Early reactions for Marvel Studios’ upcoming one-off special “Werewolf By Night” came out yesterday with raves for the 53-minute black-and-white horror tale which evokes classic monster movies.
Celebrated composer Michael Giacchino makes his directing debut on the project which finally seems to deliver the one thing Marvel often promises but only occasionally delivers – something genuinely different. It’s stylised, full of cinematic transitions, heavily reliant on practical creature design, and is a genuine horror story with a fair amount of brutality.
Giacchino tells Slashfilm that the story is definitely a part of the MCU, just don’t expect tie-ins to what else is going on out there as it is a self-contained story:
“We always looked at it as a night in the life of Jack and Elsa, and we never shied away from the fact that, okay, yes, this exists in the MCU. Somewhere else in the world at this very moment, Spider-Man is swinging on something, and Captain America’s doing something, but we’re not going to bother with that. We’re just worried about this moment right here, wherever we are.”
Speaking with THR, Giacchino says he was surprised the project earned a TV-14 rating as he always assumed they would get a harder rating:
“We had always assumed it would be TV-MA, but I wasn’t always involved with what was happening on that end in terms of ratings and all of that, but I am sure you are absolutely right that the black and white did help keep us within a certain range.”
Reaction on social media has praised the film’s direction, visuals, and acting of its two leads Gael Garcia Bernal and Laura Donnelly. “Werewolf by Night” will hit the Disney+ service on October 7th.
