"Hunters have gathered from around the globe, strangers until this night, for a ceremonial hunt which will decide who next will wield the Bloodstone... and woe to the monster that finds itself among them!"
— Opening Narration
Werewolf By Night is a 2022 black and white Superhero Horror Halloween Special produced by Marvel Studios set in the fourth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (specifically, it is Marvel Studios' first Special Presentation and 38th overall entry). It stars Gael García Bernal as the titular character, is co-written by Heather Quinn and Peter Cameron, and is directed by composer Michael Giacchino.
The plot concerns a gathering of monster hunters at Bloodstone Castle, who all partake in a deadly monster hunt in order to claim the elusive Bloodstone relic. However, there is a deadly monster hiding amongst the group, and it's up to legendary monster hunter Jack Russell to stop this suspicious hunt before things go out of control...or rather, out of his control.
Laura Donnelly also stars as Elsa Bloodstone, and the character of Man-Thing also appears. The special was released on Disney+ on October 7, 2022, with a fully-colored version released October 20, 2023.
Previews: Trailer
, Behind the Scenes
Werewolf By Night includes examples of:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Some of the hunters laugh at the deceased, animatronic Ulysses's pun at the end of his opening monologue.
- Adaptational Intelligence: Man-Thing is, while not malevolent, driven by instincts and usually has none of his human personality or intellect left. Ted is a fair deal smarter, capable of responding to his name and holding a conversation despite being The Unintelligible. He can even operate a phonograph, brew coffee using a french press, and play solitaire.
- Affably Evil: Jovan comes off as a pretty jovial fellow, being friendly with Jack and shooting the breeze with him before the meeting. He'll still kill anyone he crosses paths with in the hunt for the Bloodstone.
- Alone with the Psycho: The climax features a moment where Elsa is trapped in a cage with the werewolf (who actually is Jack).
- Ambiguous Time Period: It's not entirely clear what time period this film takes place in. On the one hand, the technology used by the guards at Bloodstone Castle is analog and reminiscent of The '30s or The '40s, and other than LED wall sconces, modern body armor, electric stun batons, and the discarded touchtone payphone in Ted's camp, no other modern technology is seen here. On the other hand, Jack and Man-Thing express interest in eating sushi, food that definitely wasn't around in the West in those decades, and there is at least one gravestone that marks 1988 as the year of death, indicating it may be closer to the present than expected. This was enforced by Michael Giacchino, who wanted the time period of this short to be intentionally ambiguous. Disney+'s chronological ordering, for what it's worth, places it in the "present day" of the MCU after Thor: Love and Thunder.note
- Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age: Despite the largely modern setting, the hunters seem to favour bladed and blunt weaponry like axes, swords and crossbows. The only gun in the premises seems to be a blunderbuss. Even the Bloodstone guards only wield electric staves.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Ulysses and Verussa Bloodstone have shades of being the aristocracy of the Monster Hunting world as the bearers of the Bloodstone and all of them (except Elsa) being thoroughly bigoted against monsters, though even Elsa shares some of their distrust for Jack.
- An Arm and a Leg: Elsa cuts off the arm of one of the monster hunters when he attacks her.
- Audience Surrogate: Jack is the viewers' go-to guide about the world of the monster hunters and what their rituals are all about. Justified in this case because he's not really a hunter, only pretending to be one so he can save Man-Thing.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: Elsa and Jack join forces for much of the film, though the Back-to-Back nature of it is severely limited, especially after Jack wolf's out.
- Badass Creed: As the hunt begins and the first contestant heads into the maze, the monster hunters chant their pledge:We spill all blood for the hunt.
For stone and creed, for those who forged our blade.
To rid this land of its abominations.
There is no peace without blood,
and so it shall be. - Bait-and-Switch:
- The summary is written to make one think that Jack is the monster everyone is searching for. The truth is the monster everyone is hunting is Man-Thing although Jack is forced to turn into a werewolf and the remaining hunters do try to kill him.
- In the maze, Jake is suddenly grabbed from behind by a massive hand...and sighs in relief, because it's just his good buddy Ted/Man-Thing.
- After Jack and Elsa run into each other in the maze, he suggests they not fight, then Elsa lunges at him... only to pull him to safety from another hunter attacking from behind.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Elsa only has a slice cut on her forehead by the end of the special, despite at one point having her face smashed into stone three times, among other things she goes through.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Man-Thing ultimately leaves Elsa alone because she helped him escape, as does Jack, as she the only Hunter to show him any respect or mercy.
- Big Bad: Verussa Bloodstone, the widow of the legendary monster hunter Ulysses Bloodstone, oversees the hunt for the Man-Thing as posthumously organized by her husband to choose his successor, and later, she tries to kill Jack and her stepdaughter Elsa after they free their quarry and the former is revealed as a werewolf.
- Big Damn Heroes: After Jack’s escape, Verussa prepares to kill Elsa for her betrayal. Cue Man-Thing crashing through the ceiling and immolating Verussa with his touch.
- Bigot with a Badge: The Monster Hunters view themselves as the protectors of humanity, and don't care to learn anything about monsters other than how to kill them.
- Bilingual Bonus:
- The journal pages, describing monster hunting and the death of Ulysses Bloodstone, and the interior walls of the Bloodstone manor, depicting monster hunters slaying monsters, have text in untranslated Latin.
- While speaking with Elsa in the crypt, Jack refers to the guards outside as esbirros, Spanish for henchmen or minions.
- Black-and-White Insanity: The ideology of the Bloodstones and their fellow monster hunters is that all monsters are too dangerous and evil to be left alive — as well as anyone who helps monsters or gets in the hunter's way.
- Black-and-White Morality: Surprisingly. All the hunters are nasty pieces of work, as they've no problem killing each other for the Bloodstone, and also don't seem to care if the beings they hunt are innocent or not. Even Elsa is a bit of an anti-hero. Meanwhile, Jack and Man-Thing - two "monsters"- are the nicest guys in the film, showing care, concern, and self-sacrifice for one another.
- Black Comedy: As Verussa is about to shoot Elsa, Ted crashes through the ceiling and immolates her and then throws the corpse at the casket of Ulysses. The head of the animatronic corpse falls off, rolls, and comes to a stop where the audience can clearly see it.
- Bloodier and Gorier: This is definitely among the gorier MCU entries, certainly the goriest produced by Marvel Studios.note Limbs are severed and ears bitten off onscreen, with copious blood spray. Liorn gets a crossbow bolt shot through his chin and dies choking on his own blood, also onscreen. In the climactic fight, Jack brutally mauls several of the Bloodstone guards, with blood splattering the camera. One of them is nearly disemboweled, with his ribs visible as he collapses. Elsa kills Barasso, leaving him in a large puddle of blood, and slashes Azarel's throat, then slams a sword through her face and twists it, leaving it embedded in her skull. Apparently, the only reason this wasn't rated TV-MA is that the black-and-white filter hid the worst of the gore.
- Body Horror: Jack's forced transformation is seen to be quite painful.
- Camera Abuse: The camera gets splattered with blood when Jack wolfs out and mauls the Bloodstone guards.
- Central Theme: Family burdens. Jack tells Elsa how families, good or bad, still hang around a person and that they are stuck with them whether they like it or not, while also trying to do something good with what they are given. Jack treats Ted like family and risks his life to save him (even though Ted constantly is getting captured) and even though he's cursed with lycanthropy, he tries to do some good with it. Elsa is from a family of monster hunters but she defected decades before and even helps Jack save Ted.
- Chekhov's Gun: In the Bloodstone manor are several trophy monster heads mounted on the wall and suits of armor with a sword and a blunderbuss. The monster heads come in handy when Jack picks one to perch on during the final fight, and the weapons get used by Elsa and Verussa, respectively.
- Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames:
- At no point in the special is Ted called Man-Thing. He specifically responds to "Ted", matching his Adaptational Intelligence.
- Not only is "Werewolf by Night" never mentioned outside the title, but Jack's full Punny Name of "Jack Russell" and even the term "werewolf" itself are never spoken.
- Continuity Nod: The very first shot of the special is an illustration of The Avengers; which along with a mural reference to Gorr shortly afterward and Man-Thing's presence are the only things that connect this film to the rest of the franchise.
- Creepy Good: Ted is a massive plant monster that burns people with his touch. Jack is a werewolf forced to transform into a monster against his will. They're both the nicest people in the film.
- Darker and Edgier: This is without a doubt, one of the most visceral MCU entries, as it focuses on being a campy, albeit straightforward horror movie. The ending is quite literally the only lighthearted part of the special.
- Dark Is Not Evil: While both Jack and Man-Thing are monsters, they're not really evil, as when they do kill, Jack only does it because he can't control his werewolf instincts, and Man-Thing usually does it out of self-defense, unlike the Monster Hunters.
- Deliberately Monochrome: The special is filmed almost entirely in black and white, much like the first two episodes of WandaVision. Averted at the end when the picture shifts into color.
- Didn't Think This Through: Ulysses Bloodstone's monster hunting group decides to kill Elsa by locking her in a cage with Jack and using the Bloodstone to force him into werewolf form. Apparently, they had no plan to keep him from mauling them beyond having the guards tase him (which doesn't work and makes him more feral), and considering the ease at which Jack escapes the cage when provoked, they didn't think to put him in a more sturdy cage despite supposedly being experienced monster hunters.
- Dolly Zoom: After the Werewolf by Night breaks out of his cage and kills a few guards, we get a long, slow push in on his face.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: Jack tries to reassure Elsa that he takes measures to minimize the damage he does in his monster form and they have several days to figure out how to escape the cage they're in, not realizing what she's trying to tell him until she straightforwardly says that the Bloodstone is going to be used to force his transformation so he'll kill her.
- Draw Aggro: Jovan is armed with a pick and large axe as he approaches the monster just behind the bushes. Elsa runs in with a "HEY!" and points her crossbow at him, intending to get his attention off the monster, whom she's trying to set free. Her tactic ends up working as a distraction as Ted lunges out of the bushes and immolates Jovan before he can react.
- Ear Ache: Werewolf by Night rips off a hunter's ear.
- The End: It wouldn't be a classic horror movie throwback without a simple, superimposed "The End" card at the end of the story now, would it?
- End of an Age: The 30s Gothic Horror fades away and transitions to color with Ted and Jack sitting amicably in Ted's camp with a broken payphone nearby. The implication is that with the deaths of all the other hunters, the bigoted Blood Knight attitudes of the other hunters is gone and Jack and Elsa can transition the profession into a new age with more compassion for monsters.
- Evil Stepmother: Verussa is Elsa's stepmother and doesn't have a good relationship with her stepdaughter. Then, after finding out Jack is a monster and Elsa helped him free Ted, crosses into murderous territory by forcing Jack to transform early with the Bloodstone so he can brutally kill Elsa. There's a small justification in that she wants to continue her dead husband's legacy, which Elsa rejected, and so there is some grounds for resentment. It is implied that allowing Elsa a chance to reclaim the inheritance was a ploy to get one of the other hunters to kill her without bloodying her own hands.
- Expy: Ulysses Bloodstone serves as one for the Crypt-Keeper, being a decayed corpse brought to life with puppet effects who speaks in horror-themed puns.
- Eye Scream: In the hallway of the Bloodstone manor is a mural showing a monster with both eyes gouged out by arrows.
- Facial Markings: Jack has white markings on his face and dark paint around his eyes evoking a skull, which he explains is in honor of his ancestors. One of the other monster hunters has dark, sharp marks on his face, though the reason for them isn't explained.
- Foreshadowing: There are several hints before the reveal that Jack is not "that kind of hunter", but someone who infiltrated the meeting.
- The narration mentions "woe to the monster who finds himself among them" just as Jack makes his first appearance.
- When Jack talks to Jovan, Jack mentions he can "smell the blood" all over him. Jack is being literal due to his canine sense of smell.
- During his initial meeting, he seems the one that is most out of place, scoping out the surroundings with cautious awe, with an awkward body language to the more reserved hunters. This despite being the hunter with the supposed "most" kills.
- When asked if any of the monsters whose heads hang on the wall as trophies are his own kills, Jack says no, but claims to have had a few run-ins with one of them, a bat-like creature. He refers to that monster as "him", rather than "it".
- When drawing slots for the hunt, Jack is visibly confused as to what his tile means until someone points out to him that it means he goes first.
- When Jack enters the maze, he does so casually and not guarded in any way. When we see the other hunters, they are more cautious and deliberately stealthy, showing that while they are experienced hunters, they are nonetheless fearful of the monster that they have to kill, while Jack is a friend of the monster and therefore has no reason to fear him.
- When Jack meets Elsa in the maze, he doesn't try to attack her and instead offers to just walk on by. This shocks Elsa, since part of the conditions of the hunt is that the hunters are after each other in addition to trying to hunt down the monster.
- From Dress to Dressing: When Elsa and Jack are stuck in the mausoleum, Jack notices she's trying to tend to a leg injury from her earlier fight. He removes his necktie and uses it to bind Elsa's leg.
- The "Fun" in "Funeral": Ulysses had his corpse converted into a grisly animatronic so that he could "attend" his own funeral, and it recites graveyard humor to boot.
- Game Between Heirs: Since Elsa abandoned her legacy years ago, Ulysses decided that the Bloodstone was not hers by default, and to instead pass it down to whichever monster hunter is able to kill Man-Thing. Ironically, she ends up obtaining the Bloodstone by default due to being the last hunter standing.
- Genre Throwback: Advertised as a throwback to classic gothic horror films in the vein of the Universal horror films of the 1930s-1940s, with some dashes of the '70s British wave of gothic horror (e.g. Hammer Horror and Amicus Productions). This is fitting, given the titular character was part of Marvel's horror renaissance in the 1970s.
- Gentle Giant: When he's not being actively hunted or trying to protect his friends, Man-Thing has a very friendly disposition.
- Gothic Horror: The special is a throwback to the Universal Film forays into Gothic Horror in the '30s and '40s. Between the gothic architecture of the Bloodstone estate, the presence of werewolves and other monsters, there's a lot of gothic to be seen.
- Grappling-Hook Pistol: Elsa finds a grappling hook pistol within the maze. She uses it to grab the Bloodstone on Ted's back and yank it off as he's running into the forest, and later to snag the back of Verussa's coat to save Jack and force her to drop the Bloodstone.
- Groin Attack: During her fight with one of the monster hunters, Elsa kicks him in the groin.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Verussa’s plan to deal with Jack and Elsa is to force Jack into his werewolf form and have him kill Elsa. The plan quickly goes wrong when the werewolf gets loose and proceeds to slaughter Verussa's guards.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: While Ted and Jack are both monsters in the classical sense, the real villains are Elsa’s stepmother and the hunters who are cruel bigoted Egomaniac Hunters. Notably, Verussa deliberately transforms Jack into his werewolf form (even as he's begging them not to) just for the sake of it.
- Hunter of His Own Kind: Jack tells Elsa that he does hunt monsters in his werewolf form. The implication, however, is that he only hunts those monsters that are a threat to innocent lives - something he, unlike the rest of the hunters, seems quite capable of distinguishing. Downplayed because we never actually see it happen, and it's not really the focus of the story at hand.
- Hunter of Monsters: The special focuses on the MCU's monster-hunting community. We glimpse some of their traditions (such as kill counts, medallions of honor, inheritances and "sacred hunts").
- Inadequate Inheritor: Verussa makes no secret that she (and Ulysses) find Ulysses's daughter Elsa to be a disappointment for not following her father's footsteps, which is why the Bloodstone isn't automatically passing to her and instead going to one of the monster hunters in the Game Between Heirs.
- Incendiary Exponent: A flaming sousaphone is seen being played as the hunt begins.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing:
- Many of the hunters call Man-Thing either "the monster" or "it", while Jack, his friend, calls him by name (Ted) and instructs Elsa to treat him like he's "an old friend".
- In an early scene, Jack refers to one of the mounted monster heads on the wall as "him", establishing right off the bat that he sees the monsters as individuals, and not simply things.
- Joke and Receive: When Jack offers to help Elsa get the Bloodstone in exchange for her helping free the monster, she sarcastically says, "Right, yeah. 'Cause you'll just have a quick chat with him, sort it out 'cause you're, what, the monster's friend?" Jack nods, smiling, prompting a surprised scoff from Elsa.
- Karmic Death: When Verussa is about to kill Elsa for letting Jack escape and her betrayal, she is then killed by Man-Thing, the very monster she intended to have killed for the hunt.
- Knight Templar: The Monster Hunters believe that what they are doing like trying to kill Jack and Man-Thing is for the good of humanity to protect innocent people from monsters, but they are truly no better than the monsters they hate.
- Lame Pun Reaction: Following the animatronic Ulysses' "I'll be rotting for you!" line, we get a shot of the monster hunters who are all in some state of disappointment or confusion.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After his forced transformation, Jack immediately attacks Verussa, then escapes the cage they're in, pointedly fails to attack Elsa, and instead goes after the rest of the Hunters.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: As Verussa uses the Bloodstone to force Jack to turn into a werewolf, she exclaims, "You'll wanna see this, darling!" both in reference to the hunters seeing the werewolf (along with Verussa talking to the deceased Ulysses) and also pointing to the audience that they're in for a wild ride.
- Liar Revealed: Played with. On one hand, what little warmth Elsa comes to develop towards Jack quickly evaporates once she learns he's a werewolf. Even when Jack tries to justify how he didn't want to worry her, she lampshades that delaying the truth doesn't make his lying feel any less than what it is. On the other hand, the truth isn't so bad that Elsa doesn't allow Jack to say his peace before the rest of the hunters come in.
- Literal Disarming: Elsa gains a small repeating crossbow by removing the hand it's placed on from the hunter wielding it.
- Little "No": When Jack comes to and sees he's been put in a cage with Elsa, he quietly says, "No, no, no, no, no..." to himself.
- Locked in a Room: Elsa is hiding in the Bloodstone crypt with the door ajar when Jack, fleeing from Azarel, runs in and shuts the door behind him, only to find that it locks from the outside. This gives them an opportunity to rest, chat about their families and what they're in this Game Between Heirs for, and agree to free the monster and allow Elsa to obtain the Bloodstone.
- Logo Joke: The Marvel Studios logo starts off as normal...until claw marks flash across the screen and screaming can be heard. After this, the whole screen shifts into black and white, the standard fanfare is given a tinnier sound and shifts into a more sinister minor key, several more claw flashes and screams occur, and the logo itself is electrified.
- Looks Like Cesare: Fittingly for a shadowy B&W horror pastiche, Jack’s thin frame, dark hair, and darkened eye sockets give him a particularly haunted look despite his generally pleasant disposition.
- MacGuffin: The Bloodstone. A jewel used by the monster-hunting family of the same name to weaken and kill monsters. The reason the monster hunters gather is to see who will inherit it from the late Ulysses Bloodstone through a monster hunt. It also has the same effect of a full moon on individuals with lycanthropy.
- Made of Iron: Elsa gets her head bashed against a stone wall a couple of times. Not only does she only receive a single scratch from this, but she only take a second to recover as well.
- Match Cut: After Verussa explains the rules of the monster-hunting game, the scene transitions from Verussa to a skull vessel surrounded by candles, with the skull in the same spot in the frame as Verussa's head.
- Melting-Film Effect: The trailer ends on the film reel melting as Elsa is confronted by the werewolf.
- Monochrome to Color: When Elsa enters the Bloodstone manor, the Bloodstone goes from monochrome to Splash of Color red. Later, after the events of the film, Elsa reclines on a couch, and color appears to spread out from the Bloodstone, and the remaining movie is in color.
- Mood Whiplash: After a night of horror and blood and gore, the ending shot is Jack deciding he wants to go out for sushi with his friend Ted/Man-Thing, as "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" plays in the background.
- Mook Horror Show: Jack in his werewolf form absolutely slaughters his way through Verussa's henchman once he gets loose.
- My Instincts Are Showing: Before sitting down on the ground beside Elsa, Jack, a werewolf, does a couple of spins. Later, when they're in a cage in the manor, he absentmindedly scratches behind his ear as he confesses he's "perhaps not in the category that you would call a human a human". When the monster hunters are about to enter the room, Jack leaps onto Elsa and sniffs her all over in hopes he'll remember her scent when transformed.
- Mythology Gag:
- As Jack enters Bloodstone Manor, he glances at various murals on the wall depicting encounters between hunters and monsters. One of these murals features a recreation of this comic book panel◊ of Thor chopping off Gorr the God Butcher's arm from Issue 5 of Thor: God of Thunder (2012).
- The opening narration says "In our modern world, this is where monsters dwell". Where Monsters Dwell was the title of a Marvel comic from the same seventies horror boom that produced Werewolf by Night and Man-Thing.
- As Jack enters Bloodstone Manor, he glances at various murals on the wall depicting encounters between hunters and monsters. One of these murals features a recreation of this comic book panel
- Never Trust a Trailer:
- The trailer dialogue was edited to imply that the premise was that everyone in the monster-hunting group knew one of them was a monster, and their mission was to find out who. The main activity is actually to hunt a different monster in the maze to determine who becomes the leader of the hunters and wielder of the Bloodstone.
- In the trailer, Jack looks terrified at a giant hand grabbing him from the hedges. Instead he's happy because he's friends with Man-Thing, aka Ted.
- Nice Guy:
- Jack seems like a pretty decent guy. When he becomes a werewolf, however...
- Man-Thing's pretty nice too, once you get to know him.
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: Jack is Nice, Elsa is Mean and Man-Thing is In-between. Jack is shown to be friendly and joins in on the hunt to save Man-Thing, Elsa is aloof and doesn't really value human life and Man-Thing is usually a Gentle Giant but will also immolate anyone he sees is an enemy.
- No-Gear Level: As part of the Game Between Heirs, the monster hunters all start unarmed and have to find weapons as they traverse the maze.
- Noodle Incident:
- This apparently isn't the first time Jack has had to bail Man-Thing out of trouble.
- With his impending transformation looming over him, Jack starts hurriedly acquainting himself with Elsa's scent, in the hopes the werewolf will recognise it and spare her. When asked if this has worked before, his response is: "Once".
- Nominal Importance: The Werewolf and the Man-Thing both have names, Jack and Ted. That Elsa continually uses both their names is vital to her survival.
- Nothing Is Scarier:
- The werewolf transformation isn't directly seen, instead we see only Elsa's terrified expression as it happens in front of her.
- During the climactic battle, Jack is slaughtering several goons in an unlit room, with the only source of illumination coming from a side room, the door to which is slowly closing, plunging the main room into shadow. The end of The Oner shows Jack looming over the last living goon... just as all light drains from the chamber, leaving our last indication to what Jack is doing... the guard's bloodcurdling screams.
- Oh, Crap!: After Jack turns into a werewolf, Verussa starts taunting him, only for her eyes to look horrified when he grabs her arm and starts mauling at it.
- Ominous Latin Chanting:
- As part of the Logo Joke, the MCU fanfare switches to minor key, and before the usual crescendo in the theme, two sets of Latin choruses are added for dramatic effect.
- The main theme of the special being played (during the title card) features the same ominous choir as the title sequence. It's given a much more badass reprise during the credits sequence.
- The Oner:
- There's a 40-second long unbroken take of Jack traversing the Bloodstone maze looking for his quarry, before the sound of a tuba interrupts him.
- There's a relatively long (and extremely gory) single-shot sequence involving the werewolf rampaging through Bloodstone guards in a corridor while their only door out slowly closes.
- One-Woman Wail: When Jack is walking his way down to meet the other monster hunters at the start of the special, we hear a woman singing a section of the main theme (i.e. Jack's leitmotif) in this matter because it suits the creepy mood
- Opening Narration: One after the title card, giving details about monster hunters and the Bloodstone.
- Painful Transformation: When the Bloodstone is used to force Jack's turn into werewolf form, the transformation is given a Shadow Discretion Shot as screaming and crunching limbs can be heard.
- "Pan Up to the Sky" Ending: The film ends with the sky panning up to a mostly cloudy sky, and "The End" is superimposed on the shot.
- Parental Sexuality Squick: When Verussa comments on the apparent sexual prowess of the departed Ulysses Bloodstone, the camera cuts to Elsa (his daughter) who is visibly disgusted by the comment.
- Protagonist Title: Jack, the protagonist, is the Werewolf by Night (though the moniker isn't used in-story).
- "Psycho" Strings: The soundtrack of the film contains these to emphasize the horror going on.
- Pun: Ulysses Bloodstone, an animatronic rotting corpse, tells the hunters that he's "rotting" (rooting) for them.
- Race Lift: This version of Jack is strongly implied to be of Mexican descent. In addition to speaking with a pronounced accent, he claims at one point that his skull makeup (inspired by traditional Day of the Dead designs) is meant to honor his ancestors.
- Retraux:
- The special begins in a similar fashion as a Special Presentation card for a TV movie.
- The special itself until the end is presented like a shlocky black-and-white Universal Horror film — complete with text-only title cards, jump cuts, paused zoom-ins, cue marks, and even flecks and specks seen in worn-out reels that have been run through the projector too many times. The switch to color, meanwhile, mimics the saturated look of Technicolor.
- The poster looks deliberately washed out and has visible creases.
- Reflective Eyes: When Jack transforms, there's a shot of light in his eyes.
- Retro Universe: The story appears to be set in the modern day (going by the mention of sushi and a grave marked "1988"), but keeping with the overall Retraux Genre Throwback the aesthetics here largely hearken to '40s. This is most notable with the Bloodstone mansion using analog technology and the absence of modern tech such as cameras and cellphones.
- The Reveal: The monster everyone is hunting for is Man-Thing and Jack is friends with him.
- Rule of Symbolism: When the werewolf decides to maul the Bloodstone soldiers, the door behind him starts closing ever so slowly, showing that the window of escape is going bye-bye.
- Schizo Tech: Bloodstone Manor is styled like it's still the thirties, with Ulysess's body turned into an old-school animatronic. The Hunters all fight with medieval weaponry in the maze. However, when it comes time to control Jack's Werewolf form they wield stun batons, and the turn to color reveals this is the modern world in line with statements that the special takes place shortly after Love and Thunder.
- Shadow Discretion Shot: Jack's transformation isn't directly shown; instead, the camera is fixed on Elsa watching in terror.
- The Shadow Knows: In the poster, Jack is casting a shadow of his werewolf form bearing his teeth, showing he's the Werewolf by Night.
- She-Fu: Elsa's fighting style is reminiscent of Black Widow's with a constant amount of grappling.
- Ship Tease: Jack pulls Elsa close to intensely sniff her hair, neck, and wrist in hopes he’ll remember her when transformed into a werewolf. In turn, Elsa tenderly places her hand on Jack’s cheek in his werewolf form, in the hopes that it will snap Jack out of his berserker rage.
- Shock Stick: The guards all carry long batons with electrified ends. They use the batons to knock out Elsa and Jack before imprisoning them and less effectively on Jack in werewolf form later.
- Shout-Out:
- The "Special Presentation" bumper is a nod to the 1970s CBS Special Presentation bumper.
- The premise as presented by the trailer (strangers are gathered in a derelict mansion, one of them is a werewolf and they must figure out who before it's too late) is a direct riff on gothic horror classic The Beast Must Die which features the exact same pitch.
- One of the murals has the Latin phrase, "Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto" ("I am human, and I think nothing human is alien to me"), a famous quotation of the Roman playwright Terence.
- Elsa loudly dragging her chair across the floor of the manor is a nod to Agent J doing the same in Men in Black.
- As noted above, Ulysses' "puppet-form" speaking in wince-inducing horror puns is a clear allusion to The Cryptkeeper. One of the tracks in the score is outright called "Tales From The Crypt".
- One of the trophies on the wall is highly reminiscent of Fluffy the Crate Beast.
- The appearance of the titular werewolf here takes visual cues from Universal's Werewolf of London (namely the face) and, of course, The Wolfman (namely the body).
- At the end of the special, the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz plays on a phonograph. As the song begins, the black-and-white color palette transitions into full color, a clever nod to the movie's switch from sepia tone to Technicolor.
- One of the names in the mausoleum is "Jacob Howell MacDougall", a reference to Jacob Balcom and Matt Howell, hosts of the "Werewolf By Night" segment on the "Marvel by the Month" podcast.
- An attractive woman wearing a wrist mounted crossbow, surrounded by greenery. Very familiar...
- The "Special Presentation" bumper is a nod to the 1970s CBS Special Presentation
- Soundtrack Dissonance: After a horrible night of blood, gore and monsters, the film ends with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" playing.
- Source Music: At the end of the film is a scene of Ted and Jack, with "Over the Rainbow" playing on a phonograph taken from the Bloodstone maze.
- Splash of Color: The bloodstone is a red-colored jewel with red-colored beams of energy in a black-and-white special. At the end, its color spreads to Elsa and the rest of the picture.
- The Stinger: Averted in this case, as this is a self-contained special with no explicit ties to other MCU works except for one brief picture of the Avengers at the start.
- Suddenly Shouting: When Elsa protests to Verussa that nobody present should get their hands on the Bloodstone, Verussa suddenly yells, "THE HUNT DECIDES!", then calms down, adding, "House rules".
- Superhero Horror: This is a story about monsters and monster-hunters, with the traditional superhero element being minimal. Notably, it's portrayed as a Gothic horror in black and white and is full of gore and blood.
- Tempting Fate: Jack tells Elsa that they'll be fine because the full moon is five days away, giving them plenty of time to escape before he turns. Elsa reveals that the Bloodstone will convert him into a werewolf in five seconds.
- Third Time's The Charm: It takes Jack three times to attach an explosive onto a cracked wall.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Elsa is trapped in a cage with Jack and knows that Verussa intends to force his transformation so he'll kill her. By the time Jack comes to, she's already angrily resigned to her impending death and thanks him "in advance for making it quick".
- Too Dumb to Live: When Verussa forces Jack into werewolf form, she makes a huge blunder by doing an Evil Laugh mere feet away from the cage's bars, well within his arm's reach. This leads to her hand getting mauled. And since Jack easily manages to escape the cage by jumping through the top and starts mauling all of the guards, somehow everybody present, all experienced in dealing with monsters, mind you, didn't think to put him in a more durable cage and have a way to tame him that wouldn't just make him more pissed.
- Touch of Death: Ted retains his burning touch from the comics. Jovan the Hunter and Verussa both meet their ends at his hands.
- Transformation Discretion Shot: Jack's transformation isn't directly shown. Rather, the camera shows Elsa while Jack's shadow on the wall behind her writhes and crunches, eventually forming a werewolf silhouette.
- Use Their Own Weapon Against Them: Liorn attacks Elsa using a hand-mounted crossbow. She cuts off his arm, takes the crossbow, and shoots him in the neck with it.
- Van Helsing Hate Crimes: To the Bloodstones and their visitors, all monsters are beyond saving and must die, including Jack, a Nice Guy who takes precautions to avoid hurting anyone in werewolf form, and Ted, who seems perfectly docile whenever someone isn't threatening him.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Verussa claims to a captured Jack and Elsa that the mission of the monster hunters is meant to be one of mercy towards both the monsters they kill and the victims of the monsters.
- Wham Line: As Jack explains that he doesn't have to worry about turning into a monster because the next full moon is five days away, Elsa bursts his bubble.Elsa: Five days. The Bloodstone's capable of transforming you in five seconds.
- Wham Shot: A Twofer. One, when Jack is hunting in the maze, he is gripped by a large hand, revealing the monster they are hunting. But that's quickly followed by Jack smiling and embracing the arm, revealing he knows and has been looking for his friend.
- You Are What You Hate: Subverted. In the special Jack pretends to be a monster hunter so he can infiltrate the actual monster hunters so he can rescue Man-Thing.
