I finally got a chance to watch the MCU's standalone TV movie "Werewolf by Night" from a couple years ago and so here are my unsolicited thoughts.
So yeah, overall I enjoyed myself and its a shame that these characters do not seem to have any plans to appear in any projects going forward.
- I watched the original B&W version and I think it worked for the better, the homages to old school Universal Horror and lower budget worked with the film rather than against it.
- I am really confused about the changes made to Jack Russell. If they really wanted to cast Gael García Bernal no matter what, why didn't they use the Jake Gomez incarnation of the Werewolf instead? It's not like Russell is Peter Parker or Bruce Wayne, people wouldn't have gone nuts if the MCU used a legacy character as the lead instead. Removing Russell's direct connection to the Darkhold when this film came out not long after WandaVision which had the Darkhold in it feels like a massive missed opportunity.
- I know it was only a 50 minute TV film, but man I wish there was a bit more meat to these characters. As cool as the film was, it really hurts the re-watchability when even the main characters are as thin as a sheet of A4 paper.
- The action was really good - especially the one-take in the hallway where Werewolf goes ballistic on the guards that had been tasing him.
- Conversely, the Bloodstone was a real let down. For a MacGuffin that drives the plot, it didn't live up to the hype for a monster slaying device as all it really did was trigger Jack's transformation and then Force Pushed him a couple of times. I really think it would have been time well spent to devote the first five minutes to showing Ulysses whilst alive hunting monsters with it, rather than simply telling us how great he was.
- As much of a fan as I am of Man-Thing, I have to acknowledge that its really difficult to make his character work in any medium. So whilst I understand that the changes - most notably to his intelligence might annoy some people, but I think it worked for the better as a sympathetic character.
So yeah, overall I enjoyed myself and its a shame that these characters do not seem to have any plans to appear in any projects going forward.
