‘The Batman’ Composer Directing Marvel’s Werewolf Halloween Special
Marvel Studios’ upcoming werewolf Halloween special for Disney+ has just landed its director, as The Batman composer Michael Giacchino is set to make his feature film directorial debut with the project.
First reported by The Wrap, the Marvel film will mark Giacchino’s feature debut after directing the 2018 short film Monster Challenge and an episode of the animated series Star Trek: Short Treks. In addition to The Batman, he has composed the soundtracks for Star Trek, Jurassic World, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, among countless other movies.
It’s also reported that production is set to begin this month.
As previously reported, Gael GarcÃa Bernal set to lead the cast of the werewolf-focused show, which reportedly “could” be based on the Marvel comic series Werewolf by Night. Laura Donnelly joins Bernal in the Disney+ Halloween special, possibly playing Nina Price, another Marvel comics character who becomes Vampire by Night.
The first character known as Werewolf by Night was Jack Russell, created by Gerry Conway and Mike Ploog based on concepts by Stan Lee and Roy Thomas, who first appeared in a 1972 issue of Marvel Spotlight and later starred in a Werewolf by Night series that ran for 43 issues ending in 1977. Russell is a descendant Lycanthropes.
Marvel introduced a second version of the character, Jake Gomez, in the 2020 Werewolf by Night (Vol. 3) #1. This iteration of the character is a member of the Hopi Native American tribe, whose family has been cursed with lycanthropy, and he clashes with a nefarious pharmaceutical company exploiting members of the tribe.
We’ll have to wait and see which version of the character (if any) will be the inspiration for the new Halloween special.
Nina Price is the niece of character Jack Russell/Werewolf by Night and she is a vampire/werewolf hybrid, who carried the lycan gene and was changed further after being bitten by a vampire.
It is also worth noting that the Marvel character Moon Knight, who is getting his own Disney+ series starring Oscar Isaac (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), which premieres this month, also debuted within the pages of Werewolf by Night, so it would totally make sense that this werewolf project ties into the Moon Knight series launch, as well. In any case, Marvel is clearly getting into the spirit of the greatest holiday of all, and they are inviting all sorts of creatures of the night to come out and play.
Obviously, we will continue to follow this project as it develops and will have additional updates as we learn more.
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