Marvel’s “Werewolf By Night” – Disappointment or Delight?

“It’s all the same.” That’s been the complaint leveled at Marvel Studios products for some time now, to the extent that it always feels like a pleasant surprise when something deviates from the norm, like She-Hulk does. But at a certain point, the expectations have to be raised from “is it different?” to “does it work?” And while the answer to the first question for the new Werewolf By Night special (streaming on Disney+ starting October 7) is “undoubtedly yes,” the answer to the second question is, “ummm … kinda?”

The attempt to stand out from the pack is clear before the show even begins, as the familiar “Marvel Studios” title card—presented in crisp black-and-white—is periodically punctuated with claw slashes, screams and bolts of lightning. That intro leads into a tale where a man named Jack (Gael García Bernal) arrives at a grand estate for a unique competition. Several experienced monster-hunters are gathering for a contained hunt, with the winner to receive a powerful relic known as the Bloodstone that weakens monsters. What the rest of the gathered folks don’t know, however, is that Jack has a little lycanthropic secret …

On a purely aesthetic level, Werewolf By Night is generally a lot of fun to watch. Veteran composer Michael Giacchino—best known for his Pixar scores like The Incredibles and Up—proves that he has a great visual sensibility as a director, and not just because he opts for the black-and-white of a vintage Universal creature-feature. His often-blood-soaked action sequences show a pop of creativity, particularly a bit where a slowly lowering door changes the lighting as our lupine anti-hero tears apart some adversaries. The set design even has an effectively cheesy “sure it’s supposed to be outside, but we all know we’re on a sound stage” quality that seems just right for the subject matter.

There are also some promising relationship set-ups for our main character. Mostly, we see Jack interact with Elsa (Laura Donnelly), the black-sheep daughter of the Bloodstone’s previous owner, and there’s an effective back-and-forth rapport between Bernal and Donnelly. Even more amusing is the friendship between Jack and … another Marvel Universe character making its debut. A lot of what Werewolf By Night sets up makes you interested in more.

The thing is, it’s not clear what more, if anything, we’re going to get. Werewolf By Night is offered as a stand-alone special, not a pilot episode for a series, and as such, the structure feels just a little bit off. In particular, it takes far too long for Jack to take on his werewolf form, with Bernal himself disappearing for unexpected stretches. There’s also no attempt to really explain Jack’s back-story— why he seems to have a rapport with other monsters, what made him what he is, why and how he developed what he describes as methods for controlling the damage the werewolf does. As a snippet of horror mayhem, with a delightfully unhinged villain in the zealous monster-hater Verusa (Harriet Sansom Harris), it’s pretty cool; as storytelling, it’s not particularly satisfying.

A one-hour Disney+ “special” feels like a perfectly effective format for something featuring characters we already know, like the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special. It’s a much trickier thing to pull off, however, when you need to explain who all of these characters are, and what they’re all about. Werewolf By Night introduces Michael Giacchino as a talented director, and introduces an interesting new corner of the Marvel Universe. I suppose the only question is whether you’re okay with the kind of introduction that feels like someone walking up to you at a party, saying “nice to meet you,” then immediately walking away.

Let’s Hear From You

You can watch Werewolf by Night on Disney+ starting October 7. What do you think about this hour-long special? Do you see Marvel introducing new concepts and characters as a method of refreshing their offerings? Will Werewolf by Night be a part of your Halloween watch list?