Composer Michael Giacchino may not be known for directing. His scores from movies likeRogue One: A Star Wars StoryandThe Batmanalong with series likeLosttend to speak for themselves. But when he was asked to direct aMarvel Studiosproject, there was only one story he immediately wanted to do. The new Disney Plus specialWerewolf by Nightcaught many viewers by surprise in both its release and its quality, but they weren’t the only ones.
At this point, many people are aware of the surprisinglyexcellent yet mysteriousWerewolf by Night. Giacchino’s directorial debut forMarvel Studiosimmediately evokes memories of classic horror films through its black-and-white color palate down to the shooting style itself. It turns out that this wasn’t just something he happened to find himself working on, however. Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige straight up asked Giacchino what he’d like to direct, and he had an answer ready, even if he hadn’t expected the question.
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In an interview withCollider, Giacchino spoke about howWerewolf by Nightcame about as his own project. “Kevin and I were walking across the lot one day,” he explained. “We had briefly talked about directing for me in the past, and he said, ‘Well, if you want to direct, what is it you would want to do?’ I was like, ‘Werewolf by Night.’ And it was like instant. I was like, ‘That’s a no brainer for me.’ He looked at me, it was just like, wait, really? Wait, what? He was kind of surprised because it was such a left field sort of choice. And I was like, ‘Yeah, think about it. That’s an area of the Marvel universe that no one’s touched. It’s just lying there waiting to be explored.'”
Giacchino had previously revealed how Marvel Studios allowed him topush the gory limits withWerewolf by Night, and it looks like that confidence in his expertise comes from his own history with the comics. “I have a bunch of [Werewolf by Nightcomics], I still do from when I was a kid,” Giacchino continued. “So that was always a huge deal to me. So I thought if I’m going to do something, I wanted to do something that was well off the beaten path and gave me a challenge that struck fear in my heart if I screwed it up. You know what I mean? I didn’t want the easy get. I wanted something that was like, Oo, you want to do that? Okay, good luck. That kind of a thing.”
TheEaster egg-ladenWerewolf by Nightstars Gael García Bernal, Laura Donnelly, and Harriet Sansom Harris among others in a consistently impressive cast. Centering on a monster-hunting secret society, the story follows Jack Russell (Bernal) as he takes part in a hunt to determine the group’s new leader after the death of its previous one. But it turns out he’s hiding several secrets, not the least of which is the fact that he’s a werewolf. He also entered the hunt in order to rescue the target, his friend Man-Thing/Ted. Naturally, this reveal doesn’t particularly go over well with the group. But the former leader’s daughter Elsa (Donnelly) could be the precious ally he needs.
Based on the finished product, it looks as thoughGiacchino was the right choice for the jobforWerewolf by Night. The fact that he got to choose the project rather than joining one that was already in production may have made the difference as well. Perhaps Marvel Studios can take that as a cue to let artists be more artistic. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is fun and all, but sometimes, people just want to watch monsters do monster stuff.
Werewolf by Nightis available to stream on Disney Plus.
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