Werewolf By Night To Use Practical Effects

Werewolf By Night in Marvel Studios Halloween Special is going practical! Halloween Horror Nights are working on Werewolf By Night for Michael Giacchino. But first, a brief background on the project:

Werewolf By Night has a surprisingly long history in adaptions than I would have thought - with Kevin Feige, Avi Arad, and Ari Arad working on an adaptation back in 2002 [1]. Though, in more recent history, Kevin Smith had intended to use the character in his Howard The Duck series on Hulu, announced on February 11, 2019 [2]. Before the show's announcement, Jeph Loeb informed Smith that Marvel Studios had plans for the character, and he couldn't use him [3].

Mid-last year, on August 26, 2021, The Wrap broke the story that Marvel Studios was indeed working on adapting the Werewolf By Night character as a Halloween Special for Disney+ [4]. The Hollywood Reporter announced earlier last month, on March 3, 2022, that Michael Giacchino had picked up directing reins for the untitled Halloween Special [5].

While researching several Marvel Studios projects, I decided to look for the Halloween Special's writer. In my deep-dive for the writer, I found one little tid-bid that led to another, which led to another, confirming that Halloween Horror Nights are working on the Special and supplying Practical Effects for it!

Multiple staff of Halloween Horror Nights accidentally lead on a little too much about their current project on Twitter, starting with Brandon Kleyla (@BrandonKleya) sharing an article about Michael Giacchino directing Marvel's Halloween Special. Kleyla said he is "thrilled for my pal, and fellow Monster Kid, @M_Giacchino! There's no greater joy than making a monster movie, and I can't wait to watch!" [6].

Under the post, Kleyla liked Patrick Braillard's (@HHNmeanone) reply to a hidden comment saying, "I think it's all but confirmed!" setting off a chain of events [7]. The private tweet comes from Charles Gray (@LurkingGray), who works for Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) as a Senior Show Director For Creative Development at Universal Orlando Resort. I'm hoping Gray accepts a random follow so I can get some clarity on that conversation.

Kleyla also liked DRACBUCK$' (@DisVincentPrice) Tweet about the announcement, which said: "I can't wait for people to see what we've been working on." Price's bio features "#HHN31," which leads me to believe he works for Halloween Horror Nights; looking through his Tweets, he recently posted a screenshot of a message about "a stunt performer who is in full werewolf makeup" [8]. In a reply, he then mentions he is "working on a certain Halloween special for a certain streaming platform!" confirming at least one more person working behind the scenes on the Special [9]. His tweet also ensures that the suit will be at least Practical Effects onset, with the potential of CGI touch-ups like Nivellen on The Witcher Season 2 - as expertly demonstrated by the Corridor Crew in an episode of VFX Artists React [10].

Just another day in show-biz baby pic.twitter.com/6fJLJFk8zu

— DRACBUCK$ (@DisVincentPrice) April 14, 2022

This Halloween Special also isn't the first time Halloween Horror Nights have worked with Marvel. In 2002, for Halloween Horror Nights 12, they converted Marvel Super Hero Island into a scare zone known as "Island Under Siege," loosely based on the Maximum Carnage comics [11].

Are you excited for Marvel Studios' Halloween Special and the use of Practical Effects on a Marvel project after many complain about their over-reliance on CGI? The Special should release in October and run for an hour long. Ken Perkins (@KennyBobArt) is storyboarding the project [12], and as of April 17, 2022, the writer is still unknown. With all the rumours of Werewolf By Night appearing in Moon Knight as a cameo, I theorize they will announce the writer when either the writer's episode or the character appears.

The current potential writer on my list is Peter Cameron! But a follow up is Rebecca Kirsch. Kirk R Thatcher and Josh Tate could potentially be part of the project with Michael Giacchino, Ken Perkins, Patrick Braillard, Charles Gray, and Vincent Price. Let me know what you think here or on Twitter @AfterHoursMedYT!