In 2022, Marvel Studios released a Werewolf By Night film direct to Disney+. While it does ostensibly fit into the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe, Werewolf By Night mostly felt like it was just a great excuse to have a little Halloween fun, as it was filmed in the style of a classic old horror movie — the camera angles, the grainy film quality, the heavy analog shadows, and of course, it was in black & white.
Even as an aesthetic exercise — or perhaps, because of it? — I found Werewolf By Night to be a genuine delight. Sure, it introduced a big new world of scary monsters. But it didn't feel like another Marvel movie designed to setup another Marvel movie. It just felt like … fuck it, here's a heroic werewolf killing a bunch of aristocratic monster hunters. It gave me exactly what I wanted. I loved it.
On Friday, October 20, Disney will re-release the film in color — which the company promises will be "More terrifying. More gruesome. All in color." Based on the colorized trailer above, it definitely looks bloodier, if for no other reason than that you can see the gore more clearly in full color, instead of leaving it to the shadows and imagination.
But I, for one, liked the experience of having all that left to the shadows and imagination. I'll probably still watch the colorized version at some point. But I'm not entirely convinced it's necessary.
Unless, that is, it serves as a gateway — or perhaps a Nexus of Realities? — to a time when Disney and Marvel finally make a decent Man-Thing movie. That would make it all worth it.
