Werewolf By Night's use of black and white helped keep the special at a TV-14 rating rather than being TV-MA. Starring Gael García Bernal as the titular Werewolf Jack Russel, the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Halloween special will be directed by iconic composer Michael Giacchino in his directorial debut. Based on Marvel's short 1970s Werewolf By Night comics run, the hour-long special has been highly anticipated, with the Werewolf By Night trailer drop at D23 only adding to the hype. Critical reactions to an early screening of the special have confirmed that the new MCU project will be well worth the wait.

After the Sam Raimi-directed Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness dabbled in horror, Werewolf By Night is set to be the MCU's first true foray into the genre. Shot in black and white as an ode to the style of classic Universal horror films of the 1930s and '40s, the special will officially introduce monsters into the MCU such as Jack's werewolf character and Man-Thing. With projects such as Deadpool 3 and Blade being released in the next few years, there have been questions about the MCU pushing their ratings up to R, but it seems that Werewolf By Night won't be the project to break the PG-13 trend of the franchise, with the special landing a TV-14 rating on Disney+.

Related: Werewolf By Night Shares A VERY Interesting Link To Black Panther 2

In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Giacchino said that he wasn't restricted by Marvel in terms of ramping up the horror visuals for Werewolf By Night. In fact, the director revealed that the creative team behind the film went into production with a TV-MA rating in mind and were surprised by the TV-14 rating. He admits that the black-and-white style of the special may have kept it "within a certain range." See what Giacchino had to say below:

We had always assumed it would be TV-MA, but I wasn’t always involved with what was happening on that end in terms of ratings and all of that. And so I’m not sure, but I am sure you are absolutely right that the black and white did help keep us within a certain range.

Marvel Continues To Push Horror Visuals

A woman laughing maniacally in Werewolf by Night

Giacchino's comments tease that the violence in Werewolf By Night presumably reaches TV-MA levels, with only the colors used allowing them to stay below that more mature rating. The TV-14 classification allows Marvel to retain their typical mass appeal and cater to a larger audience, though it seems that the special just barely makes the cut. With Doctor Strange 2 featuring horror elements with Wanda's (Elizabeth Olsen) sinister villain portrayal and Disney+ series Moon Knight going even further into the genre, the franchise is poised to dive fully into the MCU's supernatural realm in terrifying fashion. Upon its release, the reception of Werewolf By Night will be an early predictor for the success of Blade, which centers on the titular human-vampire hybrid who hunts down Marvel's vampires. Depending on the success of the Halloween special, Werewolf By Night may pave the way for a world of monsters in the MCU to rear their heads and start a darker trend.

Though Werewolf By Night has skirted under the TV-MA rating and remained accessible to a larger audience, Giacchino's statement indicates that Marvel is open to introducing more violent content and potentially increasing age restrictions in the future. While this certainly wouldn't be the case for its more heavily marketed superhero film fare, it's possible that the many projects undertaken by the MCU since its foray into Disney+ TV series could remain a place for the franchise to experiment with new types of content. Already, series like the comedy show She-Hulk: Attorney At Law have shown the depths of Marvel's genre flexibility, which Werewolf By Night will demonstrate further when it is released in October.

Source: THR

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