Not every Marvel Cinematic Universe project is obligated to feature cameos or guest appearances from new and/or old franchise favorites, but that doesn’t mean fans don’t go into each new feature film and Disney Plus exclusive expecting them anyway. As a standalone special designed to look like a classic black-and-white creature feature, Werewolf by Night was hardly going to include an Avenger or two, but that hardly prevented the rumor mill from churning regardless.
Given the supernatural shenanigans unfolding in the acclaimed Special Presentation, not to mention the titular lycanthrope’s comic book history, Moon Knight and Blade were singled out as two candidates who could theoretically (or more hopefully, if we’re being honest) swing by for an appearance.
However, in an interview with ComicBook, director Michael Giacchino explained why he wanted his highest-profile gig yet from behind the camera to stand on its own merits without leaning too hard on the expanded MCU.
“No, that never really came up. I mean, we talked a little bit about Blade, but in the end it was like, you know what, if we’re looking at this and I always described this as an episode of The Twilight Zone. You know, let’s keep it contained. This is a one night in the life of Jack and Elsa, and let’s see what that’s like. And I know everyone searches for connectivity and we want this person in here and this, and I was like, no, let’s just do this. It exists in this same world as all of these other things.
It does, but let’s not worry about that right now. We’ll deal with that maybe someday, I don’t know. But for right now, I just wanted to tell the story of one night in the life of these characters and hopefully something that you could just drop in on not having seen anything else and just enjoy it for what it was.”
As I’m sure you’re aware of the comics, that’s a big run, specifically with Moon Night. For this being a special, it felt like we wanted to focus just on Jack. He’s so compelling. He’s so interesting. And it felt like he needed a proper introduction in a way that down the line, characters have a way of running into each other is all I’ll say. After over a decade of Marvel films and TV shows, the fun is having them mix and match. But at first you wanna fall in love with Jack. And that’s what we were aiming to do.”
Giacchino knows as well as the hardcore Marvel fans that Werewolf by Night has plenty of connective tissue tying to Blade and Moon Knight, but it’s probably for the best that the project was kept separate. After all, Mahershala Ali’s Daywalker has issues of his own to overcome, and Oscar Isaac’s solo series hasn’t yet been renewed for season 2, so there’s still plenty of kinks to iron out before any crossover can come to fruition.
