Marvel’s first television special Werewolf by Night is seeing debuts for many obscure members of the comics canon, but few are as strange as the omniversal being Man-Thing.
Created by Steve Gerber in the 1970s, Man-Thing was the star of a cult favorite comic run which explored a bizzare non-verbal creature. Nowadays seen as one of the key characters in any multiverse storyline, he’s about to hit a new level of fame.
Set for a first live-action appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with likely many more on their way, who is behind the performance of Man-Thing in the MCU, and how did they bring the character to life?
Who plays Man-Thing in Werewolf by Night?
Man-Thing was brought to life using several different methods according to director Michael Giacchino, with a mixture of CGI, practical effects, and even a man in a suit. Giacchino was determined to make all of the monsters as practical as they could, and Man-Thing was no exception.
During the filming, the special effects supervisor Carey Jones stood inside a Man-Thing suit to give a proper reference for the actors. The character is non-verbal however, and doesn’t have a real voice actor. As part of Giacchino’s focus on practical effects, there was also a larger scale animatronic puppet of the creature which allowed them to move its eyebrows and tendrils.
Man-Thing has been in one film before, with 2005 seeing a critically panned version. In the ill-fated movie he was played by Australian actor and wrestler Conan Stevens, who later went on to appear in both The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.
Werewolf by Night is available to stream on Disney Plus.
Published: Oct 6, 2022 10:20 pm