Revisiting Werewolf By Night

Spooky season is finally upon us. It’s that time when you put on a costume, get free candy, scare the crap out of your neighbors, and, probably the best part, binge scary movies. In this near-hour-long MCU special, it not only has that classic horror vibe, but the special also blends it with typical superhero action. Our story follows the misadventures of Jack Russel and Elsa Bloodstone: one wants to save his monster friend (Man-Thing) from monster hunters, the other wants to reclaim her family heirloom (the Bloodstone). Forced to work together to free Man-Thing, they eventually get backed into a corner when Jack is forcibly revealed to be a werewolf. Despite his animalistic nature, the pair fight side by side and escape with their lives, proving that not all monsters are creatures of evil, as the hunters believe. 

The Pros and Cons

I had way more fun rewatching this special than I thought. One thing I’ve always praised about this special is how closely it resembles old monster movies: the black-and-white film, the flickers and specs you’d see on old film, and even the title card looks like a perfectly copied opening to those old movies. What I love most, though, are the flashing lights during the monster transformation: seeing the shadow of the slow transformation on the wall, along with the camera zooming in on Elsa’s horrified face, had me on the edge of my seat. I couldn’t stop thinking about how closely this scene looked like it was ripped straight out of those old movies, and even Jack’s werewolf design looks like monster designs from back then. And the blood splatters across the screen were a nice bonus; very old school (although I can’t explain why). While yes, they released a colorized version a year later, I honestly can’t imagine watching this unless it’s in black-and-white; it feels more natural and exhilarating this way. Anyway, filmography aside, I really appreciate how well the characters were written.

For example, Jack is clearly not a superhero, at least not in the way comic fans are familiar with him. Despite his charismatic charm, he has little to no idea what he’s doing; he’s not out to stop the hunters from killing other monsters; no massive goals. However, that’s the whole point. All he wants is to save his friend, and sometimes, that’s enough for anyone. Plus, despite being focused on his quest, he still cares for the lives of friend and foe alike. When he first encounters Elsa, he wants to avoid fighting her. When he’s later captured, he remembers Elsa’s scent to protect her from the inevitable, and even pleads with the hunters not to transform him out of fear for their lives. Heck, Jack even takes the time to give Elsa a heart-to-heart and help her with her family issues. Jack may be a monster, but he’s not a true monster, and that’s what I love about characters like that. Elsa, on the other hand, is another matter. She’s the daughter of the greatest monster hunter of all time, yet she never wanted any part of that life and disappeared. A decade later, she comes back with the single-minded pursuit of the Bloodstone itself. But just like Jack, she also takes the time to help and care for others. She doesn’t trust Jack or anyone else, yet still agrees to help him out, including saving a monster she’s very afraid of. And when she finds out Jack is a werewolf, she’s scared and betrayed at first, but still fights to save him from her stepmom and bravely approaches him, trusting that Jack is somewhere underneath the beast.

Finally, I love how they do the world-building in this special. For example, the brief narration in the beginning tells us about monster hunters, the Bloodstone family, and their united mission to rid the world of monsters. From later dialogue, we also see that their mission isn’t purely for the sake of killing stuff, but a kind of righteous mission to save the world from these vicious creatures. Of course, that isn’t always proven to be a purely good mission in the cases of Jack and Ted (Man-Thing), but it kinda makes them more understandable. Anyway, I also love how they set up the culture and traditions of monster hunters. The old woman sets up her deceased husband—the head of the Bloodstones—like a puppet, who initiates the ceremony via a recording of his final words and the mechanical movement of his limbs and mouth. Also, the fact that they cast lots from a skull, recited their oath, and a guy leads Jack with a flaming tuba really sets this group apart as their own thing. It makes us interested and invested in what happens next, which is why lore and world-building are so important in these kinds of stories.

However, for everything this special did right, there are still a few cracks. While I love all the subtle implications for most of these characters’ stories, there are some missing details that would’ve completed the whole story. For instance, take Elsa. We aren’t given any explanation for why she disappeared for ten years; she doesn’t explain why she wants the Bloodstone, or even what her stake is in all of this. For a rebel like her, the single goal of getting the Bloodstone makes sense, but I would’ve wanted a deeper reason for it. Does she want to save monster lives? Does she feel the right to have the stone just because she’s a descendant of the owner? Does she want to sell it on the black market? Unfortunately, without any answers to these questions, this goal comes across as two-dimensional. Further, a few of the characters were either inconsistent or flat-out stupid. The old woman, for instance, after finding out Jack was a werewolf, immediately imprisoned him and Elsa together. Aside from deciding to place the cage inside her own house, she immediately transforms Jack into his werewolf form, thinking it would kill Elsa and maybe even be ceremonial to kill him as a monster. But there is SO MUCH wrong with this plan. Yes, they’re monster hunters, but they seriously underestimated Jack and Elsa. Jack literally pulled the old woman into the bars of the cage, and he would’ve torn her arm off if her guards hadn’t stepped in. But even then, that only made him angrier, prompting him to bust out of the cage and kill almost everyone in the room while Elsa finished off the rest. Seriously, for a member of the most esteemed monster-hunting family in the world, this was astoundingly stupid on her part. Not that I wanted Jack or Elsa to die, but if they had killed them both instead of blindly following tradition and pride, they would’ve spared themselves so much trouble. Heck, they even stored Ted somewhere outside the house, so why didn’t they just do that with these two instead of placing them in the most vulnerable spot in the whole compound with every single member of their forces gathered in one spot?

Conclusion

Overall, I still really love this special! It’s definitely one of Marvel’s better projects in recent years, because even the aforementioned flaws aren’t enough to ruin my experience. However, I still wish this special had some sort of relevance to the Multiverse Saga. Without any connections to what’s happening in the MCU around them, or any later projects referencing the events of this special, it is unfortunately left to fade into obscurity as far as the narrative is concerned. But I only say that because this special is so amazing that I would’ve loved for it to be truly part of the MCU in any way. Until that happens, I’ll still keep up my yearly tradition of putting this special on every spooky season.