Marvel Studios officially entered the horror genre with Moon Knight yesterday, introducing the mystical cult vigilante from the comics played by Oscar Isaac. But the studio is not stopping at Moon Knight with its experiments on the spookier comic book characters and has fast-tracked production on its planned Halloween Special, based on Werewolf by Night. According to the official website of Georgia USA, the special has reportedly gone into filming stages, probably at the Atlanta sets, which Marvel Studios frequently uses to double for several fictional elements and locations in the MCU.

Georgia USA revealed that a project titled Buzzcut is currently filming in the state and is being distributed by Disney+. Buzzcut was earlier reported by several outlets to be the working title for Werewolf by Night. The show has always been set for a 2022 Halloween release, but the COVID-related issues in production have always kept the special on a setback. If these reports are accurate, the producers will now have just six months to finish the project with all the VFX and sound work and be ready for marketing and promotions at least a couple of weeks before the release.

Werewolf by Night will star Gael García Bernal in the lead, with the actor in his first stint with Marvel Studios, and will be directed by Michael Giacchino. Giacchino has composed music for various films, including MCU’s Doctor Strange, Jon Watts’ Spider-Man Trilogy, and the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder. He was recently credited for his composition work in The Batman and has been an Academy-Award recipient, winning for his work on the film Up (2010).

Werewolf by Night is a name given to two comic book characters, Jack Russel and Jake Gomez. Like most vampire folklore, the character can shapeshift into a werewolf and has ties in the Marvel Comics to characters of Moon Knight, Blade, and Dracula. Since both Blade and Moon Knight are also confirmed for live-action at the MCU, the character will probably intersect with these characters at some point in the franchise.

MCU’s First Holiday Special

Kevin Feige announced in 2019 that James Gunn’s The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was supposed to be Marvel’s first-holiday special, set to release around Christmas 2023. However, if Werewolf by Night makes the Halloween release, the show will become the studio’s first special for Disney+.

The studio has been pacing up its projects on Disney+ for a year now. These shows and specials are allowing Marvel Studios to introduce a new set of characters every time and giving the studio a landscape to explore them in detail through an episodic format, and then eventually pave the way for them to intersect in future films of the franchise.

For now, no further details about Werewolf by Night are disclosed. The project is being penned by Robert Nelson Jacobs and will join the darker league of Marvel superheroes that has begun with Moon Knight. As the show’s status remains in secret, it’s definite that it will start receiving its deserved limelight and attention as soon as the studio is near the finish line on the project.