Marvel is treating us well this spooky season, what with new episodes of Agatha All Along dropping weekly, but it’s still a shame that what promised to be a yearly tradition instead proved to be a one-off. In 2022, Disney Plus unleashed the MCU’s inaugural Halloween special in the form of Werewolf By Night, which marked the first time the franchise had really dipped its toes into horror territory.
As we know, Marvel’s attempt to expand into horror hasn’t really gone as planned. Not only has Mahershala Ali’s Blade reboot stalled, but plans to offer up more from the Werewolf by Night corner of the MCU have gone the same way. At least the special’s director, Michael Giacchino, is still very much entrenched in the Marvel multiverse, and he has assured us that a sequel will happen eventually.
Giacchino is most known as a composer, and his music can be heard all over the MCU in the likes of Doctor Strange, the Spider-Man films, and next year’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. While discussing his work on both FF and DC’s The Penguin, Giacchino admitted that more Werewolf by Night is currently on hiatus amid some “recalibrating,” but he promises it will happen eventually.
“There’s been a lot going on in the industry and everyone sort of recalibrating,” Giacchino revealed to Brandon Davis’ YouTube channel. “I think certain things had to be just put aside for the moment. We’ll get there.”
How Werewolf by Night could return to the MCU amid Marvel’s creative overhaul overhowl
Giacchino might say “the industry” but presumably he means there’s a lot going on with Marvel right now. We know the studio has completely rethought its Disney Plus strategy over the past year, which has resulted in major creative overhauls of upcoming series like Daredevil: Born Again and Ironheart. We also haven’t heard a peep of any more Marvel Studios Presentations happening. We can only assume that the first two attempts at doing standalone TV specials — Werewolf and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special — didn’t draw in the viewing figures Disney was hoping for.
One thing you can say about Marvel, though, is that Kevin Feige and company never waste an idea. Everything comes back eventually in this franchise — just look at Tim Blake Nelson’s return as the Leader after 17 years in 2025’s Captain America: Brave New World. Still, hopefully, it won’t be that long before we see Gael Garcia Bernal’s Jack Russell, Laura Donnelly’s Elsa Bloodstone, and “Ted” (aka Man-Thing) again.
If Marvel is looking for ideas on how to bring the property back, may I humbly suggest an Adventure into Fear show, based on the classic Marvel horror anthology comic, following Werewolf by Night and friends as they travel around and bump into Marvel’s monsters and supernatural creatures. The popularity of Agatha All Along and the constant interest in Blade proves there’s a hunger for more MCU horror out there. Embrace the darkness, Marvel, you know you want to.
Published: Oct 16, 2024 10:59 am