I loved the first round of Marvel superhero films, and it ended on the perfect note. This second round of films just isn't really doing it for me, there just feels like a spark is missing, outside of that fantastic Spiderman and Dr. Strange double bill. It's also annoying that the films are intended to be watched in tandem with the many TV shows. All that is to say I've only just gotten to Werewolf by Night, a Marvel TV special from last year, one that serves as a loving homage to the classic horror films of the fifties.
The wielder of a powerful and destructive magical gem dies, with instructions that the new owner of his gem will have to win a hunting contest against a terrifying monster before he can get it. A group of hunters arrive at the man's funeral, these include among them, the friendly Jack (Gael García Bernal), and Elsa Bloodstone, a character I last read about in Marvel Zombies: Battleworld (here played by Laura Donnelly), and who was the daughter of the original owner of the gem. The hunters soon head into a maze, where they are encouraged to take each other out in their quest to defeat the beast and claim the gem for their own.
This was mostly in black and white, with the homage to old horror films being very evident from everything to the font design and music, to the pacing of the story. It also meant that this was allowed to show more blood than you would typically expect for a Marvel show, which was nice. The fifty six minute special was split across two different sections. The first had the hunters in the maze hunting the mysterious monsters, it was here that it become clear Jack wasn't like the other hunters, when he is shown attempting to help the monster to escape. Elsa is shown to be a capable fighter, and also more noble than the bloodthirsty others. I'm assuming all the characters were from the comics, but their names were not really ever given, so it was only one or two characters I did actually recognise.
With 'werewolf' in the title, I felt it was obvious where this would head to, and it did, with the second part of this revolving around a character who is secretly a werewolf, culminating in an exciting fight sequence.
The black and white purposely dated feel to this made it feel a bit outside of normal Marvel stuff, not as grating as the tedious The Eternals was, but it didn't feel too much like Marvel. The story was fine, entertaining enough, if light on any kind of surprises. I wouldn't go as far as to say this was dull, but there was nothing here that would call me back for another watch, especially when it seems to have no bearing at all on the current overarching Marvel storyline. Werewolf by Night can be streamed on Disney+.
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