not what you think)
It was reported that initially there was a plan to finally have Mahershala Ali's Blade introduced in this special, but the report said they failed to line up schedules and he will not be a part of it. Or will he? We know recently the Blade film lost its director (or was fired it is unclear) and the script has been thrown out for a complete rewrite, and I am all for this I would rather them be 100% excited instead of going forward with a project they are iffy about. But reviews and reactions to this special have been outstanding, maybe Michael Giacchino is in line to be the new director of the Blade movie? I would be very much excited for that if this special turns out as great as the reviews have led me to believe.
Thank you so much for reading! Please be sure to follow me on twitter @HaroldLStokes you can tweet me there your thoughts and theories for the special! I would love to discuss it or any MCU property theories with you!
