Werewolf By Night is Marvel Studios’ Halloween special, and it adds even more to the MCU’s supernatural section, after Moon Knight and Blade (In which Jared Leto’s Morbius is rumored to make an appearance). In the past few weeks, production updates for the 1 episode series (reportedly) have surfaced which gives us a lot of insight into this special.
Who Is Werewolf By Night?
Jack Russell was the elder of two children of Gregor Russoff, a Transylvanian baron and scholar. Russoff’s ancestor Grigori first brought lycanthropy upon the family when he tried to avenge his wife, Louisa, by staking the vampire-king Vlad Dracula; he was bitten by a female werewolf in Dracula’s service. Because his children were born before that event, Grigori’s descendants did not immediately become werewolves themselves; however, the curse on the Russoff family only needed a catalyst to trigger it. In the mid-1950s, Gregory Russoff, the great-great-grandson of Grigori, acquired a copy of the Darkhold, which will also appear in the MCU in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, which included the secret origin of lycanthropy. By reading that passage, Gregory activated the curse and became a werewolf. He sent his wife, Laura, to her native America with their children for their own protection. Gregory was eventually killed by an angry mob.
When Jack turned 18, the curse struck him in turn and he became a werewolf. Russell became a werewolf by night during the full moon. He took precautions to lock himself up, but sometimes the wolf escaped. During that time, he never took a human life, although several of the persons he encountered were scarred or crippled.
Filming Update
One Take News has informed us that Werewolf By Night hit a small snag a while back and instead of a planned in late February start as planned, it’ll now begin filming sometime in mid-March. They also confirmed that this shoot is planned to be a 2-3 week shooting time as again as this is just a short special.
The Director
Michael Giacchino, the soundtrack composer of Doctor Strange, the MCU Spider-Man trilogy, and Thor: Love And Thunder have been reported to be directing Werewolf By Night by Industry Insider Daniel Richtman. You may be wondering why they would hire a composer for direction, but that is nothing to worry about, as he has directed many works in his past, which have met people’s expectations.
