Michael Giacchino, director of the Marvel Studios special Werewolf by Night, has come out to quell rumors circulating about a canceled cameo by Mahershala Ali's Blade. He also discussed other things, including some of the ideas that informed the unique vibe of the MCU project.
Werewolf By Night is based on characters from the Marvel comics of the same name and chronicles the happenings following the death of Ulysses Bloodstone, a prolific monster hunter. In the aftermath, his subordinates are gathered on the grounds of his estate by his widow to compete for a powerful and important artifact as well as the position of leader. However, the proceedings quickly take a turn for the fittingly gruesome, with the director revealing that Marvel Studios let him push the limits with the gore in Werewolf by Night.
In a conversation with the The Wrap, Giacchino discussed the rumors that had been circulating about a possible cameo from the Marvel character Blade, another fan favorite who would fit right in with the grim monster-hunting theme of Werewolf by Night. While he admitted that the idea had been on the minds of the creative team at some point, the filmmaker also made it clear that it hadn’t gotten much further. “Anyway, there was a brief moment when we thought, in the development process, Oh it would be cool if you did this and that,” the well-acclaimed The Batman score composer said about the idea of a Blade cameo. “But the truth is, as you start getting into the story and as you start developing a lot of those things that in the very beginning are just shiny extras, drop off. You don’t need them."
The Werewolf by Night director clarified that scheduling conflict were in no way involved in the decision. "I read one thing where they’re like, 'Well, due to scheduling conflicts.' I’m like, well it never even got anywhere near trying to schedule it. It was just something that as a thought, you’re thinking, Oh, wouldn’t it be cool if, if, if. And a lot of those ifs go away, not because the schedule conflicts, but because you don’t need them. They don’t necessarily help," Giacchino added. "And I’m a big fan of getting rid of what you don’t need. And if you don’t need it, don’t do it because it just, we’ve all seen movies that have a lot in them that you don’t need. And I tend to lean the other way. I want to get rid of as much as possible. It takes a lot of thinning out, a lot of work. But it was a thought but it was never a thing.”
This isn’t the first such rumor that Giacchino has had to address, as the director also had to address rumors about the then-unreleased Werewolf by Night special by clarifying that it wouldn’t feature an appearance from Moon Knight, another popular Marvel character. In the same vein as vampire hunter Blade and the Halloween special’s titular werewolf, Moon Knight has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent times, with no small part in that being played by the recent successful small-screen adaptation on Disney Plus.
While many of the rumors surrounding the project didn’t materialize in the finished work, fans are sure to still be very pleased with the end result of Werewolf by Night, which is visually striking in a way that no other Marvel Studios project has managed to accomplish. While no word on a related project in the works has been confirmed, it’s obvious that the tone that Giacchino adapts from his stellar musical composition experience could potentially be an important asset for more Marvel Cinematic Universe projects going forward.
Werewolf by Night is available now on Disney Plus.
Source: The Wrap